no violence whatsoever
Rather this, which may musically portray the threat of judgment:
and this:
Perhaps by now you have figured out that WAM = Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, born this day in Salzburg in 1757.
One of the great geniuses.
There are three sacred musical days in our household - December 16, March 21 (OS - but we keep that day) and January 27.
Mozart was one of the great writers for the human voice, especially the female voice, as one can see here:
Please follow me below the squiggle
Mozart could have a sense of humor, which is why I offer this duet in English:
We saw this opera perhaps the best way to see - the voices of great singers but done by marionnettes in Salzburg
Mozart could write for the male voice as well, and had a superb sense of drama, as this old video from Don Giovanni demonstrates:
As turns out, my wife is distant cousins with a bassoonist here in DC whose wife, Nurit Bar-Josef, is the Concertmistress of the National Symphony. We had occasion last year to attend a performance of this piano concerto, with the music director, Christoph Eschenbach, conducting from the piano:
As a musician I have sung Mozart, performed him on piano and cello, solos, duets, string quartets, symphonies.
There are so many pieces I love, that carry great meaning for me. For example, the first movement of this sonata, whose last movement is the well-known Rondo A La Turca:
My sister plays violin. When we were young we did a number of the Violin Sonatas, for example this:
We also played together in a string quartet. We were fortunate to appear on TV both doing sonatas and as part of our string quartet. Here is one of our favorites in a classic performance by the original Budapest String Quartet:
Among the great works Mozart produced were the two string quintets. Here is a movement from the G minor:
Mozart became one of the first champions of the clarinet. Here is a selection from the clarinet quintet:
There are so many pieces that are meaningful to me, and to most who are musicians. One of the best known is this brief piece:
As an orchestral musician, the final two symphonies are perhaps the most meaningful for me. Allow me to offer the 1st movement of the 40th:
and the final movement of the 41st, which is from a compositional standpoint an incredible achievement, but which one can enjoy simply for the music itself, here performed by the great Austrian conductor Karl Bohm leading the Vienna Philharmonic
Mozart died before he finished his requiem, which was completed by his student Sussmayr. There remains some dispute about what was written by Mozart and what by Sussmayr, who later tried to claim some of the work as his own.
I began this posting with the Dies Irae, for which there is a detailed sketch in Mozart's hand. I am going to end with the Introit (completely done by Mozart) and the Kyrie, for which there is an extant detailed draft in Mozart's hand. I do so because the latter movement connects Mozart with Beethoven. Beethoven is known to have considered Handel the greatest composer, and this movement is Mozart's tribute to the composer of the Messiah, of which Mozart had done an arrangement. The theme of the Kyrie is taken from "With His Stripes He Healed" ...
Mozart has given me - and the world so much.
On this the anniversary of his death, i offer back his genius, his music,
Peace.