Mozart's 250th birthday

[Anarky]

Yesterday, the famous composer and rebel of his time, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, would have been 250 years old. To be honest, I'm a bit shocked, that we have threads dealing with Hot Dogs and not a single one dealing with one of the greatest composers of all time. I admit, he's not one of my favourites, but he still made some great music. Plus he was considered to be a musical genius.

I'm sure everyone knows one piece of his, and be it because of my thread where a scanner plays "Eine kleine Nachtmusik". So I thought we could need a thread dealing with classical music and now here it is. I waited until today to open this thread, because I wanted to include a newspaper-article dealing with the anniversary, and because newspapers are usually one day behind... you get the point. I know that this one article was around, because my mom was interviewed for it. And it is very interesting to hear what people think of the big fuzz made about this day. Of course, I translated this article.

Originally Posted by www.tagblatt.ch

"Today, he'd be a punk"

Hype around Mozart's anniversary: What do the people on the street think?

Some only know the rum truffles with marzipan known as "Mozartkugeln" others are upset about the commercial events with Mozart-themes: What our city's inhabitants think of the anniversary.

"Music, Fashion, Hair" are the first things that come to the mind of a woman. But she suspects that some of the famous white wigs were lice- and ratinfested. She says, she likes the light, hopping sound of Mozart's music. "Aside from the music, he never had control of anything. He didn't get along with money and family, he wasn't accepte. I think Mozart was a sociopath, maybe a bit like Robbie Williams is today. Today, says the woman with the short black hair and the big handbag, Mozart would probably be a punk. "One of those who get thrown of the station compound by the police.

"A mad man"

Ricardo Morga is sitting in a café, drinking an Espresso. "Mozart was almost like a God: A mad man, who died young and poor" says the computer technician and hobby-guitarist. When he listens to a concert of the famous composer, he's stunned. He's fascinated by the miraculous merging of sound and the coordination of the instrments. "Mozart was an inventor, who took music to a new level with his experiments"

Spared from Mozart

At the Bärenplatz [famous place in our city - Anarky], Manuela Graf is waiting for a friend to arrive. This morning, she heard a short report on Mozart on the radio, the young woman says. But all she can remember from the top of her head is "Rock me, Amadeus" by Falco. "Falco was cool" but she was spared from Mozart in school. All she knows is that he was supposed to be short and blonde and that the next "Wetten, dass...?" [famous TV-show over here- Anarky] was broadcasted from Salzburg because of the anniversary.

At a cell phone store, salesman Guido Gätzi thinks of the phone of his wife. The ringtone sounds just like a tune by Mozart. And he owns a vinyl-album of one of his concerts, which is tucked away in thin, brown paper. But he himself prefers pop-music, Abba for example.

Marketing shock

One might notice that nobody seems to care about the 250-year anniversary and showed no interest in the Mozart-themed events these days. Quite the opposite, these events are upsetting. "The way Mozart is portrayed by the press and the media, with very young models with bad makeup and crooked wigs, is disgracing. Especially since a dead person can't defend himself." says a dancer. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was "la crème de la crème", but now that every theater and opera absolutely must have a Mozart-event, people get turned off.

Musician Martin Schwarz says: "The anniversary doesn't interest me. It's pure marketing. Only the Gods know whether we're really honouring Mozart with all this. He admires Mozart's pieces on the piano: "You've got to listen to it twice. The first time, it might sound like some light pop-song, and it might be deemed shallow, but you wouldn't expect the deepness of his pieces." He is fascinated by Mozart's way of composing his music. "Today, you can't imagine how it was possible for him to compose these pieces. It remains a secret."

Here you have some views of the public. What do you say to the opinions of these people? What's yours? And by the way, do you like classical music in general?

[Fledermaus]

Shell yes! Classical music is great! As for the views on what sort of a person Mozart was... Seems like they're basing their views on the Mozart as depicted in the movie "Amadeus." I haven't researched him, myself, so I don't know. Most artists are kind of crazy, so it's likely he had his quirks. I don't know if he wrote music to "rebel"... or if he wrote music because he had an insane love affair with sound...

I just like his music. It's cool. And happy birthday, Mozart.

[Sewer Bull]

I don't know... I read a lot about Mozart lately and it seems he wasn't that rebellious, rude and freaky as Milos Forman's movie portrayed him. He was rather conservative but not stiff... or better to say, his level of "weirdness" wasn't beyond the actual standards of his times...

Nevertheless - he was a pure genius. One of my personal favs.

BTW - Anarky - your mother said that "Music, Fashion, Hair" stuff?

[Anarky]

Originally Posted by Sewer Bull

BTW - Anarky - your mother said that "Music, Fashion, Hair" stuff?

This part is all her:

"Music, Fashion, Hair" are the first things that come to the mind of a woman. But she suspects that some of the famous white wigs were lice- and ratinfested. She says, she likes the light, hopping sound of Mozart's music. "Aside from the music, he never had control of anything. He didn't get along with money and family, he wasn't accepte. I think Mozart was a sociopath, maybe a bit like Robbie Williams is today. Today, says the woman with the short black hair and the big handbag, Mozart would probably be a punk. "One of those who get thrown of the station compound by the police.

She told me that she didn't say the first part word by word, but the general meaning is still the same.

[damnhooligan]

Originally Posted by Anarky

I'm sure everyone knows one piece of his, and be it because of my thread where a scanner plays "Eine kleine Nachtmusik".

That scanner plays Bagatelle in A minor aka Für Elise by Beethoven.

But as far as all the fanfare about Mozart's birthday, I can see how they're going overboard. It's one thing for classical music stations to play Mozart all day, which is fine by me. It's something entirely different to be hocking Mozart t-shirts, bobbleheads and keychains along every street in Austria. A lot of this backlash I think stems from the fact that many people (particularly school age kids) still abhor classical music without even bothering to give it a good listen, because they associate it with images of dusty old men in wigs slaving over a hot piano. That's hardly a sexy image. But damnit, people... this man helped shore up the backbone of modern Western music as we know it today.

I've never seen all the films about Mozart that depict him as some sort of a rebel or troubled genius, but so much of his work has strong foundations in traditional classical music. He adored J.S. Bach (who doesn't!) and you can hear that Bach style in echoed in his work, as well as in the works of several other noteable composers. But over time, all historical figures get molded and shaped into what the public wants. We like our heroes brave and faultless. We like our villains ruthless and without remorse. And we like our musicians/writers/artists troubled but brilliant.

And yeah, I dig classical music. I'm not so much a fan of the 20th century stuff though, and I tend to stick to Baroque pretty exclusively. I like the classics.

[Anarky]

Originally Posted by damnhooligan

That scanner plays Bagatelle in A minor aka Für Elise by Beethoven.

It does?

But I totally agree with the rest. They seem to be willing to butcher anything for just a couple of cents these days.

[damnhooligan]

Originally Posted by Anarky

It does?

Compare and contrast, comrade.

Scanner
Für Elise by Beethoven
Eine kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart

[Jo Dawn]

Ahh, yes. Classical music. I love it. I was quite addicted to Nochturnal, and another piece I can't quite remember for a while there. Mmm, I think I shall go and listen to some right now...

[ThirdMarioBro]

Thank you Wolfgang, for being the badass mother fu*ker you were, and for giving us the musical world we all know so well. You were the original, and you set the stage for the future we cherish. Where ever you are, you are the man. Happy birthday Mozart.

[BartAllen]

Mozart supposdely had turrets syndrom? lol i heard he also wrote a song about farting.