"Mozart was a bad composer who died too late rather than too early."
Um... excuse me? Should you really be saying something like that right after his 250th birthday...?
Well, yes... because today I'm declaring open season on Mozart.
It was legendary pianist Glenn Gould who made that surprisingly blasphemous proclamation, and I think it's a subversive delight to behold amid all the hype and marketing surrounding Mozart's 250th this year. If you look hard enough, you can even find a few other Mozart detractors out there...
No less a talent than renowned opera diva Maria Callas once stated, with refreshing bluntness, that "most of Mozart's music is dull."
British composer Frederick Delius is said to have remarked, "If a man tells me he likes Mozart, I know in advance that he is a bad musician."
Esteemed music journalist Norman Lebrecht spewed forth a particularly bitter anti-Mozart tirade not long ago titled Too Much Mozart Makes You Sick.
New Yorker music critic Alex Ross provocatively suggested celebrating Mozart by ignoring Mozart on his 250th birthday.
But nobody can top good ol' Glenn Gould when it comes to anti-Mozart quotations: he also memorably (and rather accurately) described Mozart's 40th symphony as "eight remarkable measures ... surrounded by a half-hour of banality."
Otherwise, all kinds of brilliant and intelligent people have predictably said reverent and worshipful things about Wolfgang over the years, and paying tribute to the boy genius and/or prodigy on his big day was a mandatory ritual for music lovers everywhere.
Mozart concerts and operas were performed worldwide over the weekend, and all night Mozart birthday parties raged on in Salzburg and Vienna, Austria (but not in Elroy, Wisconsin.)
Some people apparently listened to Mozart on the radio for 11 hours straight on January 27: the holy day of His birth. If that wasn't enough of an Amadeus fix, you could switch over to BBC Radio 3 for 24 hours of continuous Mozart, or NPR where they boasted about their "BIRTHDAY GIFT TO MOZART ON HIS 250TH: MORE THAN 60 HOURS OF PROGRAMMING."
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - sal m
i think it's a fair question to wonder if mozart would be getting this much attention if not for the major motion picture, Amadeus...thus taking him mainstream and foisting him and his hollywoodized image upon the general public.
2 - Connie Phillips
Interesting stuff, Stephen. You bring up some very interesting points in your Mozart vs. Bach and Beethoven discussion.
3 - Matt Largo
Hey Stephen,
Nice post showing pointing out how Mozart is being pimped this entire year. I like Mozart just fine even though I lean more toward Indie Rock. I plan on making my way to Salzburg this Summer and will try to catch some of the "magic" of the Salzburger Festspiele. If so, I'll blog it complete with photos.
Matt "Magic Flute" Largo
4 - Michael J. West
Thank GOD someone else agrees with me, ESPECIALLY this year! For me, listening to Mozart is like looking at fractals: impressive, maybe fun sometimes, but ultimately its precision is tedious and off-putting.
Mozart, in other words, is TOO PERFECT. Too structured, too harmonically balanced, too pattern-oriented. Too much a product of the Enlightenment. Fractals is a good comparison, too, because it often seems like Mozart's work could have been generated by a computer.
By the way...I have to presume that Shark hasn't seen this yet, since he would either fly into a blind rage at somebody denigrating Mozart or blithely accuse you of being mentally handicapped.
5 - brink craven
wow this was funny --ive always been a huge fan of the jupiter symphony but the second movement is the only one I really loved and even of that, only part of it makes me swoon. even so, I never really thought of his music as over rated--it just never came to mind. Thanks for challenging my perceptions. a good dose of woop ass is always a refreshing thang.
6 - godoggo
I feel the same way about Mozart, though I tend to assume it's my problem, not his - that I'll get him when I'm ready. I seem to recall Gould saying, in an interview that I read online, something to the effect that Mozart is best when he's most like Bach - to which I'd add "or Beethoven." I that he made some very fascinating and very specific criticisms of Mozart's musical decisions - chord choices and such - I wish I were familiar enough with the music to know what he's talking about...
I happen to have here a 3-CD set of Gould playing Beethoven, Mozart, and Hayden - I'd been curious to hear what he does with composers other than Bach, so I'd checked out what there was at the library. The big surprise (the Beethoven sonatas are wonderful) was the Haydn - a composer whom I've always found boring. But what Gould (who apparently preferred him to Mozart) does with it - making wild shifts in tempo (presumably the sort of thing that a certain kind of musician complains about as Gould's unscholarly approach), while always maintaining the most delicate touch imaginable - makes his music fascinating in a way I've never found it before.
