Happy Two-Fiftieth!

Today is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birthday. If he were still with us, he would be 250 years old. Nifty numbers like that don't come along every day, so the School of Music did a couple of things to commemorate. First of all, there was a countdown party thing last night that I went to, and that was fun. I believe it was the latest concert I've ever been to, and it was probably the latest concert that Dr. Willis had ever played. He played several pieces on the fortepiano (old kind of piano, this one somewhat similar to one like Mozart would have used), as seen on the attached program. (Thanks to Cassandra for suggesting that I scan it for you all to see). And then the person who organized the event made us sing Happy Birthday. That was kind of weird, singing happy birthday to a dead guy. The organizer's a little on the weird side, as well. That's ok though...she's nice, and has an appropriate level of appreciation for Mozart that some seem to lack. Then we all had champagne and cake. There was also sparkling cider there, for those who did not wish to allow alchohol to pass their lips. I wish there had been cake there for people who didn't like that kind of cake; I took one bite and I almost died. It was all I could do to finish chewing and swallow the stuff. Eck. The cider was good, though...I brought back a couple of cool plastic cups.
Tonight, there will be another concert in honor of Mozart. This will be more than just a solo piano concert...there will be several different instruments and genres represented. Even dancers will be featured at one point, or so I hear.
Today in theory, we were analyzing a Mozart symphony. Wow, this stuff gets pretty complex...we were looking at the hypermeter of the piece. Hypermeter is a level of pulse above that of the written meter. Basically, it's hearing and counting measures as beats, and grouping them into strong and weak beats. Man...so subtle, so abstract, and at times so subjective. I don't think Mozart intended for his music to be looked at like this. It's interesting enough, though.
Last night, Cassandra and I dropped off a book at the library, and we noticed a book sale. Hard covers were a buck, softbacks a half-dollar. Cassandra, being the awesome friend that she is, bought me a couple of music scores....a big book of Liszt pieces, and all of the Brahms symphonies in full orchestral score. They were both softbacks, so it was quite a bargain. She also bought Lo a couple of scores and a book of poems. Sometimes, she's not half bad.
Anyway...it's Mozart's birthday. Be sure to play a tune by him today, or if nothing else, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," which he saw fit to write variations on.
Here is a bit of wisdom from a letter that Mozart wrote in 1787 (I think):
"My great-grandfather used to say to his wife, my great-grandmother, who in turn told her daughter, my grandmother, who repeated it to her daughter, my mother, who used to remind her daughter, my own sister, that to talk well and eloquently was a very great art, but that an equally great one was to know the right moment to stop."
Take that to heart, folks.