Donald Satz <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2000 9:22 AM
Subject: Re: Mozart's Death - The Debate Continues


>There are more upbeat ways to look at it.  Although Mozart died at a young
>age, he left a tremendous legacy of compositions, and I'm very thankful
>for that.  He didn't fulfill his destiny? But perhaps he did, and there's
>also the possibilty that Mozart's creativity and artistic level would not
>have advanced with more years of life.

Thank you, that's certainly an interesting thought, and perhaps you are
right, but of course this too is speculation.  We shall sadly never know.
Yes, perhaps Mozart simply always was destined to be the brief shooting
star that he was.  Then again, I am fascinated that composers can be
divided into those who do mature to some degree (as would be expected),
who are the majority; those who change in only subtle stylistic ways; and
lastly those who seem to evolve with time to such a degree that one can
in extreme cases barely recognise them from their earlier works.  Mozart,
like Wagner and Schoenberg, I believe belongs to the last group.  Indeed
some earlier works by both Mozart AND Wagner are so bad compared to later
works, one struggles not to laugh at times on hearing them.  As such I feel
strongly - but admittedly can never prove - that Mozart had barely begun to
truly compose at the time of his death.

Lastly I must say that if there ever was proof indeed that Mozart has
become a sacred cow, then the fact that any thoughtful critique of his
music is interpreted as crude Mozart bashing.  The Glenn Gould quotation
ought to have been merely a reminder that any critical thought - even the
crudest - is better than complacent idolatry.  I recall an ancient Indian
teaching that I once came across which asked for whom it was easier to
enter heaven, the man who loves God or the man who hates Him.  The answer
was that it is the man who hates Him of course, because at least he really
does THINK about Him.

Satoshi Akima
Sydney, Australia