AMozartADay

Some Lack-Luster Question Answers - A.k.a. I suddley became very tired.

synesymposium — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 05:46:43 -0400

synesymposium:

1) Put your iTunes on shuffle. Give me the first 6 songs that pop up.

1. Springtime for Hitler (The Producers)

2. La fille aux cheveux de lin (Claude Debussy)

3. King and Lionheart (Of Monsters and Men)

4. Adagio from Concerto Grosso in g minor (Corelli)

5. Near to You (A Fine Frenzy)

6. Video Games (Lana Del Rey – You win, Kelby)
2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

Who is alive at the moment? Maybe Cecilia Bartoli. Or Sir Neville Mariner. Or Robert Levin. Or Meryl Streep. Or Oprah. Or Beyonce.
3) Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.

“It was not so much the absence of a priesthood as the existence of the scientific schools that saved Greece.” (Bertrand Russell: The History of Western Philosophy)
4) What do you think about most?

Music. Always.
5) Ever had a poem or song written about you?

Oh yes. Both, and plenty, in fact.
6) Do you have any strange phobias?

I am relatively afraid of heights. Also, spiders. I am quite afraid of spiders. That’s pretty much it.
7) What’s your religion?

Love & Questioning.
8) If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?

Observing.
9) Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?

My favorite band is the Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields- the orchestra directed by Sir Neville Mariner and which produces excellent Mozart recordings.
10) What was the last lie you told?

I’m not sure about an actual lie, but I feel as though reserving my emotions is kind of like lying. I’ll try to do that less.
11) Do you believe in karma?

I joke about it, but I don’t think it can be real, honestly.
12) What does your URL mean?

My URL is a combination of two interesting things- both somewhat representative of me. “Syne” represents “synesthesia,” the neurological condition by which I see sound in colour. “Symposium” references Plato’s dialogue of the same title, which remains my favorite to this day.
13) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

Weakness: Overthinking. Strength: Compassion.
14) Who is your celebrity crush?

Heehee. There are too many, unfortunately. Zac Efron gets my fire going, but I would also pay to be Bradley James’ Merlin. And Andrew Garfield. UNF.

15) How do you vent your anger?

Probably not as well as I could. I definitely try to remove myself from people for a little bit, and it usually just goes away. But not always (i.e. grudges- of which I try not to hold many). Honestly, I have learned more ways to avoid getting angry in my life than ways to cope with anger.
16) Do you have a collection of anything?

Scores by Mozart! I have a vocal score of Don Giovanni that is pretty old, and like, six copies of the requiem. It is not a particularly valuable collection at the moment, though it is larger than most other student collections. I am just happy to gather them because when I have a copy of all of his music, I will possess the totality of music of the highest quality.
17) Are you happy with the person you’ve become?

Relatively, yes. I would like to be more punctual.
18) What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?

Good questions. I HATE SIRENS. Every time a damn ambulance comes down 12^th Avenue, I have to plug my ears and stop where I am because I CAN’T SEE. I love the sound of the clarinet. And Cecilia Bartoli’s voice.
19) What’s your biggest “what if”?

“What if” I had stayed?
20) Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

They are both plausible. Perhaps aliens more so than ghosts. I would say, for now, that I believe in both.
21) Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.

iPad!! Table!!
22) Smell the air. What do you smell?

The toast I am making. I eat too much toast.
23) What’s the worst place you have ever been to?

Socioeconomically: MLK Jr. Boulevard in Seattle. Socially: a party once.
24) Most attractive singer/s of your/opposite gender?

Conor Oberst was pretty smokin’ in the day. The A Fine Frenzy woman is very pretty.
25) To you, what is the meaning of life?

Love. Love. Love.
26) Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

I do drive, but I have never crashed my car. I have almost drifted off a cliff, I have backed into a large rock (I don’t consider that crashing), and I just recently blew my first stop light. That was one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced.
27) What was the last movie you saw?

It was either the Beyonce documentary or Amadeus.
28) What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

Someone gave me bruises on my sides once. And only once.
29) Do you have any obsessions right now?

Mozart. Always. Also, boys? Or, “boy”. But it’s not an obsession in the creepy way. I hope?
30) Ever had a rumor spread about you?

Probably. I have been very lucky not to have undergone much of this in my life. But I’m sure it’s happened.
31) Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

Honestly: yes. I do not usually let them show, but things do make an impression on me, and I don’t easily forget them. They do not, however, control my actions toward the person.
32) What is your astrological sign?

