Lecture: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
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Mozart (1756 - 1791)
The classic period is also the period dominated by Mozart, one of the most fascinating musicians in the history of music. He once memorized a 10-minute piece performed by numerous singers singing different melodies at the same time. When he went back to his hotel, he wrote the piece down from memory. No one has ever demonstrated such a feat before. There is no question that Mozart was a musical genius, and much of Mozart's music over the centuries sounds fresh and alive even by today's standards, which in my book sets a musician aside from all the rest. Along these lines he wrote pieces that utilized memorable melodies, something simple enough that a concertgoer might whistle or hum on the way back from the concert--a good way to appeal to popular taste. He also demonstrated uncanny abilities to improvise and to create memorable themes or phrases to which he added innumerable clever variations.
During the 1980s, Mozart entered popular culture, due to the release of the movie Amadeus. The movie won numerous Oscar awards and does a wonderful job of portraying Mozart's music in a fresh, new setting. Controversy followed, stirred up mostly by historians of Mozart who cite numerous factual and historical errors in the movie.
Mozart is arguably considered to be one of the three greatest composers (along with Bach and Beethoven) in western classical music. Some critics question Mozart's originality and inventiveness, claiming he borrowed much from other composers that were his contemporaries. Nonetheless, he is definitely one of the more compelling personalities in the history of music on the planet. One, he is gifted with an incredible genius or memory for music. Two, he was a complex man, though some might argue he was immature. Three, many interesting stories and anecdotes were circulated in regards to his personality and musical genius.
One such story involves a sacred musical composition called "Miserere Mei Deus." The piece was deemed so beautiful by the Church, that the original manuscripts or musical scores were kept under lock and key, and the piece could not be performed outside the Sistine Chapel. Mozart heard the performance of the music twice and went back to his hotel and transcribed the music from memory. Now it is possible to compare Mozart's version with the original manuscript, which proves Mozart's feat actually took place.
View the following video which describes the history of Allegri's Miserere in more depth and view the performance at the end of the 30-minute video. While watching the performance, remember that Mozart was able to memorize the entire performance.
Mozart and the Theme and Variation Technique
Symphonies are like writing a books. They are long, tell a story, and have chapters (movements). How do composers like Mozart compose a 30-minute symphony for an entire orchestra? Where do the ideas come from?
A common approach is a technique called theme and variation. It simply means taking a short musical phrase that has interest and varying it (exploring) in so many ways that by the time a composer is finished a 30-minute symphony is done. Here are just a few ways a composer can vary a short two or three-second phrase:
1. Change some of the notes of the phrase and repeat it.
2. Start the phrase on a different note.
3. Assigned different instruments to the phrase.
Mozart was one of the best at doing this. Open up the following link and forward to 22:10, which is in the middle of the third movement of his Symphony #39 in Eb Major. From 22:10 to 22:12 (just two seconds) you hear what is discernibly an interesting short musical phrase or theme. Listen to that theme a few times so it sticks in your head. Then listen through the rest of the movement to all the different ways in which Mozart has his way with that theme--varying the instruments that play it, altering and adding notes to it, as well as disguising it one way and then another.
Mozart's Symphony #39 in Eb Major
