Encountering Cherubino

If you are a young male, between the ages of 12 and 25, or you have ever been a young male, you may know what it is like to experience the feelings of a character like Cherubino.

In Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, the page boy (pronounced in English as Kerubeeno) is about 15 years old.  He has rampaging hormones.  He is confused about his identity.  He is beginning to enjoy chasing after females.  His boss forces him to join the army.

Most 15 year old boys do not understand enough about themselves to express the music as Mozart intended.  That is why Cherubino is played by an adult female singer, usually a mezzo soprano.

I sometimes wonder if Cherubino is Mozart.  The composer had a reputation for challenging authority, especially that of the second Prince Archbishop of Salzburg to employed him, Count Hieronymus Joseph Franz de Paula Graf Colloredo von Wallsee und Melz.

All I know is that there is nothing new about rebellious teenagers.

The Adelaide Concerto

As someone who lives in a place called Adelaide, and knowing that our town was not on Mozart's gig schedule, the Adelaide of the concerto's title was Princess Marie Adélaïde de France, one of the many (legitimate) daughters of Louis XV.  The "lost" manuscript of c.1766 was "found" in 1933.

Mozart's Adelaide Concerto might arguably be his greatest achievement, mainly because it is now known that he had been dead for quite some time before the piece was composed.

Only an extraordinary composer with Mozart's talent might have achieved such a feat, though I am rather skeptical about anyone having the ability to work at a musical composition while buried in a mass grave.

It is reasonable to agree that Marius Casadesus did not uncover a long lost manuscript by a 10-year-old Mozart.  The hoax fooled some very well known musicians, as far as I am aware.  A man named Einstein (the musicologist not the physicist) managed to figure it out, though.

Mozart Today

When you think of Mozart, do you think in terms of the past, the present or the future? Perhaps you think of his music as being beyond temporal considerations. Does it have a divine origin perhaps?

I'll leave you to ponder over such matters while I provide a few links to online resources about Mozart's life, mind, work and legacy:

The Mozart Project

Media Library

Classical Archives

Mozart's Letters

How does music usually make you feel about musicians as individuals? Does the mood generated by sounds delude us in some way? Do sounds really mean nothing at all except when associated with words?

Is it possible to know the real Mozart? I find that listening to his operas is the nearest I might ever be to understanding his mind. But does that really matter one way or another? Is it just the enjoyment of a particular moment that matters?

The Humanity of Mozart

How might artistic people best express humanity through their work? Mozart appears to have been a reasonably humane and peaceful person even though he lived through turbulent times.

I am not sure if ideas such as a sense of place, a sense of belonging, a sense of being and a sense of purpose are more of the Enlightenment or Romanticism. They all appear to be cultural themes of modernity nevertheless, though rejecting modern life's more brutal aspects.

What can we learn from Mozart about the future of human cultural achievement?

Becoming Acquainted

For anyone who is unfamiliar with Mozart and the world in his day, perhaps Wikipedia can provide a useful introduction.

Mozart on Wikipedia

If you wish to comment on this blog, I will assume that you are familiar with the basics of Mozart's biography, but not necessarily with much of his music. I can't read music very well and have received very little formal musical training.

When growing up, my family's radio was usually tuned to pop, rock or blues. Mozart has become more familiar to me in the last two decades and I no longer enjoy listening to pop, rock or blues.

I was a singer-songwriter in my youth, playing the guitar and developing a folky, European, acoustic style. I also played the recorder - the reason, perhaps, why I have difficulty reading music. I found it very easy to play by ear.

Even today, I improvise vocal melodies but usually based vaguely on opera arias rather than folk tunes. Verdi and Handel are the composers I prefer for the purpose - Mozart is too pure.

The question I would like to ask today is this: Can you imagine what life was like inside Mozart's mind?

The World in the Time of Mozart

There are many biographies about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. There are many scholarly articles about his life and work. There are many musicians who bring us the art of Mozart each day. There are probably quite a lot of blogs about Mozart, too. Why, then, is there a need for yet another Mozart offshoot?

If you have seen my Adelaide Zone Twaklin blog recently, you may have discovered why. I want to explore the world not from Mozart's perspective but from the point of view of someone looking afresh at important world events that occurred during his lifetime - and that still affect us today.

My look at history will also draw upon a knowledge of the events and influences that had a direct or indirect impact on Mozart's life, thoughts and creativity. It will also draw on knowledge of the biographies, websites, blogs and music that reflect the influence of Mozart today, and over the past 200 years or so.

I also hope to make a few new discoveries along the way, and improve my own creative expression.