Moscheles was identified as a Jewish musician throughout his life. The review of his Prague debut recital mentioned this in 1808; Dwight’s Journal of Music called Moscheles “the son of the Jew tradesman” sixty-two years later, in 1870; and he was described as the “Jewish pianist from Vienna” in 1884, fourteen years after his death, by Ferdinand Hiller in his long and loving tribute to his old friend and mentor.

What is less obvious, however, is how Moscheles himself viewed his Jewish heritage. According to Agnes Weiske, Moscheles’ parents maintained a private synagogue in their home. We can therefore assume that he participated in Jewish traditions while growing up in Prague, but to what degree? Did his parents keep kosher, and did the male children put on the Tefillen? Did Moscheles practice Judaism in Vienna after leaving home at the age of fourteen, and did he consider himself a Jew before his baptism in 1832, or after it? These questions are difficult to answer with any certainty.

There are, however, several indications that Moscheles remained connected to his Jewish heritage when he lived in Vienna from 1808 to 1820. We will remember that most of the families who took Moscheles under their wing after his arrival in Vienna, and continued to support him in the years following his departure were Jewish. Moreover, it was these same families, Eskeles and Lewinger in particular, to whom Moscheles turned on behalf of Beethoven in 1827. There is also the cantata he wrote for the synagogue in 1814 to celebrate the victory of the emperor. This would have been a great honor for a Jewish composer and, for that matter, any relatively unknown twenty-year-old musician.

Can we determine how or if Moscheles practiced Judaism after he left Vienna? If we turn to his diaries or Charlotte’s book for an answer to this question, we will be disappointed. In point of fact, search as we might, there are very few places in which Jews or Judaism are mentioned at all. One example is the description of the town of Eger’s “Mördgässchen,” the street where Jews were murdered, that Moscheles wrote in his diary during his tour in 1816 (see Chapter 1).