The number is staggering, I know. After all, just 100 years in human
history seems like a lot and Mozart has just hit the big two forty-two.
Our world has changed much since the day Mozart first opened his eyes
on the world. In fact, if he had lived now, he certainly would have lived
much longer and his music would be different as well as his education,
but no age can stifle genius like his.
We would still hear it shining through every note, though in different
melodies and in vastly different musical forms. One thing, though, I'm
sure wouldn't change would be Mozart's sense of musical fun and the deep
humanity he would blend into his most inspired pieces.
So, Mozart, Happy Birthday! I hope you're still composing music wherever
you are!
Everyone is invited to chat at 9:00 EST in celebration of Mozart's
birthday.
I'm going to try my JAVA
chat room, but if your computer doesn't support JAVA, just head over
to the Web
Chat.
Hope to see you all there!
If you didn't know, it didn't seem that one of the world's greatest
composers would survive past his first birthday. There were all sorts of
complications and the birth was very difficult and painful for his mother.
It lasted all day and the doctors thought Anna Maria (his mother) might
die. Mozart, too, wasn't in good a shape and the circumstances didn't help
either. Leopold brought the newborn Mozart to a church in the middle of
winter to get sprinkled with the icy baptismal water.
You might think this was no big deal, but think about it. This was at
a time when babies frequently died of diseases (even minor infections).
(I know some great-grand uncle of mine died when he was a baby simply
because he caught cold after being christened in mid-February.)
Luckily for Mozart (and the world), he survived and grew into the amazing
child prodigy all of Europe would know about. Strangely enough, however,
Leopold would later blame Mozart for Anna Maria's death in Paris, linking
it to Mozart's difficult birth so many years ago.