Speaking of which, I bet the Mozart included is some of the stuff he criticized in that interview I mentioned. I'll have to find it again.
7 - brink craven
I just dont like all the fowery piano stuff that mozart put out-- the kind of music the male composers wrote cause the ladys liked it (I think) Just like our current rock musicians who get thier initial inspiration to play the guitar because they were once horny and hardup and reaaallly wanted to do some groupies.
Give me the real emotive, hardcore classical stuff--thats what I love--the stuff that really tears you up inside. any recommendations? Im running out of ideas...
8 - Stephen V Funk
hi Brink... here are a few to try if you haven't already...
Berlioz: Requiem & Te Deum (and of course Symphonie Fantastique)
Stravinsky: The Rite Of Spring (of course) and Symphony in C and Symphony in 3 Movements and Les Noces and just about everything else
Wagner: Ring Cycle... (if you can't stomach all the opera voices, try the "Ring Without Words" conducted by Maazel (I think), which is a great instrumental "remix" of sorts...)
Elgar: Enigma Variations
Walton: Balshazzar's Feast (and Symphony #1)
Rachmaninov: Symphonies & Piano Concertos
Tchaikovsky of course gets the blood going... esp Symphonies 4,5,6...
Bruckner: an acquired taste but once you're hooked you're hooked... try Symphony #8 or #9 for starters...
Mahler: anything and everything (Symphony #6 is a good place to begin)
and of course good ol' Beethoven: esp the Symphonies 7,8,9 and late Piano sonatas and Grosse Fugue and Missa Solemnis
Anyway, I'll stop now... hope this helps...!!
I hope nobody minds but I'm cross-posting these great comments on my original post at my blog for the "roundtable" discussion. (if you want your comment removed, let me know)
You might check there for more recommendations, too... it's a big wide wonderful world of music out there... (Mozart or no Mozart...)
9 - godoggo
My fave Beethoven along with the 9th is the late string quartets. I think that's a must.
10 - Baronius
I adore Mozart's music, and was stunned that Blogcritics didn't have anything about his birthday. That said, here's my theory why Mozart is revered by our current generation:
"Amadeus" was the first episode of "VH1: Behind the Music".
Think about every Behind the Music you've ever seen. Young band works hard, verges on success, then makes it big. They can't handle the fame, turn to drugs, and destroy their marriages. They're imploding but they hold together for one more album. They create the greatest album of their time, then split apart. That's why Mozart has unique appeal to our era, and a hardworking family man like Bach doesn't.
11 - brink craven
Stephen--Im so sorry I didnt thank you for your reply sooner--How rude of me.
Anyway thanks so much for your suggestions. I am familar with much of the music you mentioned, but there are a couple that I havent heard yet. Thanks again!
12 - Jason Smart
It's always nice to know there are plenty of musical illiterates left in the world. The fact that you reference Maria Callas, Glenn Gould, and Frederick Delius says a lot about you. Why don't you reference what Haydn, Beethoven, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Berlioz, Schumann, and Alfred Einstein said about Mozart. [Personal attack deleted]
13 - Johann
Jason,
What Haydn, Beethoven, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Berlioz, Schumann, and Einstein's cousin have said about Mozart can be found anywhere; and those websites don't usually list or reference criticism of Mozart, so I don't see a problem here.
It's a bit of a shame that elitism makes some people call others musical illiterates... it seems so vehement. Liking Mozart is a question of taste, not a norm or standard to be followed, and I think that's the message of Stephen's post.
14 - Rachel
I have been hearing about him at school and he is a really funny person. HAHA!
15 - Rachel
Hi Mozart was a very good man I liked the part when his momma was sleeping and he went to his dad's desk and started to play with the ink it was so funny
16 - Rachel
He was going to the King and the Queen then he went on a bench and it was shiny and he pushed of the pino and then landed on te queens lap.
17 - wallstrafed
i am fairly well versed in classical music. weirdness for the sake of weirdness is not inspirational. there is something of an oxymoron to the concept of modern classical music although rachmaninoff was exceptional. mozart's piano concerto #20 is probably my favorite classical piece. also - mendelssohn PC #2 (or PC #1 the one with the molto allegro 1st movement???), beethoven pc#5, Tchaikovsky vc 1st movement, goldberg variations (gould 55), all beethoven symphonies........but how can anyone deny the perfection and beauty of mozart -- that is absurd..........we are not talking about coldplay or u2 here........
