Great composers of music [column]

Title

Creator

Osbon, Bert Paul

Identifier

Music Appreciation Section

Language

English

Source

The Young Citizen : the magazine for young people 6 (5) May 1940

Year

1940

Subject

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791--Biography

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Abstract

A child prodigy, Mozart wrote his first symphony when he was eight years old and his first opera at 12. He went on to write some of the most important masterpieces of the Classical era, including symphonies, operas, string quartets and piano music. This boy prodigy could play another instrument besides the violin and the harpsichord.

Fulltext

THE YOUNG CITIZEN May, 1940 MUSIC APPRECIATION SECTION GREAT COMPOSERS OF MUSIC By BERT PAUL OSBON• IV. J\10zART, THE BOY PRODIGY Morart WHAT, you ask, is a boy prodigy? I will tell you. When a very young boy is able to do some difficult thing so well that he astonishes many people by his ability, that boy is called a pr"od igy. The great composer Mozart (pronounced motsart), when a boy, was a musical prodigy, for when this wonder-child was only three years old he could play chords on the harpsichord-the forerunner of the piano-and at the age of five he wrote music. When he was ten years old he was considered by many people to be the greatest musician in the world at that time. Now let us hear about this marvelous musician and composer, who, as a boy, was considered a musical wonder-child. This boy's name was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756. (Find Salzburg on the map of Central Europe.) His father was a musician, and one of the kindest and most loving of fathers. He was *Former)~, Head of the Music D epartment, Shortridge High School, ·Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. A. good to his little son Wolfgang and Wolfgang's little sister Anna, whom her brother affectionately called Nannerl. Never were two children happier. When Wolfgang was three years o\d, his father was amazed and delighted when he saw the little boy stand by the harpsichord and pick out chords for himself. Soon Father Mozart began to give Wolfg~ng lessons .. The little boy learned so fast that in a short time he was able to play a minuet after practicing it only half an hour. , At. the age of five years the boy ,actually began to compose music for himself, and wrote a minuet which the writer has seen. One day Father Mozart found his little son writing away on some music very busily indeed. The elder Mozart ' asked the child what he was writing. "I am writing a concerto; it is nearly finished," said the wonderful boy. When Wblfgang was six, his father decided to take Nan n er 1 and her brothrr to the great city of Munich, and ·have them play together on the harpsichord before the king. The king anrl - The Boy tJ,.0 , 1 a.n who heard May, 1940 THE YOUNG CITIZEN the children play were astonished and delighlled.' Father Mozart was so pleased at the success of his children, especially the little boy, that he decided to take them to Vienna, where the emperor and empress lived. The Empress Maria Theresa-a woman famous in ·history -ordered that the children should come to the palace and play for her. Most boys and girls would be frightened if asked to play for a great empress in a beautiful palace. But little Wolfgang was not afraid. He asked for a famous .c9mpicture at the beginning of this article. The instrument was a very fine one, and was mad·e 1'y one of the master violinmakers. Mo'zart took his violin home with him, and soon afrer, a famous violinist came to make the family a visit. To the amazement of all, little Wolfgang asked permission to play his violin with his father and the famous violinist. Father Mozart never supposed for a minute that his young son could play the difficult music on the violin. Imagine the father's surprise· and delight when the marv e 11 o us boy played his part o n the violin without a single mistake. poser of music, and when he came, the little Mozart said to him, "Sir, I am going to play one of your concertos. You must turn the pages of music for me." A concerto (pronounced con - chair-to), as perhaps you know, is a diffic u It composition for a solo lfilozarl and his Sister Playin9 before the Empress Wolfgang and his sister N annerl visited many great cities where they played so wonderfully in public that people could not do enough to honinstrument with an accompaniment by the orchestra. Only a very skillful musician can perform a concerto. But this wonderful boy played the difficult music perfectly . . One of the illustrations of this article is a copy of a famous painting showing the boy Mozart and his sister N annerl playing before the empress. When Mozart went home from Vienna, he carried with him as a present a violin of which he was Wery proud, indeed. This is the violin shown in the or them. Their fortune seemed assured. The Ii t t I e family traveled. from palace to palace, giving concerts for kings and q~ens. They went to London and to Paris, a great journey for those times. Audiences exclaimed over the musical ability of the pretty children. They could scarcely believe that the little boy composed, as well as played much of the music on the program. · Always exquisitely dressed in a court costume of velvet and silk, little Wolf(Pleau turn to pa9e 189.) May, 1940 rHE YOUNG CITIZEN 189 It was fun to watch the boat sail, he thought, but would it not