"Positively the last concert... the boy, not yet seven, will perform on the harpsichord, play a concerto for violin, and accompany symphonies on the clavier, the keyboard being covered with a cloth, as easily as if he could see the keys. He will name all notes sounded at a distance, singly or in chords, and improvise on harpsichord and organ as long as desired. tickets 1/2 taler."
Thus did a notice in a German newspaper in 1763 advertise, as if he were a side show freak, the most universal genius of music the world has ever known, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In the audience sat another boy, the fourteen year old Goethe destined too to become immortal. Years later he could still recall the far off bright picture of the merry faced little musician who ran to the bench before the harpsichord in his absurd, exquisite costume of lilac satin, with powdered wig and tiny sword, and flung his heart into the glittering notes.
Born with absolute pitch, infallible rhythm, and natural comprehension of harmony, Master Mozart had come into this world with an inexplicably complete gift. that is how, at the age of four, the child began to learn to play the clavier, and at five picked up the violin and reading at sight, staggered through six trios with his father and a friend. this child read and wrote notes before he could do as much with letters. compositions dating from his sixth year are recognizable from the opening bars as the music of Mozart and nobody else. Graceful and sure, spirited, precise and brave, they are the work of a unique stylist and a great soul. fingers and brain are endowed alike. At ten the boy astounded the Hollanders by playing superbly on the largest, most complicated organ in the world. At fourteen he was taken to hear the Vatican choir sing a long, difficult Miserere which was kept so secret that the singers were forbidden to copy the score on pain of excommunication. The boy drank in every note, walked home and wrote the entire thing out from memory. On the second hearing, he was chagrined to find he had made three mistakes. Instead of excommunicating him, the Pope made him a Knight of the Golden Spur.
Thus did a notice in a German newspaper in 1763 advertise, as if he were a side show freak, the most universal genius of music the world has ever known, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In the audience sat another boy, the fourteen year old Goethe destined too to become immortal. Years later he could still recall the far off bright picture of the merry faced little musician who ran to the bench before the harpsichord in his absurd, exquisite costume of lilac satin, with powdered wig and tiny sword, and flung his heart into the glittering notes.
Born with absolute pitch, infallible rhythm, and natural comprehension of harmony, Master Mozart had come into this world with an inexplicably complete gift. that is how, at the age of four, the child began to learn to play the clavier, and at five picked up the violin and reading at sight, staggered through six trios with his father and a friend. this child read and wrote notes before he could do as much with letters. compositions dating from his sixth year are recognizable from the opening bars as the music of Mozart and nobody else. Graceful and sure, spirited, precise and brave, they are the work of a unique stylist and a great soul. fingers and brain are endowed alike. At ten the boy astounded the Hollanders by playing superbly on the largest, most complicated organ in the world. At fourteen he was taken to hear the Vatican choir sing a long, difficult Miserere which was kept so secret that the singers were forbidden to copy the score on pain of excommunication. The boy drank in every note, walked home and wrote the entire thing out from memory. On the second hearing, he was chagrined to find he had made three mistakes. Instead of excommunicating him, the Pope made him a Knight of the Golden Spur.
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