Mozart was famously fidgety – he constantly drummed his fingers and was unable to even wash his hands without pacing. Apparently, Mozart’s wife Constanze didn’t trust him with a knife because he was prone to injuring himself. So, in addition to being one of the world’s greatest composers, Mozart was a human being with energy and eccentricities. He lived during 1700s, when we fought our revolution and Emperor Joseph II abolished serfdom in the Austrian Empire. According to Swafford, in Mozart’s operas “one hears the majestic opening chords of the new era of humanity, the dawn of Enlightenment and democracy” (158-9).
Swafford, Jan. The Vintage Guide to Classical Music. Vintage Books, 1992, p. 151.