Taurus, which I think is perfectly appropriate.
33) What’s the last thing you purchased?

With real money? A Croque Madame at Café Presse with Shane!
34) Love or lust?

We are all aware that true love contains the right amount of lust.
35) In a relationship right now?

No sir.
36) How many relationships have you had?

Three, I suppose.
37) What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

Be yourself. You will not have to “get” me to like you.
38) Where is your best friend?

In my heart.
39) What were you doing last night at 12 AM?

Oh gosh. I think I was actually asleep? I was so tired.
40) Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?

I hope so. Sometimes I think I’m a little too demanding of a friend for me to be compatible with myself. That is probably the case.
41) You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

Of course I save the dog. Screw work.
42) You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

a) I am not sure about this. I am leaning toward no. It would be respectful to tell everyone, and give them proper closure in saying goodbye, etc. But I kind of just want to observe the normal world until the end. b) I want to visit Mozart’s house and spend a little time in Salzburg and Vienna. I would like to visit Athens and Paris. I want to make sure everyone knows how much I love them. I want to travel, but ultimately come home to the sea.
43) What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

There are many, but here are three:

1. “Comfort ye, My People” and “Every Valley Shall Be Exalted” from Handel’s Messiah

2. The second movement of Mozart’s 20^th Piano Concerto

3. The second movement of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto
44) In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?

Blowing on a spark just enough to cause ignition, but not extinguish by force.
45) How can I win your heart?

By letting me give it to you freely.
46) Can insanity bring on more creativity?

It always does.
47) What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

To live.
48) What would you want to be written on your tombstone?

I don’t yet know, but something along the lines of what Keats picked for his:

“Here lies one whose name was writ in water.”
49) Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “heart.”

Merlin. Don’t get me started.
50) Basic question; what’s your favorite color/colors?

Orange, I think, is my favorite colour.
51) What is your current desktop picture?

A marvelous ocean sunset.
52) If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?

Uh. No one?
53) What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on?

“What is wrong with you?” (though not so much, any more)
54) You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?

I want to be able to give people that fuzzy feeling inside.
55) You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?

That time in the parking lot.

56) You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

I am grateful to all of my experiences.
57) You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?

Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know that I have someone in mind.
58) You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

Vienna. City of musicians.
59) Ever been on a plane?

Quite a few. I was on two of them for 14 hours each and by hour 7 I swear I just wanted to jump out the window. Screw you, Atlantic Ocean.
60) Give me your top 5 hottest celebrities.

I will not end this questionnaire with this question.

R.I.P. Bandy, my favorite elastic hairband. She was my first,...

synesymposium — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 13:17:14 -0400

R.I.P. Bandy, my favorite elastic hairband. She was my first, and you never forget those.
She broke tragically as I was attempting to evade onlookers in a graveyard at 12:15AM. I wonder if she ever knew she would go like that.
I added an FX Effect in Fotor that I thought accurately captures your zeal.
I love you, Bandy. #neverforget

Edit: posted this to the wrong blog..oops.

Today I such a Sonata in F Major, K. 494/533 kind of day

synesymposium — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 12:59:29 -0400

synesymposium:

At least from this sun-lit kitchen.
And I am quite okay with that.

Agreed!

chopin-impromptu: ask—wolfie: //arm yourselves with knowledge...

synesymposium — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:55:11 -0400

chopin-impromptu:

ask—wolfie:

//arm yourselves with knowledge ~~and feels~~

I hope I did Wolfie justice

OMG YES

furryham: Writing some Amadeus-based fanfiction. It’s been a while since I did any solo work. I...

synesymposium — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:52:33 -0400

furryham:

Writing some Amadeus-based fanfiction. It’s been a while since I did any solo work. I ship van Swieten and von Strack (the Chamberlain).

Van Swieten is quiet and sensitive but passionate and educated. The Chamberlain is tired and lonely and overworked. They’re an autumn years/elderly couple, and I find such things terribly cute.

Oh.
My.
Gosh.
Approved.

This is the best thing ever. Van Swieten is like, one of my favorite people in history because he truly facilitated Mozart’s exposure to early music.

And they are such minor characters in the movie. This will be fantastic.

MACAROOOOOOOOONS

synesymposium — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:43:33 -0400

MACAROOOOOOOOONS

#bachswag: 30 day challenge

synesymposium — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 19:43:02 -0400

#bachswag: 30 day challenge:

violadream:

Day 01 - your favourite classical music piece
Day 02 - your least favourite classical music piece
Day 03 - a classical music piece that makes you happy
Day 04 - a classical music piece that makes you sad
Day 05 - a classical music piece that reminds you of someone
Day 06 - a…

First new thing: this will be happening, but with only Mozart’a music!

