Deryk Barker wrote:

>(Un)fortunately the Latin derivation may not be relevant: Mozart was
>baptised Joannes Chrystostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus.  Woflie himself
>(according to the New Grove) "sometimes preferred the Latin form, Amadeus,
>more often Amade (grave accent), Amade (acute accent) or the German
>Gottlieb."
>
>I always imagined Theophilus to mean "the love of God" - but which way
>that's directed is beyond me.

I'm not sure I understand you.  Whether Latin (Amadeus), Greek
(Theophilus), or German (Gottlieb), the stems have the same meaning,
raising the question why the play wasn't called Wolfgang (we'll concede
that Johannes and Chrysostomos would not be sufficiently recognizable) or
Mozart, or for that matter, Salieri.  Unless the author has told us, other
than in the play itself, we don't really know, but my understanding of the
play, namely, that it depicts God's apparent capriciousness in bestowing
His gifts (could that be the significance of Mozarts deathbed cry that God
would not have wanted his Requiem to have been left incomplete, for which
Steve Schwartz seems to have so much disdain?), would seem to be supported
by the author's choice of title.

Walter Meyer '48