« New York Philharmonic's Percussionist searches for new sounds | Main | Dylan meets Brecht »

Ever wonder how Western music would be different had Mozart lived longer than his 35 years and instead of dying in 1791, he had lived as old as his father, Leopold, who died at 67? That would have taken Wolfie out to 1826, where he certainly would have influenced Beethovan to a far greater extent. Then all bets are off after that. For instance, as Anthony Tommasini wrote in the NY Times last month:

Imagine how different music history would have been had Mozart lived to Nannerl's age (his sister, who lived to be 78). He would have died in 1834, having outlived Beethoven by seven years and Schubert by six. Would Beethoven's symphonic adventures have turned out as they did had Mozart remained his contemporary?

Think of this. A wizened old Mozart might have been in the audience in 1829 when the 19-year-old Chopin, during a short visit to Vienna, performed his first work for piano and orchestra, Variations on ''Là ci darem la mano'' from Mozart's ''Don Giovanni.''

Then again, the towering impact of ''Don Giovanni'' on young composers like Chopin might not have been the same had Mozart lived to write more operas. How many more? Well, this summer the Salzburg Festival presented productions of all 22 of Mozart's works for the stage, written over a span of 23 years, roughly one a year. Add 43 years to Mozart's life, and do the math.

To spin the fantasy further, might Mozart have altered his low opinion of musical culture in Paris (''I am living among brutes and beasts as far as Musique is concerned,'' he wrote to his father from Paris in 1778) had he lived to hear Berlioz's astounding ''Symphonie Fantastique'' in 1830?

Wasn't that fun? Amazing to think of how close Mozart lived to all that came directly after him.

Also, remember: Mozart and Charlie Parker both died at 35...what does that mean? :)

Name (required)
Email
Website
Remember personal info? Yes   No
Comments

home | music | democracy | earth | money | projects | about | contact

Site design by Matthew Fries | © 2003-23 Consilience Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Consilience Productions, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
All contributions are fully tax deductible.