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The magic flute music analysis
The magic flute analysis
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On September 28th, 1791, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his second to last piece with the support of Emanuel Schikaneder, a well known theatrical figure. The premiere took place two days after Mozart completed this work (Kennedy Center). The Magic Flute, one of Mozart’s most praised works, is an enduring allegory about the dichotomy of good versus evil. This well-known opera tells the story of a young prince who searches for true love, while another character, Papageno, acquires pleasures such as food and wine to gain happiness (Sherrane).
Mozart found it difficult to live successfully. Although he did acquire wealth in his earlier years, his popularity declined towards the end of the 18th century. He became desperate, and could no longer support his family of eight (Sherrane). In 1791, Emanuel Schikaneder proposed the idea of composing The Magic Flute, and he served as a backbone for Mozart throughout the process. When the curtain rose on the night of the premiere, Mozart realized how successful his opera would become (Opera America Center). With the success of The Magic Flute, Mozart was just beginning to become financially stable when an illness brought his life to an end in December of 1791.
Contemporary scholars still debate Mozart’s purpose for composing this opera; they do not know whether he completed this work due to his financial situation, his desire to spread his radical ideas, or his love for composing. Historians believe Mozart created this work solely to express his ideas regarding the German Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was known as “The Age of Reason,” a time where people began to use to logic to question preconceived theories. Mozart incorporates the idea of reason, a key element of the Enlightenment, ...
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...wing to the inferiority and diction of the piece.” The royal court did not believe that this opera was one of Mozart’s most intricate works and frowned upon the Masonic symbolism, which detracted from the opera’s success. However, the reputation of the piece quickly turned around. By October of 1791, 24 performances were given, and by November of 1792, the 100th performance was announced (CPR). According to a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, different composers recreated The Magic Flute and adapted it to different cultures. Today, there exist many modified and translated versions of The Magic Flute (MIT). A true masterpiece, The Magic Flute never fails to enchant an audience. Mozart crafted this opera in hope to garner a profit, and succeeds. Conductors, musicians, and historians never tire of exploring the richness of this well-known piece.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was undoubtedly one of the greatest composers of not only the classical era, but of all time. On January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria, Mozart was born into an already musically talented family. His father Leopold, a composer and musician, and sister Nannerl toured parts of Europe giving many successful performances, including some before royalty. At the young age of 17, Mozart was appointed Konzertmeister at the Salzburg Court. It was there that young Mozart composed two successful operas: “Mitridate” and “Lucio Silla”. In 1981 he was dismissed from his position at the Salzburg Court. He went on to compose over 600 works including 27 piano Concertos, 18 Masses (including his most famous, the Requiem), and 17 piano sonatas. Mozart was not often known for having radical form or harmonic innovation but rather, most of his music had a natural flow, repetition and simple harmonic structure.
The above thoughts are about a very complex piece of music. The fact that it appears to be simple , is a result of the genius of Mozart and his incredibly ability to write music. This opera works so well because Mozart made it so accessible to regular people. He achieved this simplicity through his meticulous detail to each characters personality. He made sure that Don Giovanni sounded like he should sound; bold , cocky ,and charming. Mozart truly wrote an opera that almost performs itself. I feel that if a person can sing the notes , then most of the point has gotten across. If the singer is boring , the listener can still understand the character through his or her melodic line or the rhythmic patterns of the part. Overall , Mozart composed the perfect music for each character.
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 composition work in the employ of various patrons gives a more rounded picture of the development of Mozart’s musical style. Mozart is one of the most enduring composers, with his work continuing to resonate with modern audiences.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed an exemplary piece of classical music that can be seen in television and films of the twenty-first century. Mozart would hear a complete piece in his head before he would write it down. He created pieces that had simple melodies, but also the orchestration sounded rich. Out of the forty-one symphonies Mozart composed, I have chosen Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G minor or better known as The Great G Minor Symphony, written in 1788. Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 is considered the most popular out of all forty-one symphonies because the opening movement is very memorable. Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 is effectively composed through the use of a specific form, elements of music, and using the appropriate instruments so one can see brilliant scenes unfolding.
