2012/13 - Lyric Opera of Chicago

Because opera is a very old art form, many of the
operas performed today were created by composers
who lived long ago. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the
composer of The Magic Flute, lived from 1756 until
1791. But what if we could talk to him today? In this
imaginary interview, Backstage Pass! correspondent,
Joseph Grün, asks Mozart some questions about his
life and work.
Joseph Grün: Can you tell us about your childhood?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: I was born in
Salzburg, Austria, on January 27, 1756. My mother
and father had seven children. Sadly, only my sister
and I survived. My father was a gifted composer and
violinist. He also wrote a very popular book on how to
play the violin.
JG: How did you learn to compose music?
WAM: Luckily, I was raised in a musical family. My
musical gifts appeared when I was very young. At
an early age I learned to play the piano, harpsichord,
and violin. My sister also played the piano. When I
was young my father helped me write the notes on
the page for my compositions. While it is difficult to
remember what I did when I was five or six years old, I
do know that my father took my sister and me on trips
so we could perform for nobility. Though these trips
were exhausting, they helped me learn about different
musical styles.
JG: Can you tell us more about how your travels
helped you as a composer?
WAM: I have read that some people think I am a
“genius.” I don’t know if I am, but I do know that music
has always come easily for me. Working with my father
and listening to my sister play the piano helped my
music. Traveling during my childhood allowed me to
perform for people and listen to the music of many
different composers in many different countries. I think
all of this helped my musical abilities.
JG: Can you describe your compositional style?
WAM: I will try, but remember that a composer’s
style changes within his or her lifetime. And, also
remember, that I began composing at a VERY young
age. To answer this question, I’ll use opera, which I
worked with for most of my life.
I composed my first opera, Bastien and Bastienne,
when I was 12. My last opera, The Magic Flute, was
composed when I was 35. They are similar in that both
contain arias and duets. So what is different?
An Interview with the Composer
First, my interest in opera changed over time. I don’t
know that I could have written The Magic Flute when
I was 12. The themes within the opera, (the search for
wisdom and truth) are more serious than the themes
of Bastien and Bastienne (childhood jealousy and
reconciliation).
Second, as I grew older, I better understood the voice,
text, and the orchestra. Listen to the overtures of
Bastien and Bastienne and The Magic Flute and you’ll
hear differences in the way I wrote for the orchestra.
Third, I learned more about the differing musical styles
throughout Europe, as well as what my audience
enjoyed. Unlike other composers like Franz Joseph
Haydn, I did not receive regular pay from a patron.
I had to sell my works. Sometimes wealthy people
would pay me to write music, but I made money most
often by requiring audience members to pay to see my
operas. As a composer, I had to write operas about
ideas my audience wanted to see, not just my own
ideas.
JG: Do you mean that you will write whatever you think
an audience will like, even if it isn’t best for the story?
WAM: Not quite. You have brought up an interesting
problem. What the audience wants is important, but a
composer must stay true to his or her own creativity.
Perhaps composers must balance new musical ideas
with familiar ones.
For example, The Magic Flute contains two
contrasting musical ideas. Let’s describe them as the
sublime and the ridiculous. To be sublime means to
be great; to be ridiculous means to be stupid or funny.
The idea of the sublime is seen in the text and music
of Tamino, Pamina, and Sarastro. The ridiculous is
demonstrated by the music of Papageno, the Three
Ladies, and even the Queen of the Night.
The movement between these two ideas gives
the opera excitement, balance, and interesting
composition. The decision to use these two ideas
makes a good story for the stage. I also had to
consider the capabilities of my singers, and what my
audience would like to see in this opera.
JG: Is there anything else you’d like to add about your
compositional style?
WAM: Well, I also use the standard musical forms
in my operas: arias, duets, trios, ensembles, and
choruses. These help me create the structure for an
opera.
9