Two Fellows Just Trying to Make a Living; One, Gifted - the Other, Sublime

Imagine an evening in 1786 in Vienna, with the rarity of two composers rarely seen together, on the same program in a command performance, both having a number of their compositions performed.
One was the chief court composer, the other an impoverished young man just six years younger than his contemporary.
One can assume that the court composer had an ongoing fear, if not hatred of the existence of the younger man, full well knowing that this particular composer was infinitely more gifted. And that fear must have persisted until the younger man died. There was even talk about the court composer having poisoned his younger rival, which to this day is still discussed, but has never been proven.
And so, both appeared on the same stage on the same evening.
I wonder if words were passed between the two on that occasion?
The chief court composer was a gifted musician from Italy, named Antonio Salieri; the other, from a nearby community. His name was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Two fellows, just trying to make a living.

Mozart - What Was He Like?

The movie "Amadeus," which supposedly portrayed Mozart, was indeed a brilliant movie as regards the costumes, locations, and musical performances, let alone the superb cinematography; however, the story was pretty much fictionalized, as other movies depicting the lives of great composers had been before this film was released.
But I must say that the actor portraying the great genius, whose name is Tom Hulce, did a really fine job representing the social weakness and immaturity of this supremely gifted composer.
We do know, as Hulce projected in the film, that Mozart, at times, was petulant, silly, insulting, childish, and just plain difficult to get along with a good deal of the time. He was certainly not in the favor of some of the members of the Emperor's court, and Salieri, the Emperor's Composer, probably hated the existence of Mozart, chiefly out of the fear that he realized that Mozart was a far more gifted composer than he was, and probably felt threatened by the young genius' gifts.
Some of the letters written by Mozart tell us of his social make-up. I heartily recommend the great compilation by Emily Anderson, which consists of the letters to and from Mozart, as well as the letters written to and from the Mozart family.
I call your attention to one letter, as an example, written by Mozart, from Milan, in 1772, to his sister. The following is at the end of this letter:
"Farewell, my little lung. I kiss you my liver, and remain as always, my stomach, your unworthy brother Wolfgang.
Please, please, my dear sister, something is biting me. Do come and scratch me."
Just one example of several which demonstrate Mozart's personality structure.
One time, he was literally kicked out of a Count's home, actually bodily removed.
And on it went.
The towering nature of his power as a musician - one thing.
The make-up of his person - another issue.

An Argument Over Mozart - A Loving Memory

I had the great fortune of having studied with great men, and most of these musicians were as warm and friendly as they were great teachers.
Two of my favorites were Jerome Diamond, who taught at Eastman, and who became a veritable second father to me; the other, Dr. John Hasson, out of Boston University, who had a profound influence upon me as well.
I had just begun work on the Mozart piano concerto, K. 488, with Hasson, and had gotten pretty well into the first movement, when at a certain point, Hasson disagreed with the tempo I had chosen for this movement. Being young and stupid, I disagreed with his disagreement, and a firm but quite gentle argument broke out concerning the tempo.
After about a week of sparring back and forth about this issue, Hasson suggested that I write to Alfred Einstein (not related to Albert), who was teaching at Smith College at the time.
Einstein was one of the leading authorities on Mozart and the Classical period, and so I thought that this was a good idea.
And so I wrote the great man.
Within just a few days, I received an answer from Einstein, which has governed my way of dealing with the tempi of Mozart from that time to the present.
I remember the exact words of his short but, for me, very pregnant epistle: "My Dear LH (my initials), I consider that all of the allegro markings attached to Mozart be thought of by way of 'cantabile.' Yours Very Truly, Alfred Einstein."
Now the word 'cantabile' pertains to the quality of singing, which meant to me that enough space be given between the notes for the singing nature of Mozart's melodies never to be undermined.
And so from that letter to this very day, I always make an assiduous study of how, in a melody written by Mozart, which is involved with the word 'allegro' (fast) to make sure that speed in and of itself does not affect the elemental nature of the melody's incarnation.
Hasson's suggestion was without question the correct thing to enact; certainly for me.

George Gershwin - America's Mozart?

