The mature Mozart emerges
>> Friday, January 23, 2009
It was after Mozart's move to Vienna in 1781 that he met a man by the name of Gottfried van Swieten, a diplomat, librarian, and government official to Emperor Joseph II. An amateur musician of the highest order, van Swieten owned a collection of original scores of Bach and Handel, (Haydn estimated their worth at being around 10,000 gulden which today would be in the millions of dollars). Mozart and van Swieten developed a close friendship and van Swieten introduced Mozart to the music of Bach and Handel through this collection of scores. As a result, Mozart began to play with fugues and other compositional devices used by Bach and Handel in some of his own compositions. The first of Mozart's mature works that showed this influence was his C minor Mass, known today as the Great C minor Mass, K. 427.
Among my favorite of Mozart's sacred pieces, the Great C minor Mass stands today as one of his greatest works. Featured here: John Eliot Gardiner conducts the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir in the Kyrie of Mozart's Mass in C Minor, K.427.
3 comments:
Ethereal.
I love all your interesting Mozart tidbits.
I'm glad you find them interesting. There's so much more to Mozart than what was portrayed, (often incorrectly), of him in Amadeus. Years of research combined with a genuine love for the man and his music are behind all the interesting tidbits. Plus, now that I'm writing an historical fiction novel based on a love interest in his life, I'm digging even deeper than I have before, so I'm learning a lot of new things, especially about the people in Mozart's life who influenced him personally as well as influenced his music.
Thank you for sharing the fruits of your scholarship. It's fascinating!!!!
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