Recently we took a look at life in England in 1776 as she warred with her colonies. What is happening in the rest of the world this year?

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is his usually busy self. In January his Serenade No. 6 in D major for two Small Orchestras (or the Serenata Notturna) has its premiere at Salzburg. And six month later, on July 22nd, his Serenade No. 7 in D major is first played at the marriage of Elisabeth Haffner and Francis Xavier Spath, in Vienna. The Serenade becomes known as the Haffner, in the bride's honor.

Spain is busily fine-tuning its empire in the New World, already approaching the three-century mark. It appoints Jose Galvez Minister of the Indies, and replaces the viceroyalty of Peru, headquartered in Lima, with the viceroyalty of La Plata, shifting the center of colonial operations to Buenos Aires.

In Greece, currently under control of the Turks, Giobanni Capo d'Istria, who will become the independent country's first president, is born.

In Paris, a fire destroys the area of the Ile de la Cité, sparing the 432-year-old Cathedral of Notre Dame. The ashes are not long cold before construction begins on a Palais de Justice, on this island in the heart of the city. Under its foundations lie a large segment of the city's heart. It was here, in 52 B. C., that Roman prefects built a palace, later turned into a Gothic mansion for France's first twelve kings. Louis XI (St. Louis) lived in the upper chambers and issued legal edicts. On this one spot, justice has been handed out for over two millennia.


OUTRO
For Classical ninety-one five, this is David Minor.


© 1996 David Minor / Eagles Byte

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