18 - Mark Goldsterin
Norman Lebrecht vs. Haydn. Frederick Delius vs. Schubert.
Give me a fucking break. What a stupid piece of shit.
19 - Melvin
3 years later, what the hell:
the answer to the title question is easy, he even answered it himself. Mozart is so popular BECAUSE his music is so well-rounded and catchy. obviously it's gonna get boring to some people because in his day it was a composer's job to mainly write mass amounts of pleasant tunes. then after the Classical period, music was all about that self-expression/weepy crap, which to my ears is just melodramatic and noisy. more 'interesting'? sure it is. but 'interesting' doesn't necessarily mean anything.
20 - Kirsty
Glenn Gould thought Mozart was a bad composer...umm.....If Mozart was bad, Glenn Gould's own compositions are atrocious!
You think Mozart's annoyingly popular? In fact, Beethoven is the most popular among the big 3, do a online poll on the big 3, you'll find out who's got the most hype.
21 - Kirsty
"Liking Mozart is a question of taste, not a norm or standard to be followed, and I think that's the message of Stephen's post."
Nope, read his post again, his message is exactly the same as Norman Lebrecht: "Mozart is overhyped, overplayed and overmarketed at the expense of other greats." Lebrecht is so bitter I feel sorry for him. Music critics just don't get what audience want, they don't care about innovation and development, they just want to listen to music that they enjoy. You know what's elitism? Critics telling you which composers matter, whom you should listen to.......
22 - T. G.
Yes, I will grant some of the criticisms from the author. Because Mozart can be banal to some modern audiences. Almost sweet and cloying you might say.
However, in my mind, nothing could be further from the truth. Because the music is so well constructed and natural sounding it amazes you in its effortlessness to capture your ear. In fact, you wonder how anyone could write such music.
And also, I don't think it come from any artificial emotions but something deeper. More like an artistic creation that lifts you precisely because of this balance and harmony.
So the Mozart listener I think, is one who looks for these things in music. And is more often inspired rather than bored when the music satisfies on these levels.
23 - earthjuice
Are Glenn Gould and Maria Callas really qualified to criticize Mozart? Mozart composed more when he was 5 than Gould did in his whole life! Sit them side by side at a piano, and Gould would be crying for his mom. There's a lot of hype about Mozart because he is not only a solid composer, but can reach any listener, the hardened music critic, and the non musician. Yeah you can criticize Mozart, but your last name better be Bach or Beethoven.
24 - El Bicho
Is earthjuice really qualified to criticize Glenn Gould and Maria Callas?
25 - LisztLover
READ THIS-
I laughed so hard when I read F. Delius's comment about Mozart- "anybody who likes Mozart is a bad musician"...
Beethoven said of Mozart- "I have always counted myself amongst the greatest admirers of Mozart and shall remain so until my last breath."
How hilarious.. Beethoven was a bad musician? What about Haydn, Chopin, admirers of Mozart?
Tell me they're all bad musicians, Mr. [Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor] Delius.
[Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor]
F. Delius is a totally mediocre composer who lacked the depth of Liszt, Beethoven, Mozart. I personally think his Irmelin Prelude, A Song before Sunrise.. etc are pathetic.. Tries to imitate the pastoral music of Beethoven, repeats "pretty tunes" over and over again. Shapelessness is one thing. It's simply weak, shallow. (written for the sake of connecting pretty tunes together, in other words) Poorly developed... Lacks ingenious fugal technique, harmonic structure of Mozart.
A wannabe who put himself higher than almost all composers in history. What a genius.. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention. His mentor, Grieg was also an admirer of Mozart.
Glenn Gould had serious mental deficiencies like Hypochondriasis. He could never perform the works of Rachmaninoff (who also liked Mozart), Chopin, Scriabin as Kissin, Argerich (the "real artists") etc could. "Glenn gould sucks. Babbling bullshit on TV and radio but his play is shitty as hell. Even a half-brained dog plays better."
I don't agree with this critic's comment completely, but if I were to choose which to agree to, between this and Glenn Gould's comments about Mozart, I would choose this. Gould is overrated, not Mozart. Know that.
Who the heck is Maria Callas, anyway? Does anybody here know her? Well, all I can say is, her comment only tells me about her. "Most of what Mozart wrote is dull"? [Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor]