Talk with Mozart(PART 1 OF 3)
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Hello, Diane ... how are you?
Wolfie! ... What a suprise! ... How come you show up like this?
Well ... Kato told me that you would like to see me.
Did he tell you that?
Yes, he did. Besides, Kato asked me to list up the three most popular pieces of my work to entertain you.
So, Wolfie, you're gonna show me your most popular pieces, huh?
Yes, I am. The best of all is "Ave verum corpus (K618)."
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I wrote this piece for Anton Stoll, a friend of mine, who conducted the choir in Baden where my wife, Constanze, took the waters in his last months. For the feast of Corpus Christ in July 1791, I wrote this motet.
I know... 'cause this is the most famous single piece of church music you wrote.
Do you really think so, Diane?
Yes, I do.
Well ... I thought you would like it.
What made you think so?
'Cause you're a daughter of a clergyman.
How do you know?
Kato told me so.
He's got a big mouth, hasn't he? ... Well ... I like "Ave verum corpus" 'cause it blends the simplicity of your late style with a contained chromaticism. It does not sound at all sickly, though it undoubtedly is the source of many subsequent pieces that do.
Diane, you seem to know a lot about my works, don't you?
My piano teacher talks a lot about you and your music pieces. How about the second most popular piece?
It is "Claeinet Concerto in A (K622)"
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I completed this piece in the fall of 1791 for Anton Stadler, another friend of mine, who pioneered the use of basset clarinet, with an especially low range that extended the bottom of the instrument by a third. I respected and admired the way of his play. Never would I have tought that a clarinet could be capable of imitating the human voice as deceptively as it is imitated by Anton Stadler. So I wrote the above piece for Stadler. How do you like it, Diane?
Oh, I like it 'cause its melody breathes a spirit of serenity and of resignation that seems entirely in tune with your spirit in the last years. Wolfie, tell me the third most popular piece.
It is "Eine kleine Nachtmusik (K525)."
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I love this one most among all your works.
Oh, do you? I'm glad you like this piece. To tell you the truth, this is one of my favorites.
Is it? Nobody knows why you composed the above piece. Tell me, Wolfie, why on earth you created the "Little Night Music"?
Good question, Diane! I completed "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" on August 10, 1787.
If I remember correctly, your father died on May 28, 1787, didn't he?
That's right. I was so depressed at my most beloved father's death that I didn't know how I could overcome it. You see, my father had been my teacher and mentor. Without him, I wouldn't have become a gifted composer at all.
So, the "Little Night Music" has something to do with your father's death.
No, not really.
Wolfie, I don't mean to be rude, but I don't like a roundabout talk. Just tell me why you composed the "Little Night Music."
Well ... although I loved my father more than anybody else, he objected dating with my first love---17-year-old Aloisia Weber, who was a fine singer and daughter of the promoter at the Mannheim court theatre. I was twenty-two at the time.
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So you composed the "Little Night Music" for Aloisia Weber, didn't you?
Not at the time, but I had to think about her so that I could pull myself out of the abyss of the depression and misery when my father died.
I see ... So, Wolfie, you did your best to cheer yourself up while dreaming of Aloisia, huh?
That's right.
No wonder you did a superb job in completing the piece. I think the "Little Night Music" is the most successful serenade ever written, and certainly features in any "top ten" list of your works.
Do you really think so, Diane?
Yes, most definitely I do. Its virtues are utter simplicity, memorability and perfect balance. Its initial fanfares and melody indelibly remain in the mind, though really no different from those in so many other openings of your pieces. By the way, I've got one more question.
What is it?
In October of 1762, when you were six years old, you were invited to the palace at Schönbrunn in Austria, right?
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Yes, I was.
At the palace, you met Marie Antoinette, who was a year older than you. Marie and you were getting along quite well, and you were playing with the princess, and slipped on a polished floor. Bursting into tears, you were picked up and comforted by the seven-year-old Marie Antoinette. Then you kissed the future queen of France, and said "You're nice. I'll marry you when I grow up."
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Mozart & Marie Antoinette
Oh, rubbish! I didn't say that. One of the story-tellers made up such a dumb tale, I suppose.
But I saw the movie: "Amadeus."
"Amadeus" Trailer
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I enjoyed this hilarious movie to the hilt.
Diane, this movie is based on a short 1830 play by Alexander Pushkin called "Mozart and Salieri," in which Salieri poisoned me to death, which wasn't true at all.
But the movie is so funny.
Diane, you like funny movies, eh?
Amadeus - Funny Parts
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This is far from the true story. I look so stupid and unsensible, don't I?
But I like the movie.
Diane, I'll tell you what... Don't see the above movie again. Instead, watch the following piano concert so that you could improve your playing skill.
(To be followed)