Mozart vs. Beethoven
Arts and Culture 2 Mozart vs. Beethoven Paper 3/21/12 Mozart vs. Beethoven In the 18th century, the middle class made a lot more money. During the Classical Period, the middle class had a tremendous influence on music. They wanted to hear concertos and symphonies. They wanted their children to learn great music and play instruments. The composers began writing music that was geared towards the middle class because they could make a better living if they enjoyed the music being played. They wrote music that was easier for their students to understand and play.
Serious music changed into comic operas, or popular folk tunes, and dance music. This was a good thing it shaped dance and music forever. Mozart and Beethoven were both master composers in the 18th century classical music era. Classical music emphasized the different moods of music throughout one song, as it fluctuated with the composer’s emotions. There is a large variety of rhythmic patterns, that created the composers thoughts. Classical music has a lot more homophonic texture. The melodies were balanced, symmetrical, and a whole lot easier to remember.
Beethoven and Mozart are the two most important musicians of their time. Their pieces are everlasting and will live on forever. Their styles are so unique and uplifting that they could never be matched. They were truly masterminds as they played in the same time period but their lives were tremendously different. There are some similarities and many differences between the two of them but one fact will always remain: They are the central and most vital part of all music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the most important musical innovators we have ever seen in our lifetime.
His style of music helped re-shape music, the way it was played, and the Classical period. Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756. Mozart was a child prodigy, claiming most of his success in his youth. At the age of six, Mozart could play the harpsichord and violin very well. At this time he was able to improvise fugues, write minuets, and read music perfectly. At the age of eight, he wrote a symphony and at eleven, he wrote an oratorio. Then, at the age of twelve he wrote a great opera. Mozart’s father was Leopold Mozart, who happened to be a court musician.
Both Mozart and Beethoven had help from their fathers in many different ways. Mozart’s father helped him travel around as a young musician and he traveled many places and he seen many well-known people and aristocrats. Because of Mozart’s early successes many challenges had become part of his life. He had very high expectations from the community and from his father. Unlike, Beethoven, Mozart was spoiled as a youth and because of this he refused to be treated as a servant. He completely relied on his father’s help and refused to work with the archbishop.
This would become a problem later when Mozart did not develop enough initiative. Because of that he could not make decisions on his own. Then at age 25, Mozart broke free from Salzburg and became a great freelance musician in Vienna. This is where Mozart found and started some of his success. Mozart earned his living giving lessons to people and holding concerts. Mozart later wrote his piece “Don Giovanni” and then “The marriage of Figaro” and these were great pieces for his time. Eventually, Mozart’s popularity disapeared and his music was found to be very complicated and hard to follow.
Mozart’s music was very versatile and his masterpieces had been in many forms. His piano concertos were and still are very important and very popular pieces. Mozart was also a master of the opera. As he wrote many popular operas in his time. During his last year, he was much more successful. He wrote an opera and a Requiem, which he never did finish. Mozart’s great passion in his work can be herd and felt in various works and in his style. It is of the utmost perfection and can not be replicated. Mozart died in 1791, in Vienna at the age of just 35.
Ludwig Van Beethoven came in the later part of the Classical Period and helped bridge this period into the Romantic era. Beethoven is considered by many one of the greatest musicians to ever play and was a mere genius. His influence in music is still noticed and recognizes today and will continue to be herd, felt and recognized throughout time. Beethoven’s pieces being as dramatic and profound as they are will never be lost as time goes on. Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany in 1770. He was born into a family of musicians.
Beethoven was not the child star that Mozart was but he did accomplish many things as a youth. Beethoven played for Mozart at age sixteen. Mozart said, “Keep your eyes on him; some day he will give the world something to talk about. ” When Beethoven was twenty-two he decided to leave Germany and go to Vienna, to study with Joseph Haydn. Beethoven had a very rough upbringing, because his father was an alcoholic and was a very abusive person. Many of Beethoven’s works are and were based on the horrendous experiences he had growing up.
Beethoven had two brothers, they were both younger than him. Beethoven’s father died when he was young, which forced him to take care of his family. Beethoven was self-educated, very vain and a very self-absorbed man. He had very high expectations for himself and was often said to have a very rude and disastrous behavior. Beethoven refused to be a servant or treated like one and refused to be told what to do, claiming that he should be treated as an artist and that he deserved more respect than the average person. Beethoven was struck with what was his greatest downfall; becoming deaf.
This occurred in 1802 when doctors learned that he was becoming deaf and there was nothing that they could do to stop it. This impairment reshaped his music completely. This led the way to a very tense and exciting side of his pieces that no one ever seen. Beethoven’s music differs with Mozart’s and is more intense and had a greater range of pitch and dynamics. Beethoven’s greatest pieces were his symphonies. And are still heard today as often as they were in his days. Beethoven was a very good innovator with his own variations to music.
Compared to Mozart, Beethoven tried to unify contrasting movements by using musical continuity. Often times Beethoven’s music did not have a clear ending and was dragged out a bit longer than expected to be. Beethoven died in 1827, in Vienna. “Beethoven gave his first public appearance (playing piano) when he was eight and had his first piece of music published by the time he was 12 years old. ” In conclusion, Mozart and Beethoven had a great influence in the change of music in the 18th century. They played, conducted, and composed music that came completely from their heart.
They made people very happy and entertained people. They opened up a doorway to what we call musical expression. We would probably still be in the Baroque era, if it weren’t for these two genius music composers. Work Cited http://www. kidzworld. com/article/1292-wolfgang-amadeus-mozart-biography#ixzz1prb4fYP0 http://www. ipl. org/div/michist/clas/mozart. html www. biography. com/people/wolfgang-mozart-9417115 www. lvbeethoven. com/Bio/BiographyLudwig. html www. biography. com/people/ludwig-van-beethoven-9204862 And The Movie – Amadeus