AND WE’RE BACK!!! Get ready followers. Over the course of...

synesymposium — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:26:44 -0400

AND WE’RE BACK!!!

Get ready followers. Over the course of today and tomorrow, you will see a complete revitalization of AMozartADay. We are so excited to bring you this music once more, picking up right where we left off!

Cheers,

Wolfie & Co.

hey there! I posted the Haydn quote on my other blog and just realized I pressed the 4 instead of the 8 for the date :3 WAY AWKWARD but I wanted to thank the anon for catching it! Love this blog btw !

Sun, 08 Jul 2012 00:40:11 -0400

question about that quote from Haydn. Mozart was born in 1756...right? It says the quote was from 1745...

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 18:54:13 -0400

Oh my! A good catch, follower! My personal knowledge of the quote dates it accurately at 1785, just after Haydn heard Mozart’s 6 “Haydn Quartets”. Thank you for bringing this to our attention!

What does the weather look like for all of you out there? :) Any...

synesymposium — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 15:28:15 -0400

What does the weather look like for all of you out there? :) Any chance you might have a similar day to the W.A. Mozart in this painting?

"I swear to you before God, and in all honesty, that your son is the greatest composer I know,..."

synesymposium — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 15:26:46 -0400

“I swear to you before God, and in all honesty, that your son is the greatest composer I know, whether by name or reputation. He has taste, and moreover, and most profound understanding of composition.”

- Joseph Haydn to Leopold Mozart, upon hearing Wolfgang in Vienna in 1745 (via sanesideofmozart)

Day 16 (July 6th, 2012): Concert Aria for Soprano and Orchestra,...

synesymposium — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 02:46:00 -0400

Day 16 (July 6th, 2012):

Concert Aria for Soprano and Orchestra, “Conservati Fedele”, K. 23

Mozart composed the aria in October 1765 while staying at The Hague during the family’s British-European tour, when he was nine years old. Both of the Mozart children, Wolfgang and his sister Nannerl, were quite ill at the time. It was slightly revised in January 1766, possibly for a performance for Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau. In his list of Wolfgang’s works which he started in 1768 in Vienna, his father Leopold entered this piece as no. 2 of 15 Italian Arias, composed in London and The Hague (German: 15 Italiänische Arien theils in London, theils im Haag Componiert).

The Newberry Library (Case MS 6A, 48), Chicago, acquired the manuscript (6 sheets, 11 pages) through a bequest of the opera singer Claire Dux –Mrs Charles H. Swift– (1885–1967 in Chicago). It was previously owned by Raphael Georg Kiesewetter who gave the autograph to Aloys Fuchs as a gift. Both Fuchs and Abbé Maximilian Stadler confirmed its authenticity with their signatures on 7 December 1832. The Neue Mozart-Ausgabe also mentions an autograph (4 sheets, 7 pages) at the Bibliothèque nationale de France in its Malherbe collection.

Translation:

“Stay and remain faithful;

Think how I grieve alone here,

And sometimes at the least

Remember me.

While I by power of love

Talking to my own heart

Converse with thee.”

Is there any way you could add the exact post date/time to each of your posts? It would make it far easier to remember which pieces have been posted since the last time I was on. Thanks!

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 14:56:05 -0400

Yes! I will start doing this from now on.

Day 13: Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, K. 22 (complete...

synesymposium — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 23:44:42 -0400

Day 13:

Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, K. 22 (complete recording)

The Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, K. 22, was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in The Hague in December, 1765, at the age of nine, while he was on his musical tour of Western Europe. Mozart fell seriously ill during his stay in Hague, and he wrote that composition probably while he was convalescing from his illness. The symphony is scored for two oboes, two horns and strings. The form is that of a three-movement Italian overture:

1. Allegro, 4/4

2. Andante, 2/4

3. Allegro molto, 3/8

All three movements are colored especially prominently by horns. A rousing first movement in the key of B-flat major opens the symphony, followed by a more solemn, mournful movement in the relative key of G minor. A short, boisterous finale closes the work. The opening theme to the finale is borrowed from the finale to keyboard concerto by Johann Christian Bach whom Mozart had met the previous year in London. The same theme would also appear in a much later, more mature work of Mozart’s: the Act 2 Finale of his 1786 opera buffa, Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492.

