Question: What is more classic than classical music?
Answer: Nothing!
I admit, classical music is one of those types of things where, if you're not accustomed to it, it can be somewhat more difficult to appreciate. I come from a family with an appreciation and in some cases love for classical music. Naturally, I didn't pay as much attention to it when I was younger, but I love it now. And not to seem cliche, but one of my favorite classical composers is Mozart.
The Man:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Born January 27, 1756
Died December 5, 1791
Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart was born in the winter of 1756 in Salzburg. It comes as no surprise that one of the world most famous composers took an interest in music from an early age. Both of Mozart's parents were musical; particularly his father, Leopold, who was a composer and music teacher, who even published successful textbooks on instruments. Mozart also had an older sister, Maria Anna, who was a very talented musician. Leopold Mozart educated his daughter on the clavier, and while her talent was considerable, it was his 3 year old son who seemed desperate to learn. Leopold was amused at his son's interest, so he began to pick out and play various tunes on the keyboard to entertain him. Amazingly, the young Mozart would listen and then play them back to his father perfectly from memory.
Mozart's obvious genius for music did not stop there. He was only a mere 5 years of age when he composed his first complete pieces of music. His sister claimed that he did so spontaneously, and would then come to his father and play them. Leopold would then write down the notes on sheets of paper.Mozart and his sister were formally trained in all subjects, with emphasis on music, by their father at home. When Maria Anna and her younger brother were 11 and 6 respectively, they went as a family to tour Europe. In front of royal courts and crowds of strangers, the two children unabashedly displayed their musical talents. It was during this tour that historical accounts say Mozart met the future Marie Antoinette and said that he loved her and asked her to marry him. Undoubtedly the course of history would have been very different for them both if that had happened. Besides royalty, Mozart's father had high hopes that this tour would bring his son face to face with famous musical names of the day, in order to further educate him on different styles and genres. Such introductions and acquaintances were made, particularly with Johann Christian Bach, whom Mozart greatly admired.
Traveling so extensively was very difficult, and sometimes even dangerous, during that time period. After serious bouts of illness it was decided that Mozart and his father would continue on while Maria Anna and Anna Maria would remain in Salzburg. It was on a visit to Italy that they were privileged to be invited to listen to a performance of Miserere--a closely guarded and seldom shared treasure of the Vatican in Rome. Afterwards, Mozart wrote it out in it's entirety from memory, therefore producing the first unauthorized copy of the musical piece.
Once the European tours ended and Mozart returned to Salzburg he was officially employed by Prince-Archbishop Heironymus Colloredo as a court musician. While this was a very good step for developing his music, 17 year old Mozart was unhappy with this position. As his musical abilities grew even more, he had a desperate desire to compose opera, but there was no place for this in the city. On a more basic level, he disliked the lowliness of the position and it's accompanying low salary. He officially resigned in 1777 and went to look for employment elsewhere.
Mozart wandered through various different cities but could not find work, despite his popularity. While he was travelling in 1778 his mother, Anna Maria, died. This further decreased his desire to return to the confines of Salzburg, since he was very fond of his mother. Unfortunately, he would be forced to return in 1779 to accept a position that his father had set up for him as a concertmaster and court organist. The tension was still there between Mozart and his employers and it only increased over time.
Mozart accompanied his opera Indomeneo to Munich in 1781. The people of the city loved his new work and hailed him with praise that he felt was only rightfully deserved. When that praise did not extend to his employers in Salzburg, Mozart attempted to resign from his position but he was not granted permission until a month later when he was literally kicked out. Mozart dusted himself off and was happy to finally have the freedom to compose what he wished for whomever he liked. He decided that he would stay in Vienna, and things seemed to be going well. The city was kind to him, work was good, and it was during this time that, after a rocky and whirlwind courtship, he was married to Constanze Weber in 1782.
This seemingly blissful period did not last long, however. Mozart was a terrible manager and steward of his finances and insisted on living beyond his means. He and his new wife moved into a fashionable house in the city, and even hired servants. It was difficult for a freelance solo musician to acquire performance space within theaters and opera houses, so Mozart was reduced to booking any public venue he could find. Following the major success of two of his most important works, The Marriage of Figaro (1786) and Don Giovanni (1787), Mozart began to sink into financial insecurity and depression.
There is evidence as early as 1788 that Mozart was desperate to make ends meet. He was composing less and begging for money more. He sloughed through the next 3 years until things finally started to look up in 1791. The fact that he began to compose with passion again suggests that he was overcoming his depression. He also began to sell simpler compositions as well as work for hire. The letters from the Mozart household begging for money began to stop, and he slowly began to pay off his debts. Unfortunately, Mozart began to struggle with illness in the fall of 1791 while he was traveling for his work. He continued to push forward until he became seriously ill and bedridden on November 20, 1791. To this day it is not known what ailed the young composer. There are medical theories of all kinds, from complicated and extremely rare kidney disorders, to the much more basic diagnosis of rheumatic fever. He remained ill until his death at the age of 35 on December 5, 1791. By the time of his death, the musical genius had written 64 symphonies, 27 piano concertos, 5 violin concertos, 4 horn concertos, 7 woodwind concertos, 18 piano sonatas, 36 violin sonatas, 23 string quartets, 6 string quintets, 13 serenades, 14 marches, 18 masses, 17 church sonatas, 8 pieces of organ music, 22 operas, 39 canons, and much more, amounting to 1000 pieces of music total.
The Movie:
Amadeus
1984
Starring Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, and F. Murray Abraham
The film is based around a trifle of a feud between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Hulce) and the Italian composer Antonio Salieri (Abraham). While it is true that there are letters which show Mozart expressed some frustration towards Salieri (and vice versa) for various reasons, the two never had an extensive and bitter feud as the plot in this film suggests.
The story is narrated by a dying Salieri to a priest after he has tried to commit suicide so as to atone for his sins towards the great composer Mozart, long since deceased. He tells about his passion for music which has been kindled since childhood, and how he vowed to God to devote his career to Him. He began to gain success and then was astonished to find the flighty, vulgar, ridiculous and immature youth of Mozart come into court life and begin to steal his glory. Throughout the movie a remarkably accurate account of Mozart's life and career is portrayed, from his first employment with the court, to his marriage to Constanze (Berridge), to his great financial difficulties, depression, illness, and eventually his death.
It is revealed that Salieri feels responsible for Mozart's death by competing with him and praying for his own success so that it drove Mozart to his untimely death. Throughout his narrative, Salieri reveals his bitterness at the fact that Mozart, who outshone him in every way despite his own equally impressive musical talents, was treated as a god who laughed in the face at Salieri's achievements. The movie ends wit Salieri dubbing himself the Patron Saint of Mediocrity, and he is shown blessing all the other invalids in the asylum as Mozart's high-pitched laugh can be heard.
"Nevertheless the passions, whether violent or not, should never be so expressed as to reach the point of causing disgust; and music, even in situations of the greatest horror, should never be painful to the ear but should flatter and charm it, and thereby always remain music."
-Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings."
-Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Despite the fact that it probably can't truly be classified as a classic film since it was released in the 1980s, I adore Amadeus. I've owned it on VHS since I was a tiny tot and I have watched that tape over and over again so many times that I am amazed that it still works. It was also enormously successful at the time of it's release, being nominated for 11 Academy Awards and winning 8. It is also worth pointing out that, other than exaggerating the feud between Mozart and Salieri, the film is a historically accurate portrayal and representation of Mozart's life, which also (of course) features much of his beautiful and extraordinary music.
Here is the trailer of the film:
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