...n do now is to die. And so he does. Although Mozart does suffer loss, the loss of his life and career, and is somewhat responsible for his downfall, he does not evoke sympathy or recognition. However, it is Salieri who contains all four elements of a tragic hero. Salieri loses practically everything he has faith in before Mozart appears. He suffers from the loss of dignity, esteem, and honor. Salieri also recognizes something he has never felt before, that is the “pain as I had never know it,'; (1,5), the pain from the beauty and delight of Mozart’s music. Thus, recognizing the limitations of his own talent, the mediocrity of his talent compared to the genius works of Mozart. He grows an awareness of disharmony in the universe that he has never encountered. Salieri clearly is culpable of his own tragedy. He is the Court Composer, his works are respected throughout Europe, and because he is not stupid, he does not say he is the better composer. Instead, he is the minority who actually appreciates Mozart’s music. There is definitely sympathy for Salieri, in that all human beings can work as hard as they want to at something and can still fail miserably.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, also known as W.A. Mozart, was a very well-known composer of the Classical Period as well as still to this day. Wolfgang Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria. He was known for his sonatas, symphonies, masses, chamber music, concertos, and operas. He set the standards high for all composers following in his footsteps.
Mozart wrote The Magic Flute in 1791, just after the French Revolution and just before he died. Haydn had introduced Mozart to Freemasonry, and the opera is full of the ideas (the autonomy of the individual, self-determination, appalling sexism), the ideals (power, wisdom, beauty), and the symbols (aprons, hammers, compasses, a pyramid with an ...
Mozart’s Requiem is “one of the most performed and studied pieces of music in history” (Stango, n.d.). The story behind the start of this piece begins with Count Franz von Walsegg, who commissioned a requiem mass for his wife Anna (who had passed away). Throughout his work on this piece, Mozart began to get so emotionally involved with the piece that he believed that he was writing a death mass for himself. Mozart died December 5, 1791, with only half of the Requiem finished (through Lacrimosa). Franz Xaver Süssmayr finished the Requiem based on Mozart’s specifications from notes and what he had already written. The completed work is dated 1792 by Süssmayr and was performed for the first time on January 2, 1793. Mozart’s intent for this mass was specifically for church ceremony, but recently, the Requiem has been used and performed at concerts to showcase Mozart’s musical brilliance (Stango, n.d.).
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
Opera is a unique genre of spoken word and song accompanied by music. The music takes one through ascending and descending ranges of emotions. Mozart's Don Giovanni is a perfect example of how this genre emits a wide variety of feelings and attitudes. This "dark comedy seems to convey Mozart's feeling that events have both comical and serious dimensions…" (Kerman, 205). The opera, as a whole, is neither exclusively comedic nor entirely tragic.
The Classical Period brought forward new musical innovation. The sudden change in emotion and contrast in the music from the classical era is one of the many fascinating topics. However, the topic most talked about to this very day is Mozart’s Requiem. The mystery of which parts were composed by Mozart puzzles many. Even the rumor that surrounds Mozart’s cause of death is fascinating. Peter Shaffer’s play Amadeus, added more controversy to this intriguing mystery.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is often referred to as the greatest musical genius of all time in Western musical tradition. His creative method was extraordinary: his writings show that he almost always wrote a complete composition mentally before finally writing it on paper. Mozart created 600 works in his short life of 35 years. His works included 16 operas, 41 symphonies, 27 piano concerti, and 5 violin concerti, 25 string quartets, and 19 masses.
There is then a time jump and we find ourselves observing an older Salieri. Salieri, now has made somewhat a name for himself in the city of Vienna, which is referred to as the “city of musicians”. Salieri is the court composer for Holy Roman Emperor Joseph 2nd, and he seems okay with the way his life is going and feels that his God has honored his part of the oath and so has Salieri. That all changes when Salieri attends a performance that Mozart is giving, hoping to meet the man he has idolized for so long. Salieri first observes Mozart without his knowledge and within minutes comes to the conclusion that he is a vulgar man and wonders how his God could gift a man such as Mozart with the talent that he has. As Salieri first hears Mozart 's music he himself feels as though he has heard the voice of God, but instead of wanting to believe that God gifted Mozart with such talents Salieri chooses to believe that such music was nothing more than an accident, he needs it to be an
It is pretty easy to understand why people were so critical over his compositions during this era, it is almost similar to how some people do not take to certain songs in modern music genres, but over a hundred years later, we tend to still hear Mozart’s music all the time, whether it is intentionally, on a radio station, in a movie soundtrack, fancy restaurant or elevator music, or even in music class and people of today’s society seem to appreciate it much more than the people during the eighteenth century did, at least from how Amadeus portrays the audience(s). Listening to Mozart’s productions today, people who enjoy classical music will definitely agree with me when I say that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s pieces are far from boring or tiring, and a true lover of this musical style will absolutely know when to clap. Also, there was a part in the film where Mozart is upset that the director wants him to rewrite a big section of his opera, if not the entire thing, and Mozart defends his work saying, “I can’t rewrite what’s perfect!” (Amadeus). In the film, Mozart seemed to have