Second Response

Sorry for the delayed response but I wasn't able to do it in Guatemala. I hope that my feedback will still be of some use to you...

I feel bad that all this work has not yielded you an answer to your question but all is not lost, you learned a lot about the history of one of your favorite composers. I'm surprised that you couldn't find any specifics on Mozarts influence as he played such a huge role in the world of music. If you still want to pursue this topic maybe you could specifically research someone who composes music that is similar to Mozart's in its "expression". Also maybe you could see if Mozart has shaped the standards of MUSIC instead of just influencing composers. If so, wouldn't he technically have influenced everyone? Try looking into it.

I like to see blogs that are of interest to the person that researches them and I think this gives your blog a positive glow

Third Response

I liked how you were able to find tons of information on Mozart but it really stinks that you were not able to come to a conclusion and answer your thesis. However the amount of information and its quality made up for most of this short coming. Even though you were not able to find a decisive answer to your thesis your blog provided enough information to allow the reader to make his/her own conclusion.
Thor

Meaghan,
That stinks that you couldn't really find an answer to your conclusion, but it seems like instead you found how signicant Mozart is as a composer. I like how you used an AIM conversation to show Mozart's affect...or not-affect. You also used a lot of quotes which I think helps add to your blog because it shows other peoples points of view and then you can reflect on them. Good job!!

final response

Meaghan- I really like your blog. I thought it was sad that your isearch question has no answer... but I think that you did a great job of researching anyway, and It seems like you learned a lot about music. Nice job!

Musical Style

"There is a belief, which I do not share, that the greatest artists make their effect only when seen against the background of mediocrity that surrounded them: in other words, the dramatic qualities of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven are due to their violations of the patterns to which the public was conditioned by their contemporaries. If this were true, the dramatic surprises in Haydn, for example, should become less effective as we grow familiar with them."
The author continues to go on to discuss that the works by these three composers are so well-written and dramatic that no matter how many times you've listened to it it still evokes the same emotions, to the same degree, as the very first.
According to this author, Bach's work used very straightforward and equal rhythms. There wasn't much variation in accent. However, Mozart's work had a lot of expresssion. He used many accents and shorter notes, as well as fermatas (held notes) and martelatos, which are short and accented, adding much emphasis and feeling to a specific note.

Response

Hi Meghan! I love all the research you've done and how you've been able to include your personal thoughts (and perhaps frustration) into it as well. In my opinion, he might not have influenced the music directly with techniques and styles, but maybe he influenced music in others ways. He was the one who, as it sounds, "stepped-out-of-the-box" and tried things perhaps no composer has tried before. Could this have inspired other composers? Overall, excellent job!

Response

Meaghan

I think that you may have narrowed your topic and thesis down a bit too far. It stinks that you couldn't find any real hard facts or evidence of Mozart's influence on modern classical music. Maybe if you had broadened it to a few of the older composers it would of worked out better. I think you did a good job though coming up with the idea even though it didnt play out right. I also think you did a steller job on the research even though you didnt come up with any real evidence. Very well done though!

Third Post

Meaghan,
I guess you focused you topic down a little too much. Oh, well, I think you may still be able to salvage it.
How about this, instead of just leaving you answer at "Mozart did not affect modern-day classical music" you could go a little farther. For instance, you could first start out with what parts of a composer's music can have influences on other composers (feel, tempo, certain chords, melodies, even song titles). The list can go on and on. Then, once you identify the aspects of music that can influence composers, you can go through the list, show where Mozart may or may not have had en effect, but then mention composers that did have larger effects on modern-day composers. This way, you answer your thesis, and then some.
Keep up the good work, you chose a difficult topic, but one that I am interested in. Hope it all works out!

You could change your thesis so that you could include both Mozart and Bach's influences and it might enrich your topic even more.