be more fun to know why it sailed? The more he thought of it, the more he wondered. Why not separate its parts and then assemble them afterwards? He remembered, then, what had happened when he took his father's watch and unscrewed the parts. His father had given him a scolding (his father never used the rod, but he had a way of gaining the respect and love of his children) because the watch had to be sent to the watch-repairer. But the temptation to examine the mechanism which made the boat run was too great. Besides, it was his boat anyway, And so he went home and locked himself in his room. After loosening screws, what had been a boat was now a little pile of useless-looking gadgets. What interested him most was the small petroleum tank. He tipped it from one side to the other, its wick lighted, doing the motion of a ship in a rough sea. Suddenly, there was a blinding flash, followed by a loud explosion. He felt something hot creeping all over his body. His clothes wer·e on fire. The sudden~ ness ()f it all made him lose his mind, and he didn't know what to do. He ran about, but the flames grew more and more and the pain became unbearable. He shouted for help. And then above the searing pain, or perhaps because of it-he couldn't tell which-he seemed to hear Mrs. Arceo's voice, vague and uncertain, telling him not to run about, but to lie down and roll over and over, ·until · the flames died down. Instinctively, he followed his teacher's instructions which seemed only half-understood and so far away. In a short time the fire was put out. In the meanwhile, neighbors had come DAILY HEALTH ACTIVITIES FOR BOYS AND GIRLS By FLORA PONCE Check each of the following activities that you perform every day: · I. I drink a glass of milk every morning. 2. I brush my teeth after . every meal. 3. I take a bath once a day. 4. I eat a balance di·et. 5. I play out of doors. 6. I wash my hands before eating. 7. I drink about eight glasses of pure water every day. 8. I sleep at"least ten hours a day. 9. I sleep with my windows open. running in answer to his cries. His burns were quicklY administered to. He heard snatches of conversation going about. He heard someone say how brave he was and how lucky it was for Alfredo to know exactly what to do on such a situation. But Alfredo did not give the credit to himself. Deep in his heart he knew that it was Mrs. Arceo who had saved him, and that if he had listened attentively to her lecture on Fire Prevention, he would · have been saved the pain of a burn and a possible general conflagration. MOZART .... (Continued from page 185) gang and his sister N annerl were like two children in a fairy tale, bowing before the queen to be rewarded for their marvelous music. They were happy children, for music was a pleasure to them. This boy prodigy could play another instrument besides the violin and the (Please turn to page 190.) 190 THE YOUNG C !ZEN May, 1940 WORK AND PLAY SECTION _ I _____,~ D/ / / // ~ THUM~'GOLF ~NGE1:.J: CAMPOY TOM THUM~f can be playe~ by two or four players. Each player must be provided with a marble and a flat paddle made of wood or bamboo as large and as wide as a foot ruler. Make five holes (ju~ large enough for a marble to fall in) in the ground about half a meter apart. Half a meter from the first hole draw the starting line. With his paddle a player driv.es his marble from the starting line to the first hole. If he succeeds in putting his marble in the hole with the first stroke, he drives his marble to the next hole, and so on. If with the first stroke he fails to put his marble in the hole, the next player start• diving his marble into the first hole and continues to drive as long as he succeeds in driving his mable in each successive hole with a single drive. Otherwise, he must give his opponent the chance, to drive. Each player then takes his turn in driving his marble into the holes. A player must drive his marble in all the five holes from the first hole to the fifth a~d back from the fifth hole to the first before he .makes a score. While making his dri~es, a player must take care to keep.· his marble as far as THE "T" PUZZLE By BONIFACIO V. VALERA• Cut out the patterns shown on the ieft on ·a piece of soft wood or card board, nd arrange them so they ill form the letter "T". '~,"(Answer on page i93) • ~~ Elementary School, Diasalang, asbate. possible from ponent marble so · that he will not get •· uc out." A "struck-out" is a 1l made by one player on the marble of his opponent, using his own mar bk to scor·e the hit. If he succeeds in making the hit, he is given one free drive., and the player whose marble has been struck out will have to go back to the starting line and begin driving into the first hole again. Any player is free to make an attempt to hit his . opponent's marble to make him start driving from the starting line again, provided that he attempts to do so when his turn comes. A player must know how to make careful aims and to avoid hi~ opponent's hits in order to make the score. This game is more intereting when played in teams of two players each, The team making most scores wins the game. MOZART ... (Continued from page 189) harpsichord. When he was only a boy, he learned to play a great church organ. An oranist was so amazed when he hea.rd the boy play on his organ that he wrote Mozart's name on the instrument as a remembrance of this "wonder god."

pages

184-184+

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