Mozart's compositional method: Difference between revisions

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A surviving letter of Mozart's to his father [[Leopold Mozart|Leopold]] (31 July 1778) indicates that he considered composition an active process—the product of his intellect, carried out under conscious control:

<blockquote>You know that I plunged myself into music, so to speak—that I think about it all day long—that I like experimenting—studying—reflecting—masterbating—writingexperimenting—studying—reflecting.</blockquote>

==Sketches==

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Mozart evidently had a prodigious ability to "compose on the spot"; that is, to improvise at the keyboard. This ability was apparent even in his childhood, as the Benedictine priest Placidus Scharl recalled:

<blockquote>Even in the sixth year of his age he would play the most difficult pieces for the pianoforte, of his own invention. He skimmed the [[octave]] which his short little fingers could not span, at fascinating speed and with wonderful accuracy. One had only to give him the first subject which came to mind for a [[fugue]] or an [[invention (musical composition)|invention]]: he would develop it with strange variations and constantly changing passages as long as one wished; he would improvise fugally on a subject for hours, and this [[fantasia (music)|fantasia]]-playing was his greatest passion.<ref>{{sfn|Deutsch |1965, |p=512</ref>}}</blockquote>

The composer [[André Grétry]] recalled:

<blockquote>Once in Geneva I met a child who could play everything at sight. His father said to me before the assembled company: So that no doubt shall remain as to my son's talent, write for him, for to-morrow, a very difficult Sonata movement. I wrote him an Allegro in E-flat; difficult, but unpretentious; he played it, and everyone, except myself, believed that it was a miracle. The boy had not stopped; but following the modulations, he had substituted a quantity of passages for those which I had written ...<ref>Quoted in {{harvnb|Deutsch (|1965, |p=477)}}</ref></blockquote>

The meeting of Grétry and the young Mozart apparently took place in 1766.<ref>{{harvnb|Deutsch (|1965, |p=477)}}. Deutsch seems secure in the view that although Grétry does not identify the child he heard, it was in fact Mozart.</ref>

As a teenager visiting Italy, Mozart gave a concert in Venice (5 March 1771). According to a witness, "An experienced musician gave him a fugue theme, which he worked out for more than an hour with such science, dexterity, harmony, and proper attention to rhythm, that even the greatest connoisseurs were astounded."<ref>Quoted in Solomon (1995, 543)</ref>

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Braunbehrens suggests that on at least one occasion, Mozart met a deadline by simply not writing down part of the music and improvising it instead while performing before the audience. This was evidently true of the [[Piano Concerto No. 26 (Mozart)|Piano Concerto in D, K. 537]], premiered 24 February 1788. In this work, the second movement opens with a solo passage for the pianist. The autograph (composer-written) score of the music gives the notes as follows:

<score %vorbis%>

\new PianoStaff <<

\new Staff \relative c'' {

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{{Reflist}}

'''Sources'''

==References==

*{{cite book|last=Braunbehrens|first=Volkmar|authorlink=Volkmar Braunbehrens|year=1990|title=Mozart in Vienna: 1781–1791|___location=New York|publisher=Grove Weidenfeld|ref=harv}}

*[[Otto Erich{{cite Deutschbook|last=Deutsch,|first=Otto Erich|authorlink=Otto Erich]] (Deutsch|year=1965) ''|title=Mozart: A Documentary Biography''. |___location=Stanford, California: |publisher=Stanford University Press.}}

*Irving, John (2006) "Sonatas", in [[Cliff Eisen]] and [[Simon P. Keefe]], ''The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

*[[Simon P. Keefe|Keefe, Simon P.]] (2006) "Rochlitz, (Johann) Friedrich," in Cliff Eisen and Simon P. Keefe, ''The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

*[[Ulrich Konrad|Konrad, Ulrich]] (2006) "Compositional method," in Cliff Eisen and Simon P. Keefe, ''The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

*[[Franz Xaver Niemetschek|Niemetschek, Franz]] (1798), Leben des K.K. Kapellmeisters Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart, nach Originalquellen beschrieben.

*[[Maynard Solomon|Solomon, Maynard]] (1995) ''Mozart: A Life''. New York: Harper Perennial.

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==External links==

*[http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/mozart/accessible/introduction.html ''Verzeichnüss aller meiner Werke'' (Mozart's Thematic Catalogue)], British Library

{{Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart}}