Mentioning the names of Wolfgang Mozart and George Gershwin in the same sentence does not connote a comparison between Mozart and Gershwin in their development; for example, the veritably unbelievable attainments actuated by Mozart as a child are like no other creative artist. Gershwin, as a child, most assuredly did not put his stamp on history, as did the wonder child Mozart.
However, there were some parallels:
Both died in their thirties, at the height of their considerable powers. Both would undoubtedly have altered the face of artistic history had they lived on, say, another twenty years.
Gershwin, we know, created a new way of projecting music, as a very young man. His song "Swanee" was written at age nineteen, was embraced by the most famous pop singer of the day, Al Jolson, who inserted this tune into his musical revue "Sinbad"; the result was that a 20 year-old composer became powerful and famous in an incredibly short time. While still in his mid-twenties, his "Rhapsody in Blue" was performed before such musical giants as Rachmaninoff and Walter Damrosch, and this occasion altered the course of musical history.
One should be reminded that Mozart was not only that incredible young composer from Austria, but also, like Gershwin, tried new approaches, which tend to be overlooked because of the sensationalism connected with one so young; for instance, how about an opera with a brothel as centerpiece? Mozart positively horrified the royal entourage. And how about his writing opera in Italian? In Vienna?? At that time??
So there are parallels during these composers' life experiences.
Can we consider Gershwin, therefore, as America's Mozart?

Mozart , The Great Communicator!

Countless books have been written about Mozart, of course. His music pervades the civilized world, and has so for over two centuries.
It might also be enlightening to delve into letters written to and by him; to and from friends, family and countless others relating to the business of music, etc. The best compilation, in my view, was one put together by Emily Anderson, who also worked on Beethoven's letters.
What comes to my mind at this particular point in time were two letters written by Mozart; one in 1770; the other, in 1772 (which made him 14 and 16, respectively).
In the 1770 letter, written to his mother and sister (written from Rome): "Praise and thanks be to God, I am well and kiss Mama's hand and my sister's face, nose, mouth, neck and my bad pen and a___(3-letter word!), if it is clean."
The letter in 1772, written to his sister, is quite lengthy, and was written from Milan; the end of the letter contains "Farewell, my little lung. I kiss you my liver, and remain as always, my stomach, your unworthy brother Wolfgang.
Please, please, my dear sister, something is biting me. Do come and scratch me."
There are many letters written in this vein by the young genius, and what comes to mind is the movie Amadeus, released in the 80's, purportedly the story of Mozart, and loaded with fiction (by the way, the performers of his music in that film were magnificent). Perhaps, one of the few aspects which carried the truth was the superb characterization by the actor Tom Hulce, who portrayed him as a truly weird character, with decided antisocial proclivities.
We certainly know of the tragedy of Mozart, who could not hold onto any employment for long, and was impoverished almost all of his brief experience.It seems that the Wunderkind had not experienced growing into manhood successfully, and paid the price.

Mozart at Thirteen - the Candescence of Genius

While in Italy in 1769, the boy Mozart and his father visited the Vatican. The papal choir was singing the Miserere by the papal composer Allegri during their visit, and the Mozarts stopped to listen. It is important to note that this composition was the exclusive property of the Papal choir, and never to be copied or played outside of the papal grounds. The punishment of either or both acts would be automatic excommunication.
After the choir finished, the Mozarts left the Vatican and walked out of the Papal grounds, whereupon the young Amadeus Mozart divulged to his father that he loved the music so much that he would copy it out for his own enjoyment(imagine-upon one hearing Mozart had memorized the entire work!). Leopold, the father, took immediate panic, knowing the punishment that could be inflicted upon the Mozart family. And so he escorted his young son back to the Vatican, and after hearing of this amazing feat on the part of Amadeus, a group of the Pope's aides arranged for an immediate audience with the Pope, who conferred upon the young boy The Order of the Golden Spur in exchange for assurance that the composition would never be written down.
I am not sure as to whether Amadeus was a frightened, cowering boy during this occurrence or simply a kid who enjoyed having so much attention given him; at any rate, the result was that this incredible young boy could now end any letter he wrote with 'Chevalier de Mozart', because of the recognition given him by the Pope.