The Significance Of Amadeus

The emphasis on individualism and passionate expression of the self during the late 18th and early 19th century is also exemplified in the musical realm through the revolutionary work of one of the most highly influential musicians, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. At the time of Mozart’s birth, the most popular and conventional music was created in the style of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. After the discovery of Mozart’s prodigal musical genius and honing his skill through several positions of employment, Mozart began to realize his individualism as a gifted artist. Mozart became aware of his potential for greatness and used his gift not to conform to the style of music at the time, but to use his music as a form of passionate self-expression. Mozart would not let anything extinguish his passion and freedom to create, even if it caused him great financial struggle throughout most of adulthood. The musical pieces Mozart created differed from that the music of the time in the sense that his work was highly driven by passion and emotion. Rather than focusing solely on the structure and the elaborateness of the

The whole movie takes place in Vienna, Austria. Besides the first few scenes where Mozart is seen as a child, the story begins in 1782 when Mozart is the age of 26; the story being told by Salieri takes place around 1825, near his death. Amadeus is primarily set in the noble class, and doesn’t do the best job portraying the poor side of life. For the noble’s of course living conditions are fine,

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart lived from January 27, 1756 to December 5, 1791. Mozart was a very influential and prolific composer of more than 600 works, including symphonies, concertante, chamber, piano, opera, and choral music. Regarded as a child prodigy, Mozart composed and performed in the European courts from the age of five, and was engaged at the Salzburg court at 17. Mozart’s musical style can be classified as Classical, although he learned from many of his contemporaries throughout his musical career. In order to better understand Mozart’s genius it is best to begin looking at his earliest contributions to the musical world as a child. From there, an exploration of his

Mozart was a prolific and most influential composer of the classical era. As a mere toddler he began to observe his sister’s lessons with their father, developing a keen ear, and showing signs of surprising comprehension. His father, Leopold, was himself a successful composer, violinist and assistant concert master of the Salzburg Court. Both Mozart and his sister were tutored by their father, a dedicated and task-oriented pedagogue. Young Mozart progressed anon, excelling even above his father’s pedagogic genius. At the verdant age of six, he performed as a child prodigy at royal courts in London, Paris, and Zurich. Mozart’s youth was spent fully engaged in touring and performance. These tours were financed through donors and patrons. Through the years, and while abroad, Mozart met many accomplished musicians such as Johann

Though extremely different in many ways, Amadeus was successfully translated from stage to film not as an adaptation but a parallel work. Peter Shaffer’s stage version is highly theatrical and unfortunately does not literally translate well to film, for multiple reasons. Shaffer and Milos Forman adapted Amadeus in a way that appealed to cinema audiences through cutting characters, expanding upon characters, altering language and narration, set and costume design, plot changes and taking full advantage of the dramatic powers of the camera. Milos Forman said “The fact that Amadeus was so stylized, so theatrical—well, so un-cinematic, was actually a blessing—it meant we wouldn’t be tempted to merely translate the play to screen, but would be forced to demolish the original, then totally reimagine it as a film.” One of the largest differences between play and film that make the film Amadeus its own piece of art, are the changes in narration. Though called Amadeus, it is really Salieri that occupies the center of the stage and “conducts” the action of the play. In the film, Mozart’s role is enhanced from the beginning.

     The music helped in elaborating this great film. As I mentioned in class different instruments helped create different moods for different scenes in the movie. We heard the cello and the violin to create sadness and remorse. The flute created eeriness and the trumpet created awareness. I thought these were instruments and tools that help make this film extraordinary.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven are two of the greatest composers ever to write music. Both men lived in the early 18th and 19th century, but their music and influences are still felt today. The men faced similar experiences, yet they both lead very different lives. All together the pieces that these men composed amounts to over 300 published, and unpublished works of art. The people of their time period often had mixed feelings about these men, some “complained that Mozart’s music presented them with too many ideas and that his melodies moved from one to the next faster than audiences could follow, yet the ideas themselves seem effortless and natural, clear and

     Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s style unlike anyone else. Mozart was a master of counterpoint, fugue, and the other traditional compositional points of his day. He is also considered the best melody writer the world has ever known. Wolfgang perfected the grand forms of symphony, opera string quartet, and concerto made the classical period. “Mozart’s music is characterized by lucid ease and distinction of style....”2 Wolfgang wrote over 600 works which consisted of 21 stage and opera works, 15 masses, over 50 symphonies, 25 piano concertos, 12 violin concertos,27 concert arias, 17 piano sonatas, 26 string quartets, and many more. His operas range from comic baubles to tragic pieces. In his Requiem it illustrates the supreme vocal sounds in any of his work.

This paper will take a look into the movie Amadeus, to see if the film accurately

This love of Amadeus stems from my father showing me the movie “Amadeus” as a young boy.

In Salzburg, Austria, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756. Wolfgang was the only son of Leopold and Maria Pertl Mozart to survive. Wolfgang began learning about music when he was three years old, watching his sister Nannerl play the keyboard. He was a musical prodigy, composing his first piece at 5, and beginning “tours” with his father at 6 years old. When Wolfgang turned 13, his father took him to Italy to show off this young boy’s talents. Before Mozart turned 21, he was appointed to be assistant concertmaster. It was at this time that he wrote his first opera. Mozart left on another tour in 1777, and then returned to Salzburg to be a court organist. He soon decided he was not so fond of this position, and resigned to become a freelance musician in Vienna. When he moved to Vienna, he married Constanze Weber, against his father’s wishes. Wolfgang lived in luxury during the beginning of his life in Vienna, he was producing popular operas. Soon, though, he began to lack money, and took loans that would leave him in debt for the rest of his life. In the final years of Mozart’s life, he was most productive, writing his most famous symphonies, The Magic Flute, and of course,

The importance of music in movies is highly regarded for manipulating the viewer’s emotions and helping them immerse into the story. Music is one of the prime elements in cinema. Without it a movie would feel dull and unexciting. There are three elements in a movie: one is acting, the second is picture, and the third one is music. It is a holy trinity; if incomplete, there would be a lack of sensation and excitement. Both acting and picture can stand independently from one another, but music is the one that makes the movie memorable.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: A Concise Biography. Films On Demand. Films Media Group, 2007. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.

Even though the two pieces were composed in different centuries – Mozart’s piece in the 18th century and Strauss’ piece in the 20th century – some of the musical elements that they share transcend both time periods. The characteristics of music in the classical period had to do with the new view of human psychology. Mozart was one to introduce contrasting moods within movements or even within a theme. He was able to infuse strong contrasts of moods within the style of his music (Burkholder, Grout, & Palisca 475). In Figaro, Mozart includes an overture which is a piece in sonata form despite its lack of a development section. In Act I cavatina, “Se vuol ballare”, Mozart whimsically makes changes to the character of his music so as to correspond to Figaro’s machinations (Hambrik n.p). By doing so, he musically

What drives a scene in a movie, television show, or video game is the music in the background. Movies and television shows often share the same element when using an orchestra score as background music. “Music adds to the emotional quality of the film. There is some empirical evidence to support this: fast and loud music arouses, slow and soft music calms. Motion and emotion are often entwined”. (Schaefer, 1998). The audience feel more emotional as you hear the sad melody of a violin during a dramatic scene. For some films that have