(Have you guys ever wondered if classical composers actually look nothing like their paintings? Sorry I get sidetracked sometimes.)

 

So, it’s the fourth week of school, and I don’t know about you guys, but I’m dragging. My workout schedule has gone out the window (oops) and has been replaced by studying, tutoring, band, homework, and did I say studying already? Anyways. Hopefully this blog will be a break for both of us because we’re digging into Mozart’s life this week!

 

(I’m sorry, I have failed you guys. I couldn’t make a pun out of Mozart’s name. If you can think of a good one, leave one in the comments!)

 

We all know the name of Mozart and some of his accomplishments, but do we really know the man? Scholars go back and forth from naïve prodigy to depressed outcast and may have finally settled on hardworking, ambitious musician – sounds about right to me…. And we all know thanks to Kari, the babysitter from The Incredibles, that listening to Mozart makes babies smarter.

 

Again, a well-known fact about Mozart is his child prodigy status, more exceptional than other composers in that he was proficient on the clavier (a keyboard instrument) at age four and was performing for royal courts at age six. Supposedly, Mozart met a young Marie Antoinette during his tours, who helped Mozart when he slipped on a waxed floor. His natural reaction was to promptly propose marriage to her. (He was like seven but hey, he already had high standards.) To add to his musical genius, Mozart wrote his first piece, a violin sonata, at eight years old and his first opera at eleven.

 

However, his early triumphs didn’t last, and he eventually ran out of money while trying to compose in Paris. He returned to Salzburg, yet he remained unhappy until he moved to Vienna, catching onto the spirit of the Enlightenment there. He regained his success, although he let the praise go to his head and described himself as “proud as a peacock.” Thankfully, Mozart’s music was playful and joyful enough that people overlooked his faults.

 

Mozart had a flair for the witty and obscene. One of his canons for six voices is titled “Leck Mich im Arsch,” meaning “Kiss My Ass” (most likely written for party entertainment among friends). Quite a character!

 

But as we know from his other pieces, Mozart is able to convey an entire range of serious emotions throughout all of his pieces. He achieves “the golden mean” – not too serious yet still incorporating despair, hope, pleasure and emptiness. According to American composer Leonard Bernstein, Mozart’s music contained “the spirit of compassion, of universal love, even of suffering – a spirit that knows no age, that belongs to all ages.”

 

As for Mozart’s personal life, he had a pretty strong marriage, unlike some of the other composers I have talked about. After moving to Vienna, he married (and stayed faithful to) Constanze Weber, a soprano singer. He actually ended up featuring Constanze’s sisters, also trained singers, in some of his operas. Yet his married life was not without strife. Only two of Mozart’s six children survived infancy (possibly because he refused to let his children be breast-fed?).

 

One of Mozart’s constant companions was a starling. Yes, a bird. Apparently, starlings are very good mimics, and this particular bird had been singing his Piano Concerto No. 17 in the pet shop. The starling was there for Mozart’s successes and was so dear to him that Mozart hosted the grandest funeral for its passing and didn’t even go his own father’s funeral.

 

Mozart was amazingly productive during the last years of his life (although he had no idea they were his last years). He wrote The Magic Flute, his last opera, his immense “Jupiter” symphony, and his Clarinet Concerto. He also was in the midst of writing his Requiem Mass in D minor when he died at the age of 35, most likely from strep, in 1791. One of his students finished it for him and passed it onto a nobleman, who intended to plagiarize it, yet Constanze stepped in and made sure Mozart was the known composer (and that she got paid for the commission).

 

It’s so unfortunate that Mozart died so young – he had so much left to offer the world. After all that he contributed to the Classical Period, who knows where he would’ve taken music from there? But thankfully, the world continues to recognize Mozart’s genius through both classical and pop culture – Mozart’s music was featured in movies like The Shawshank Redemption, The King’s Speech, 27 Dresses, and I’m sure many others.

 

So, I hope you’ve learned that Mozart was so much more complex than the naïve prodigy or hooligan or by-chance star that society sometimes makes him out to be. He was a hardworking composer who really did change the world by writing down the music in his mind.

 

Here’s some of Mozart’s greatest hits!

Clarinet Concerto in A Major

Rondo Alla Turca (one of my favorite piano pieces to play)

“Jupiter” Symphony

Divertimento: A Musical Joke

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (or Serenade No. 13 – one of my favorites! But listen to the later movements too! Not just the famous beginning)

 

And here is our meme of the week!

 

And here are my sources:

“Mozart: 15 Facts about the Great Composer.” Classic FM, Global, 20 Feb. 2018, www.classicfm.com/composers/mozart/pictures/mozarts-15-birthday-facts/.

Ross, Ailsa. “13 Facts About Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.” Mental Floss, Mental Floss, 2 July 2018, www.mentalfloss.com/article/547532/facts-about-wolfgang-amadeus-mozart.

Ross, Alex. “Mozart’s Storm of Style.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/07/24/the-storm-of-style.