Donald Satz <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>If Mozart were writing the same works, I speculate that none of them would
>even see the light of day.  There's a time and place for everything, and
>Mozart's music wouldn't stand a chance in the 20th century.

The critics and pseudo-intellectuals would pooh-pooh it, but that would be
a poor reflection on them, not the music.

>Of course, if Mozart were born in 1956, he wouldn't write the same music.
>Personally, I don't even think he would be writing any classical music.
>Maybe jazz or progressive rock, but not classical.  My belief is that the
>majority of potentially great classical composers in the latter half of the
>20th century stayed clear of classical music.  They went where the money
>and fame reside.

I believe they stayed with classical music, and suffered obscurity because
of it.

The fact that Mozart's father and publisher were on his case to write more
to the public's taste shows that he went where his artistry took him rather
than pander to the masses.

No, he wouldn't have written the same works, because his influences would
have been different.) Neither would Beethoven have written the same works
back then if Mozart had been transplanted 200 years later, because he would
have had no Mozart to influence him.) But Mozart was too much of a genius
to merely cater to the public.  To say that he was merely a pop composer
of his time does a disservice to his talent and output.

Jocelyn Wang
Culver Chamber Music Series