Imagine composing music at five, public appearances at eight and writing almost 600 musical pieces, most masterpieces– in a brief life of 35 years (1756–1791). It’s said Beethoven composed his early works in the shadow of Mozart. Such was the genius of Mozart, that legendary composer Haydn wrote, ‘posterity will not see such talent again in 100 years.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was brilliant, be it operas, piano concertos and chamber music to Masses, symphonies and wind serenades. As he traversed different countries, he mesmerised one and all, as his music evolved with the passage of time – from formal and melodic fluency to a textural richness and an emotional profundity which was unheard of during his times.
Tracking his extraordinary musical journey, starting his career as a freelance composer, pianist and teacher, connoisseurs refer to his first great opera.’ Idomeneo’; and his memorable operatic masterpieces – ‘Cosi fan tutte’, ‘Don Giovanni’, ‘Fiagro’, and his last opera, ‘The Magic Flute’. Actually much earlier, Mozart had hallmarked his genius as a great keyboard player and composer with the opera, ‘Die Entführung aus dem Serail’.
At the age of 30, just five years before he died, Mozart got inspired by the works of Bach and Handel and he composed in baroque style leading to the evolution of his distinctive musical language. It was during this phase that he composed one of his timeless pieces,’ Mass in C minor ; and also befriended Haydn, so much so that Mozart dedicated the six quartets to Haydn.
Mass in C Minor 427: Kyrie – A mass is a sacred musical composition involving choirs usually written for liturgy. The movement begins solemnly with the entire orchestra and eventually leads to a soprano solo.
Mozart is among the most admired of classical composers, who is credited with the unique Shakespearian craft to bring about an amalgam of tragedy & comedy, confidence & vulnerability, beauty & truth… No wonder, his works are considered as the ultimate in symphonies, chamber music and operas; his concerts & concertos are acclaimed as musical benchmarks, and he towers like a colossus who is unrivalled. Without question, one of the greatest musicians, if not the greatest.
Piano Concerto No. 21, K.467 – The concerto switches between playful, lively, and subtle moods in its three movements unlike the dark Concerto No. 20.
Like great artists, Mozart is modest about his worldview, when he says, “I pay no attention whatever to anybody’s praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings…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”.
