Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Creativity and Music
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91)
Austrian composer (pictured right).
His numerous compositions included the operas:
- The Marriage of Figaro (1786).
Why was he so creative?
1. Customer satisfaction
He was always prepared to make changes to the first version of composition to make it:
- more enjoyable for the public.
“I like an aria to fit the singer as perfectly as a well tailored suit of clothes”, he
said.
2. Pursuit of excellence
Money and popularity were much less important to him than the quality of his music,
particularly melody which he described as
“the very essence of music”
3. Positive thinking and self-confidence
He once wrote to his wife Constanze (pictured right in 1782) about his
exceptional performance, despite:
- an audience of only 10 people!
4. Coping with failure and stress
His music wasn’t always instantly popular.
The first performance of The Marriage of Figaro in 1786 was described as “boring” by one
aristocrat.
A year later the Vienna performance of Don Giovanni flopped.
His overwork and continual lack of money made him very stressful,
eventually killing him at the early age of 35.
5. Talent
He was a musical genius from childhood.
Aged 4, he was playing short pieces on the harpsichord and composing a year later!
Aged seven (pictured right), he went on a three year concert tour with his family.
6. Hard work, self-discipline and concentration
He worked himself to exhaustion, including three symphonies in two months in 1788.
He concentrated totally on composing, unaware of what was going on around him.
He composed over 650 works in his 35 year life!
7. Love of his work
Mozart (pictured right in 1789) loved composing and performing.
He only taught music, because he needed the money.
He was a man of honour, who valued his music more than anything else.
“It’s the heart that ennobles a man”, he said.
8. Freedom
He was one of the first professional musicians not employed by a rich person.
This gave him the freedom and time to write brilliant music.
He wrote what he thought best, whatever other people said or told him.
“The composer must have a free hand”, he said.
9. Relaxation
He had the rare ability to work at music in his mind.
So he could compose, whilst doing some physical activity like billiards or
skittles.
He is pictured right relaxing with his sister and father (his mother is in
the wall portrait)
Key quotes on music and
creativity
Melody is the very essence of music.
I pay no attention whatever to anybody’s praise or blame... I simply follow my own feelings.
If only the whole world could feel the power of harmony.
I write as a sow piddles (on his prolific composing)
Key quotes on love and
ethics
Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.
It’s the heart that ennobles a man.
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