dep@allegra.UUCP (Dewayne Perry) (08/24/85)
<what you thought you heard was not what I meant ...> First, Salieri and Mozart. Dick Grantges indicated that his aspiring to being an organist suffered from the problem of hiseing akin to Salieri. Dick, if I had even the talent of Salieri, I would be ecstatic. Our view of this important classical composer has been completely colored by the almost completely fictional account given in 'Amadeus'. For a good defence of both Salieri and Mozart, I highly recommend reading the article by Paul Henry Lang in the latest issue of Opus (October 1985) entitled "Salvaging Salieri (and Mozart) after 'Amadeus'", pages 18-21. For a much more accurate portrayal of Mozart and some of the problems he had with the muscial establishment, see "Mozart and Haydn" by Ernst Fritz Schmidt in "The Creative World of Mozart" edited by Paul Henry Lang and published in paperback by Norton. This article contains a good description of the musical environment of Vienna in Mozart's time and how differently Haydn and Mozart responded to it. Second, a small flame about psychobabbliographies. I would excercise a large amount of caution interpreting metaphors, etc from previous times in terms of our own. Therein lies almost sure misinterpretation. Even within comptemporary times, it is not clear that the psychobiography approach "really" unveils the subject in question. All you have to do to convince yourself of this is to consider how often your friends (and your detracters - even those on the net) dont "really" understand what you mean, or meant, in any given situation. Often I dont even understand myself, but it certainly was not what was impugned. To add one or two centuries, several cultures removed can only add to the problem. It seems to worthwhile to distrust those who are willing to tell youwhat you "really" had in mind. Classically yours - Dewayne
rfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) (08/25/85)
[] I agree with everything you say except one thing. Check my original article. I think I said ...<not> even a Salieri. (emphasis added now). I agree that even that was pretentious of me. I can't read music. I can play chopsticks, "If I were single again," and , if I'm in good form, maybe part of a simplified, key of C version of Tantum Ergo I forced myself to memorize once out of a hymnal. ..Let's see, (EVBDF) this must be , mm d and thatts this white key next to C, and...(I mean EGBDF, above). I have been trying to collect recordings of Salieri to bolster my own feeling that he has been done in. They are damn gew and far between. I heard one on the radio the other day - I had forgotten, you remind me - I must get it. It was about 20 - 25 minutes of variations on some obscure theme. After a while it was driving me sane! Depending on how the variation went the theme was unuterrably sad and despondent or cheery. I must have that recording!!!!! What was its name?? -- "It's the thought, if any, that counts!" Dick Grantges hound!rfg
jerem@tekgvs.UUCP (Jere Marrs) (08/27/85)
Mozart VS Salieri has gone on for a long time. Long before Hollywood got into the picture, Alexander Pushkin wrote a story about Salieri and Mozart based on the (mistaken) notion that Salieri poisoned Mozart. Moussorgski then saw fit to make an opera of it called "Salieri and Mozart." I think the construct of "Amadeus" is far preferable to that of Pushkin. There are books available on the letters of Mozart which shed a great deal of light on the life of Wolfgang A. Mozart. They're interesting. Jere M. Marrs Tektronix, Inc. tektronix!tekgvs!jerem
linda@amdcad.UUCP (Linda Seltzer) (09/05/85)
Yes, Salieri was a very fine composer, his string writing can be quite ethereal. He was also Beethoven's teacher. Linda Seltzer