Friday, January 27, 2006
january 27th
Today is Mozart's 250th birthday. What a lucky thing that we've lived in the years since then. There are over 5,000 celebrations around the world and on the internet - how cool is that in this peculiar and difficult world of ours. Check out the Mozart project and the official birthday site, especially. The Washington Post has a lovely piece on his music with recommendations for pieces to enhance different occasions and/or times of day. Even Forbes gets in on it. Aside from the sheer fabulousness of his music, think of a toddler coming home from church or a concert and just sitting down and playing the music he just heard. Wolfgang did that at 3 years old! Can you imagine!? He wrote his first symphony when he was 9 and a still-respected opera when he was 12. It must have been wild to be his parents, don't you think? What music student doesn't play some of his 700 pieces? Don't miss Byzantium Shore's post.

If I had to, had to pick a favorite, I'd be torn between The Magic Flute and the Requiem. What's your favorite?

P.S. A Sweet Familiar Dissonance points out that January 27th is also the anniversary of Verdi's death in 1901 and links to an interesting article at vilaine file. Quite the musical day, eh?!

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Permalink | | posted by jau at 12:56 PM


3 more:
Blogger CGHill — at 5:41 PM, January 28, 2006:
To swipe a bit from Tom Lehrer:

It's people like that who make you realize how little you've accomplished. When Mozart was my age, he had been dead for 17 years.
 

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Blogger jau — at 1:27 AM, January 30, 2006:
A propos of that, I read a biography once that said that even though Mozart died in his 30s, he really died of old age....
 

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Blogger Unknown — at 3:17 PM, February 04, 2006:
I love the Requiem, too. But my favorite has to be the second movement of his Clarinet concerto. It brings tears to my eyes almost everytime I hear it.
 

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