WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART

AMADEUS IN 1785

PERSONA

Perceptions

Mozartian Kingdom

“He was a remarkably small man, very thin and pale, with a profusion of beautiful fine hair of which he was very proud.

... He had good heart and was always ready to be of service to anyone; but when he played, he was so touchy that if the least noise was made, he would stop right away.”
O'Kelly

“Mozart was a friend of men, and unselfish at the highest degree. Also did he not pile up a fortune! Living entirely in the kingdom of sounds, he attached little value to money and other goods. Also he often worked for nothing, for the pleasure or just to do something good.”
Franz Niemtschek, 1798

SOCIETÀ

Mozart and Haydn

Amitié

A deep friendship increased by a sincere admiration, bound Mozart and Haydn.

“I say it to you, in front of God, as an honest man, your son is the biggest composer that I know, in person or of name, he has taste, and moreover the greatest science of the composition.”
Haydn

“... even if someone would melt us together, it would be necessary to wait a long time before a Haydn comes out.
... Nobody can do everything – joking and touching, making us laugh and being moved by it – as well as Joseph Haydn.”
Mozart, quoted by J.F. Rochlitz

IN DIRETTA

Concerto No. 21, K.467

On March 9, 1785, Mozart leaves an indelible trace where musicality and transcendence come close in concerto number 21.

“It is here, directly through anxieties and not beyond, that Mozart's pride is put forward by means of his self-control and open heart.”
Jean and Brigitte Massin

“On this shadowy zone, winds section comes out and conveys the interrogative and imploring part. With the right hand, it's the piano that brings answer and light.”
Jean-Victor Hocquard

Download the Windows Media Player file format of the central andante movement
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start immediately its reading via the media unit below.

Concerto No. 21, K.467

KOECHEL

Musical Delight

For Haydn

In 1785, Mozart created Concerto No. 21, in which the second movement – the Andante – reflects emotional power and sensitivity that could be hardly found elsewhere.

In September, he offered six concertos to his dear friend, Haydn:

“Of this moment, I yield my rights to you on them, and thus beg you to look with indulgence those flaws that the partial eye of their father can have hidden to me, and to preserve, in spite of them, your generous friendship to the one that appreciates it so much.

Because I am heartily, your very dear friend,
Your quite sincere friend.”
W.A. Mozart

K.464	String quartet No. 18 in A Major - Fifth of six quartets dedicated to Joseph Haydn
K.465	String quartet No. 19 in C Major - Last of six quartets dedicated to Joseph Haydn
K.466	Concerto for piano No. 20 in D Minor
K.467	Concerto for piano No. 21 in C Major
K.468	"Gesellenreise", Lied in B flat Major
K.469	"Davidde Penitente", Oratorio
K.470	Andante in A Major intended for a concerto for violin (lost)
K.471	"Die Maurerfreude" (Masonic joy), Cantata in E flat Major, for solo tenor and chorus of men
K.472	"Der Zauberer" (the magician) in G Minor (One of the three Lieder on poems of Weisse))
K.473	"Die Zufriedenheit" (contentment) in B flat Major (One of the three Lieder on poems of Weisse)
K.474	"Die Betrogene Welt" (the abused world) in G Major (One of the three Lieder on poems of Weisse))
K.475	Imagination for piano in C Minor, dedicated to Theresa von Trattner
K.476	"Das Veilchen", (the violet) Lied in G Major on a poem of Goethe
K.477	"Maurerische Trauermusik" (funeral Masonic music) for orchestra, in C Minor
K.478	Quartet for piano and strings No. 1 in G Minor
K.479	Vocal quartet "Dite al Meno", in E flat Major
K.480	Vocal trio "Mandina Amabile", in A Major
K.481	Sonata for piano and violin No. 41 in E flat Major
K.482	Concerto for piano No. 22 in E flat Major

CON SPIRITO

Expressive Note

“It is unquestionably one of the greatest original geniuses and up to now I did not find any composer who has such an astonishing richness of new ideas. I would wish that he was less prodigious. He does not let breathe the listener, because as soon as we ponder over a beautiful thought, that a nobler one rejects in the shadow the preceding one...”
Dittersdorf

Knowledge Melody

“... a small knowledge is a dangerous thing. - If what you write contains errors, you will find hundreds of musicians, in all parts of the world, who will be able to correct them...

... Melody is the essence of music; I compare a good melodist with a beautiful racehorse and a contrapuntist with a stagecoach horse...

“Chi sa più, meno sa”
Mozart, quoted by O'Kelly

Glossaryexpressions and names used in this page

Chi sa più, meno sa: From Italian: The more we know the less we know.
Haydn: Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). Famous Austrian composer whose work falls under the classical style. He shared a deep friendship with Mozart.

These remarks were reported by Leopold Mozart at the time he visited his son in 1785.