Mozart
Child Mozart in
Schönbrunn Palace
Mozart’s Sister – Film by Rene Feret
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had an older sister, Maria Anna Mozart. Mozart’s Sister is a film accounting of her early life and the reasons why she abandoned her own career as a musician, composer and singer; instead, devoting her life to supporting her brother as dictated by their father, Leopold.
Maria Anna “Nannerl” Mozart was three years older than her brother Wolfgang Amadeus. He adored his sister. Much has been written and told of the early life of child prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, arguably the greatest composer that ever lived. His elder sibling Maria Anna, affectionately known to her family as “Nannerl,” was a gifted musician, composer and singer in her own right. Sadly, she became a victim of the period’s patriarchal society where women were not treated as equals. Initially, it was Nannerl who received top-billing as an excellent fortepianist, harpsichordist and singer during the family’s tour to the European capitals in the 1760s. Continue reading
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Mozart and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Mozart Variations of “Ah! vous dirai-je maman” for Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star
“Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star” is a poem sung to the tune of the French melody “Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman”, which was published in 1761 and later arranged by composer Wolfgang A. Mozart for his famous “12 Variations on “Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman, K265/300e.
It is a common misconception that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star.” He did not, as many of us believed or were made to believe whilst playing it for our piano lessons as children that Wolfgang Mozart composed it. Mozart was a child of five when the original French folk song was composed under the title of “Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman”, in 1761. Literally, or in context, the English translation would mean something like “Oh, would I tell you, mom?”, “Will I tell you, mom?”, or “Should I tell you, mom?”. The music first appeared (without words) in “Les Amusements d’une Heure et Demy” by Mr. Bouin in Paris.
Mozart composed a series of variations on this melody when he was older. Amongst my CD collection of Mozart music Continue reading
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Mozart Contemporaries – Non-Musicians
* DAVID ALLAN, (1749-1832), Scottish history painter, known for portraits and for genre paintings such as Scotch Wedding, which earned him the title ‘the Scottish Hoarth.’
Jane Austen
* JANE AUSTEN, (1775-1817), English novelist who observed speech and manners with wit and precision as revealed in her characters. Most famous works: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Persuasion.
* JOEL BARLOW , (1754-1812), American poet and diplomat, a member of the literary circle the ‘Connecticut Wits.’ He published an epic entitled The Vision of Columbus in 1787 but is particularly remembered for Hasty Pudding (1796), a celebration of an American dessert.
* FERDINAND LUKAS BAUER, (1760-1826), Austrian painter. As the botanical artist on Matthew Flinders’ second voyage to Australia in 1801, he made more than 1,500 painstakingly detailed drawings of Australian plants and animals. He is commemorated in the name of the Australian plant species Bauera.
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Mozart Music in Movies
Mozart by JN Croce
After Peter Shaffer’s 1984 film Amadeus, directed by Milos Forman, many people not into classical music “turned on” to Mozart. To Mozartians and admirers of Mozart, the general initial reaction about the movie was one of disgust since it was not historically accurate, but that’s Hollywood. On the other hand, the good side is that some people who didn’t know much about him, young and young-once, were so taken by Amadeus enough to pursue info about this child prodigy and to know more about music. Mozart’s music in the film Amadeus include Adagio of Gran Partita, Piano Concerto No. 20 (2nd movement), Requiem, and 1st movement of both Symphonies Nos. 25 and 29.
The list of Mozart music in films shared here is not exhaustive. Our aim is to impart awareness especially of those music you’ve heard not knowing it’s Mozart’s music. The popular “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” appears in more than one film, so does Clarinet Concerto, an all-time favourite.
Ave Verum Corpus
This one motet music of Mozart, Ave Verum Corpus, is one of the most beautiful and famous sacred music. He composed it for Corpus Christi Day in 1971, the year he died. It’s not surprising that the Köchel number is 618, which is close to his unfinished Requiem, K.626.
Film: Lorenzo’s Oil Continue reading
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Christoph W. Gluck
Christoph W. Gluck.
Mozart Contemporary: C.W. Gluck
Christoph Gluck was an older contemporary of Mozart. In August 1782 a special performance of Mozart’s Entfuhrung, which Gluck, an older contemporary of Mozart was anxious to hear, was arranged for. It delighted Gluck immensely and he invited Mozart to dinner.
The following year (1783), Gluck went to Mozart’s concert (March 23) and Mozart improvised variations on a theme from La Rencontre imprevue.
My primary source about Gluck is one by Alfred Einstein simply titled Gluck published by McGraw-Hill. I like this paragraph from the backcover: “It is not easy to say whether Gluck was international or German, Italian, or French, for he was an opera composer,” writes Einstein of this study of the life and music of C. W. Gluck (1714-1787); yet the career of Gluck does epitomize the internationalism prevailing in the arts of his time. Continue reading
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