Happy Birthday, Wolfgang!

Before discussing one of the biggest musical geniuses of all time, I'll make note of another fine composer. Edouard Lalo was born on this day in 1823 in France. His most famous work, "Symphonie Espagnole", reveals his Spanish descent, and although it is called a symphony, it's really basically a violin concerto. It is part of the standard romantic violin repertoire today, and for good reason. Listen to the delightful 5th movement played by violinist Jascha Heifetz. Lalo dedicated this work to Pablo de Sarasate, another fine violinist/composer who I'll discuss later.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was also born on this day, a little over a quarter of a millenium ago (1756) in Salzburg, Austria. Mozart may have the most "accessible" music of any composer - it is generally likable on first listen, and probably more widely known by the general public than any other. Who in the world doesn't recognize the opening of Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night-music)?

His accessibility doesn't mean that his music is shallow, however. There is great depth and many subtleties to be found in his works. He had a very difficult life, and wrote music more to escape his difficulties than to pour his emotions into his music. Unlike Beethoven, who disregarded many of the "rules" of composing and wrote things that shocked people for their bold sounds and forms (and got away with it), Mozart stayed within the rules, more or less. As a result, the emotional range of his music is not perhaps as obviously wide. But it provides great relief for the weary listener who has had a hard day. As a piano teacher of mine once said, Mozart's music produces the least "wear and tear" on the soul and uplifts it instead.

Mozart was flowing with musical ideas. In the words of another music-professor of mine, "Beethoven had to work out his music with many drafts, revisions, etc. Mozart simply took dictation..." as if someone were directly playing the music for him in his head and he simply wrote down what he heard. It's not as though he didn't have to work hard, though. From a very young age, he saturated himself with music of other composers and studied very hard. Hard work combined with a natural genius produced the results.

There is an anecdote of a young (12-year-old) Wolfgang traveling with his father, and coming to the Vatican, where a choir sang Allegri's "Miserere", a 12 minute-long A capella piece with a beautiful multiple-part harmony. The music was property of the Catholic church, and it was forbidden (upon pain of excommunication) to have a copy of it or sing it outside the church choir. The only problem with this was that Mozart listened to it once and memorized it. So he went home and wrote the whole thing out for memory. The churchmen heard about this, but what could they do but admire?

One other thing I need to get off my chest has to do with Mozart's character. The movie Amadeus, while entertaining (and full of beautiful music!), exaggerates Mozart's silliness and wild living. I read a book recently called "The Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers", which I highly recommend to anyone interested in the Christian influence and Christian lives of many of the classical composers. The chapter on Mozart was especially interesting. It noted that, yes, there was evidence that Mozart had written some very inappropriate things in some letters to a young female cousin when he was younger (and this should not be excused). But this is the exception, and has been exploited and overblown. Mozart had a very serious Christian faith which deepened as he grew older.

Apparently Mozart and his wife Constance had a strong marriage, and tales of Mozart's womanizing have supposedly been discounted. When they were engaged, he wrote to his father of his spiritual compatibility with Constance - "I found that I never prayed so heartily, confessed or communicated so devoutly, as when by her side. And she feels the same." When he was 31, just 4 years before his death, he wrote "I never lie down in my bed without reflecting that perhaps I - young as I am - may not live to see another day; yet none of all who know me can say that I am socially melancholy or morose. For this blessing I daily thank my Creator and wish it from my heart for all my fellow men." At another time he wrote, "Let us put our trust in God and console ourselves with the thought that all is well, if it is in accordance with the will of the Almighty, as He knows best what is profitable and beneficial to our temporal happiness and our eternal salvation."

So what about his music? Personally, I'm a fan of his 23 piano concertos (Nos. 5-27; the first 4 were just transcriptions of the works of another composer). In them are some of his best orchestral and pianistic writing, and some of his most memorable and beautiful themes. My personal favorites are the two minor-key concertos, No. 20 in D minor (K. 466) and No. 24 in C minor (K. 491). The latter inspired Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto, written in the same key. Listen here to the first movement of the Mozart K. 491. Another one of my favorites is his Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major (K. 453). The second movement is one of his most moving pieces. It feels like it tells a story, with the piano acting as a singer telling of both joys and disappointments. There are so many subtleties in this piece, and it is very emotional, yet the emotion is restrained... as if Mozart wants to let you into his deepest, darkest corners, but only if you listen closely and carefully. Here's your chance to do so (note the movement is broken into two videos).

This blog entry is already too long, but there are so many more wonderful pieces to be heard! Here's a smattering of his best:
- Piano Concerto No. 9 (K. 271), 3rd movement, dedicated to a woman-pianist Mozart knew (she must have been talented!)
- Piano Sonata K. 330 in C Major, 3rd movement, played by an 82 year-old Vladimir Horowitz. Mozart's piano music has been paradoxically said to be "easy enough for any child to play, yet daunting for the even the most skilled professional." Little kids can play Mozart and make it sound half-way decent (whereas they don't have big enough hands to even play the notes on pieces by Chopin and Rachmaninoff). To make Mozart sound professional, though, one has to play transparently, so that every note is heard, leaving the pianist very exposed. No running things together with the pedal and dropping notes unless you want to sound very sloppy. Horowitz was actually scared to play Mozart in public until his later years, even though he had a monstrous technique to play all the difficult Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, and other piano pieces.
- Symphony No. 29 in A Major (K. 201), 1st movement, written when he was about 18!
- String quartet K. 465 in C Major, "Dissonance", 1st movement. The beginning sounds like it was written in the 20th century :)
- Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major, K. 216, 3rd movement. Less than three minutes into it, the character of the piece changes and there's a very serious little interlude with violin over plucking strings, then back to the playful character shortly after. Genius!
- Ave verum corpus (K. 618), one of his last works. An incredibly beautiful, short piece for choir and orchestra.
- Kyrie, from the Requiem (K. 626), his last work, finished by one of his students. This is a powerful piece of music!