Mozart of course! But the only appropriate composer has been dead for 250 years. Napoleon would also be a great choice with his almost unlimited success, downfall, comeback, and final downfall. You would have pompous battlefield music, the marseilles tune, romantic songs and then later music of a much smaller scale to illustrate his inprisoned life at St helens. And of course the song for the big battle is already written (Waterloo)!
As a swedish choice I would say Axel von fersén. He was a swedish count who lived in the 18th century and who was the swedish king's ambassador at versailles. He was a lover of the french queen marie antoinette. However he had the trust of the King (who had quite a liberal marriage with Marie) and was later put in charge for the escape attempt by the royal family from versaille. They managed to sneak out of paris and were in a border village when they were caught. As the queen was facing execution she smuggled out love letters to him, some sent just days before she was guillotined. According to some sources he was the father of Marie Antionettes son who was successor to the throne. This boy had the title count of normandy (the normands were originally vikings). The King has also written in a letter that he didn't see him as his son. On the other hand one might ask why the royal couple would give the son a title hinting at Axel if he indeed were the father. Before Axel got involved with the queen in france he was taking part as an officer in the american independece war on the american/french side. He met George Washington and were in the room when they signed the independence declaration. When he came back to Sweden after the royal couples death he became one of the mightiest men in the country. However he lost some influence due to the murder of King Gustav III at a mascerade ball(also a good person to make a musical about). Many years later Axel, now an old man was brutally attacked an killed by a mob during a funeral of a danish prince. This prince had been chosen by the swedish classes to take over the Swedish throne. However he had died before assuming office. False rumours had been spread about Axel von Fersén being implicated in the death of the prince (he most likely died a natural death). Some say the lynching of Axel was planned by people who were afraid about his influence and connections to the old royal family.
Updated On: 8/7/06 at 08:12 AM
