Amadeus Influential Values
Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus presents to the reader many human values. The most prominent being envy, deceit and self-sacrifice. During the course of the play these features are displayed through Salieri’s actions, emotions and dialogue.
The relationship between Salieri and Mozart is like a painting, commencing with splattered envy after Mozart’s extordinary musical talents disrupt Salieri’s clean, white, sanity. Splatters become blotches when Mozart uses Salieri’s “prize pupil” (33), Katherina Cavalieri, to fulfill his professional and sexual aspirations. Covered in thick, black envy, Salieri seeks lust to better himself than his opponent: “As I watched her walk away on the arm of the creature, I felt the lightning thought strike – ‘Have her! Her for Katherina’ … Abomination! … Never in my life had I entertained a notion so sinful!” (39). The paper then turns black as Salieri’s “wanted fame” (16) is enveloped by Mozart’s egotistical and immature personality. As a piece of recycled paper, Salieri begins his murder “at least not in life. In Art it was a different matter” (35).
The buildup of Salieri’s destructible envy is used to sculpt his evil character and ultimately lead to his master plans of deceit. But not all of Salieri’s deceit is put together into one action, it is portrayed through several evil schemes that end up composing the murder of Mozart. Salieri treats Mozart as a friendly individual from the start and even compliments about how his music “at its best is truly charming” (37) and what a “remarkable memory” (34) he has. This only tricks Mozart and allows for Salieri to proceed with his first step of deceit, sleeping with his lovely wife, Constanze. Although he never ...
... middle of paper ...
...art and Salieri. Lost in his own enigma, Salieri projects a clear look at the downfall of his sacrifice upon Mozart: “He sat at home preparing his own destruction. A home where life grew daily more grim” (86).
The three primary human values in this play, envy, deceit and self-sacrifice are the clay of the story. Salieri takes this clay and uses it as a weapon to destroy Mozart in several different ways. This is clearly shown through his lies, passive-aggressive attacks and cunning tricks that slowly deteriorate Mozart’s small barrier of protection and lead to his death. After Mozart was deceased, the clay did not disintegrate as expected, but instead it expanded and clung to Salieri with such force that it ended up killing him as well, rather than molding him in to a better being.
Bibliography:
Shaffer, Peter. Amadeus. London: Penguin Books, 1993.
Sadie, Stanley. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Essays on his Life and his Music. United States: Oxford University Press. 1996, Print.
...eview Dance Board. (2010, February 13). Mark Morris on Mozart. Retrieved February 28, 2010, from The Harvard Art Review: http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~harvardartreview/wordpress/2010/02/24/mark-morris-on-mozart-2/
Throughout history, child prodigies have been celebrated as objects of envy and adulation. Rarely, however, have they been understood. Often taunted by peers, hounded by the press, prodded by demanding parents and haunted by outsize expectations of greatness, they are treated as wondrous curiosities. But their stories are often a sad and captivating one, marked by early achievement and the promise of something greater. The letters exchanged between Mozart and his family reflect a wider story of how complications arise during a prodigy's transition into adulthood with evidence of immense pressure from his father, immaturity, and the eventual need to lead a normal life.
...ts of fever and general ill-health. And in his last ten years in Vienna, the constant need to write commissioned work - for he was the first of the composing freelances, with no regular patrons or court salaries - had worn him down to the point where one bout of fever was sure to finish him off. In July he'd had the anonymous commission to write a Requiem for the Dead; but that had been progressing slowly, because he'd been busy with two operas - La Clemenza di Tito and The Magic Flute - and two cantatas at the same time. Thirty-five years of artistic, social and personal pressure was taking its toll.
Amadeus is a movie based on the career and the death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Viennese during the 18th century. Throughout the film Antonio Salieri tells his story of his growing hatred for Mozart that eventually led to his ?murder?. Through out the rest of the movie you can see where Salieri is getting even more jealous of Mozart.
At the age of the Enlightenment, Antonio Salieri becomes the most triumphant musician in the city of Vienna, however, without any warning his harmonious universe comes to an utter halt. Salieri’s absolute faith in the world, in himself, and in God is all at once diminished by this spontaneous child composer. When the two opposite ends meet, there emerges a fury, a rage, and a passion in Salieri to sabotage the boy that has secured Salieri’s deserved God given talent; to destroy the one pubescent child that has made him so mute and naked now in a world of discordance. Salieri’s entire reputation and boyhood prayer to attain fame thus rests on his ability to annihilate that child prodigy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.In analyzing the two composers, Salieri and Mozart, there is a distinct line that clearly divides them. Salieri’s operas receive astounding receptions, making them the “talk of the city,'; shaking the roofs, buzzing the cafes, and even the name Salieri “sounds throughout all of Europe'; (2,3). The reason for Salieri’s success, as well as many musicians of the eighteenth century, is because they have become enslaved by the well-to-do and hence are “no better than servants'; (1,3). This applies especially to the king. For example, in Amadeus, His Majesty forbid any ballet in his operas. Imperial commands such as this are not to be interpreted in any way, in other words, they are to be merely obeyed without any dispute. Since operas tend to the needs of the high society in order to obtain recognition, the operas must communicate through the language of the nobility, that is, Italian. In addition, since the majority of the audience is made up of the upper class, the subject matter of the operas must consist of elevated themes. Such as, mythological heroes, kings, and queens, and so forth. According to the eighteenth century view, operas are supposed to be a sublime and an aggrandizing art. The elevated subject matter is then chosen in order to venerate and honor the nobility. It’s purpose is to “celebrate the eternal in man'; says Van Swieten (2,4). Meaning that there is an element in a noble person that lasts without any end, like God who is immortal. God represents the everlasting and the eternality of existence, thus God gives inspiration to operas that...