Amendment: when the Köchel listing was updated three times...

synesymposium — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 23:36:00 -0400

Amendment: when the Köchel listing was updated three times following its original creation, pieces with whole-number designations were allowed to stay the same, while newly discovered pieces were given number/letter designations. In between K. 19 and K. 20 lie Ks. 19a, c, and d. Please forgive this interruption in the sequence.

Days 11a, c, d:

Symphony in F, KV. 19a (part 1, part 2, part 3)

Orchestation:

· 2 Oboes

· 2 Cornos (F)

· Strings (optional Cembalo in the basso part)

Composed in London, c. 1765

Aria for Tenor and Orchestra, ”Va, dal furor portata”, KV. 19c (complete recording)

“Va, dal furor portata” is an early concert aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was written 1765 in London, during the Mozart family Grand Tour around Europe when Mozart was nine years old. The words are from Pietro Metastasio’s Ezio, act II, scene 4.

Pietro Metastasio’s libretti are today associated almost exclusively with Baroque and early Classical settings, but they retained some of their popularity even into the early Romantic period, with both Rossini and Bellini utilizing them. This is one of the most operatic of Bellini’s songs, with more than a few devices much more frequently found in arias than in his songs.

The piece opens with a hurried piano introduction that immediately sets a theatrical mood, with dramatic chords. The vocal melody is first taken at a quick pace and is generally simple, though it ends with a few rather theatrical reprises with dramatic changes of dynamics and tempo. The da capo repetition ends with overtly operatic touches from both voice and accompaniment, including the traditional operatic thundering flourish of an ending from the piano. ~ Anne Feeney, All Music Guide

Sonata for Keyboard Four-hands in C Major, KV.19d (part 1, part 2, part 3)

This sonata was composed by the the 9-year old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart during the Mozart family’s Grand Tour of Europe. It was probably first performed by Mozart in Hickford’s Great Room, Brewer Street, accompanied by his sister Maria Anna Mozart on 13 May 1765. It is, as most (if not all) of his early works, heavily influenced by his father Leopold Mozart and other composers who were close to Mozart, e.g. Johann Christian Bach. His father’s harsh demands are clearly portrayed in this early work, but despite this, Mozart’s independence was still in a vague stage of development.

Composed in May 1765, in London.

Day 12: “God is our refuge”, K. 20 Another exciting...

synesymposium — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 22:04:00 -0400

Day 12:

“God is our refuge”, K. 20

Another exciting time for A Mozart A Day. This post represents the first vocal work by Mozart, and is also his ONLY piece with all English text. Of course, written in London in 1765 while studying Händel, that seems appropriate. A study of the facsimile shows two different handwritings, clearly the nine year old Mozart and his father.

This is a musical setting of Psalm 46: 1- “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Note the tragic key of g minor.

Introducing the Submission Box!

synesymposium — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 16:02:58 -0400

Hello followers!

First I’d like to start by thanking you for your ever growing support! I am so impressed that over 200 of you would subscribe to a Mozart blog in less than two weeks.

I would now like to introduce the submission box. You guys know how the premise of this blog works- we post one piece of Mozart’s per day, in order of Köchel listing. If there is a piece coming up that you love, please write a little bit about it and submit! I will include it when we get to that piece.

If there is a piece that’s still a long ways away, submit it anyway! I’ll keep it for when the day comes.

As always, we’re always looking for feedback from our followers!

Sincerely,

AMozartADay

I am really excited that you have created a blog that is dedicated about Mozart. He is one of my inspirations in my singing. I know so much about him and I am excited to know more about him from here! Thank you!

Thu, 28 Jun 2012 14:01:24 -0400

You are so welcome. We here at AMozartADay want to share the inspiration that we (and you!) feel from Mozart with the world! Thank you for following, and let us know if there’s anything we can do for you!

Day 10: Symphony No. 4 in D Major, KV. 19 Where did Ks.17 and 18...

synesymposium — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 13:54:38 -0400

Day 10:

Symphony No. 4 in D Major, KV. 19

Where did Ks.17 and 18 go, you might ask? Well, as it turns out, Leopold Mozart wrote K. 17 and Wolfgang copied someone else’s symphony into his notebook as a study, but the publishers who found it after his death thought it was his. They were each symphonies, hence the title of KV. 19 (Symphony No. 4). Quite technically it is the second symphony that Mozart wrote.

Also written in 1765, also in London, it comprises of three movements: Allegro, Andante, Presto.

This wonderful recording was produced by Christopher Hogwood and The Academy of Ancient Music.