Countless dozens of Ph.D theses must be written about Mozart's The Magic Flute and yet it is so lively with elements of fantasy and free-flying imagination that it is often the first opera to which children are taken. It has a plot of such complexity that it takes several viewings for all but the most studious opera buffs to sort out the characters and follow the ins and outs of the multilevel story. At the same time it has so much easily accessible charm and so many glorious Mozart tunes that even the novice will be captivated.
One of the most interesting challenges in operatic composition , is composing for all the specific characters. A composer has to distinguish between characters through his music. Jan can’t sound like Fran , and Dan can’t sound like Stan. Each character must have his or her own traits. Mozart’s opera , Don Giovanni , provides us with many different characters to compare and contrast. One scene in particular lends itself to the comparison of Don Giovanni , Leporello , and The Commendator. Scene fifteen of Act two, places all three characters in close interaction with each other , making it easy to compare and find out how Mozart and his Librettist Lorenzo da Ponte brought them all to life.
He was a great young composer that transformed into a genius that was able to write music in the short periods of time he had during the day and was able to rewrite the musical rules. After being very successful in his early years, Mozart grew little older and started looking at things in a bigger picture. He tried to fit in on many different things including languages of others. The “Magic Flute” that was written at the end of his short life is known as the ultimate expression of Mozart’s ambition to connect with the human life and the human emotion through music as well as theater. At 25 years old, Mozart is no longer a prodigy but has not proved to be an amateur composer. In Provincial Salzburg is where Mozart is still living with his father and sister. Mozart is going to Munich because they have commissioned him to write an Italian opera in a serious style. Mozart’s father said he gave Wolfgang the advice to never neglect the popular style for the unmusical public as the musical ones. Leopold agreed to be Mozart’s middle man between the poets but he didn’t know that this would be his last detailed involvement in one of Mozart’s projects. Mozart’s father said they worked every day on the poems but Mozart was determined about something totally different than his father. He had problems with everything his father done. Whether it was too long or not dramatic enough, it would never suit his needs. His
In the late 19th century decadence was a tremendously popular theme in European literature. In addition, the degeneracy of the individual and society at large was represented in numerous contemporary works by Mann. In Death in Venice, the theme of decadence caused by aestheticism appears through Gustav von Achenbach’s eccentric, specifically homoerotic, feelings towards a Polish boy named Tadzio. Although his feelings spring from a sound source, the boy’s aesthetic beauty, Aschenbach becomes decadent in how excessively zealous his feelings are, and his obsession ultimately leads to his literal and existential destruction. This exemplifies how aestheticism is closely related to, and indeed often the cause of decadence. Although the narrative is about more complexities, the author’s use of such vivid descriptions suggest the physical, literal aspect of his writing is just as important to the meaning of the story.
In the play, the devout Salieri bargains with God for the ability to compose great music, in return for pious behavior. He feels betrayed by God when the foul-mouthed, libertine Mozart outdoes him with little apparent effort.
Salieri like everyone else also had a bad side. He was really jealous when Mozart took over his dreams. Mozart was also a composer and he became well known in Vienna through his music. When Salieri first saw Mozart he thought how can such a vulgar man create such great music. Salieri was really mad at God for making such a disgusting and a dirty minded person such a great composer.
40 is an effective composition that allows one’s mind to imagine vivid pictures. While listening to the piece by Mozart, I felt a sense of urgency throughout the piece while eliciting strong emotions of passion and grief. Composers like Richard Wagner and Peter Tchaikovsky were greatly influenced by Mozart’s musical capabilities of conveying intense feelings. The listener is affected by the different measures of commonalties between the musical periods, the composers of those periods and the pieces they compose. Mozart’s music pulled away from the norms and constraints of period style music. This composition enhances my knowledge because he has created compositions that employ the sonata, rondo, aria as well as other forms to exude strength, beauty, and grace with every
As an adult Mozart his career was not as successful as when he was younger. But he kept on composing anyway hoping one people would appreciate his work. He lived in poverty for the great majority of his life. In 1769 he became a concertmaster to the archbishop of Salzburg, which was another one of his jobs that afforded him little financial security. In 1777, he left on another concert tour. But, the courts of Europe ignored Mozart ‘s search for a more beneficial assignment. In 1782 he earned a living by selling compositions, giving public performances, and giving music lessons, which once again was a low paying job. The composer never did find a well paying job. The bizarre thing was is that even that he had ton of trouble finding jobs, he was still considered one of the leading composers of the late 1700s.
Salieri would eventually come to conclusion that God was laughing at him through Mozart. The film would go on to show how Mozart’s pride would eventually leave him in a poor financial situation because many people including those of the Emperor’s court brushing off his music. Once Mozart’s father passed away, Mozart turned to alcohol and became a heavy drinker and his wife would eventually take their son, Karl, and leave. While trying to compose several works, Mozart became very ill and exhausted, which would lead to him passing out during a performance of “The Magic Flute.” He and Salieri would work together on his Requiem, which would not be finished due to Mozart passing away, leaving Salieri to believe that God was against he and Mozart composing music together. With a plot like this, one of which where Mozart’s music was not good enough and despite the lessons he would give people, he still was struggling financially, I would have to say that, personally, this is not the life I would have thought Mozart lived, given how breathtaking his compositions are, how recognized his compositions are and the glory he receives for his work in today’s