Can you explain what his styl eis excatly? I know he's famous for his classical pieces, but what made them so unique? Was it just because he used his own technique? I think some more information on what is famous technique was would show exactly what set him apart from other composers.
Sierra

Troubles

So I've been looking at a lot of articles and they all say that Mozart has had a very big influence, but the more I look the more I'm realizing that nobody can actually tell me what this influence was. Its appearing more and more that Mozart is more a presence than an actual influence. Some people may see this next statement as blasphemous, and it can be removed if Mrs. Jewitt or Ms. Swazey feel that its nessecary. In some ways, Mozart is a musical god. He is considered amazing, some people have called him an angel of music, and composers say their influence was Mozart, but they've never actually pulled directly from any of his styles for their own.
Here is an excerpt of the transcript of a conversation I had with a soundtrack composer from LA today. (I have removed his screenname in order to respect his privacy.)
meaghan (5:07:38 PM): hey are you super busy?
cody (5:07:53 PM): hey - finishing lunch
cody (5:07:57 PM): how are you?
meaghan (5:08:23 PM): pretty good. I'm doing this report for school and I was wondering if I could ask you like, 3 questions?
cody (5:08:29 PM): sure
meaghan (5:08:31 PM): if not no biggy.
cody (5:08:33 PM): shoot
meaghan (5:08:42 PM): ok we can do it later too, if thats better
cody (5:08:48 PM): now's ok
cody (5:08:55 PM): like 5 minutes or so good?
meaghan (5:09:33 PM): yeah thats fine. so as a composer, would you say that Mozart's music has had any specific influence on your composing style?
cody (5:10:24 PM): hmm....not too much, i would say no specific influence for me personally
meaghan (5:11:08 PM): Do you know of anybody else that his music has directly effected? I mean naturally its diferent as a soundtrack composer rather than straight classical, but just asking hha.
cody (5:11:42 PM): i would say JS Bach has much more direct influence on today's composer

According to Mr. Westheimer Bach has had more of an influence. I didn't have as many questions prepared as I would have liked, but I got arather direct answer nonetheless. Now I feel that I must look into Bach's influence.

Outsider's Opinion

'"Mozart's influence on the music of western society is hard to overstate," says Wayne Bailey, director of the School of Music. "The beauty of his melodies has spoken to generations for 250 years, and the musicians in the School of Music have felt the impact of Mozart on their own lives." '

Apparently I wasn't mistaken when I thought that Mozart had a big impact on many musicians. Although this statement is from a teacher at a music school, who probably spends more time looking into such influences, I feel that nearly any 'follower' of classical music would notice a similarity in many of the lighter classical pieces of today.

A sample of Mozart's music. Serenade #13 in G major.

Mozart's Childhood

I was suprised to read that Mozart had a good family and a good childhood. Usually when you read the history of famous artists, especially those from so long ago, you read that they were abused, either mentally or physically, or they had some form of torn home. However, for Mozart this wasn't true.
His father, a composer, was very devoted to his mother. Both were kind and loved their children very much. His mother gave birth to seven children, only two of which survived to adulthood. Maria Anna, born in 1751, and Wolfgang, born five years later. Leopold, Wolfgang's father, wrote a letter to his friend in Augsburg to inform him gleefully of his son's birth.
From the time the children were very young Leopold wrote music for them. When Maria Anna was seven Leopold was very glad to find that she had a large amount of talent for the piano. Wolfgang was also very good, and starting at age three he often would sit at the piano by himself, carefully choosing chords that were pleasing to him.
Wolfgang and Maria Anna both continued to be taught by their father, and the boy was always glad to please him.
By the time Mozart was 6 he could play five pieces, plus one small six measure piece that he himself had composed. Leopold let his court career fall apart, instead devoting his time to teaching his children the music that they so apparently loved. When Wolfgang was six years old, his father took he and Maria Anna on a small European tour, in which they played before the Elector of Bavaria.
It wasn't long before Leopold decided to take his family to Vienna, at that point considered to be the most cultural city in Europe.

Meaghan,

This topic is perfect for you. I am also very interested in what you discover through your research. I have a few questions and comments however.
1) Are you going to give some background history on Mozart before you discuss his music stuff?
2) What are some of the techniques that he used in his music that may not be used to today?
3) Can you put a sample of his music on you blog?

I can't wait to learn more.

Katie W.


From Meaghan,
1) Why of course, silly girl!
2) I'm not sure, I shall be sure to include those in my research.
3) I'd LOVE to. At least one!!

First Response

Meaghan-First off, you might want to ask Issac to change his font color, it's yellow and very hard to read. Second, I get the feeling that you really know what you want to research. This is very good considering last year I had a clue but it was very broad (actully way to broad) to cover in a trimester. Its good that you now have a specific person to research, but I think it lacks some characteristics that would make it more intersting (for both you and the reader). You might want to consider how Mozart first started his musical career, and who influenced his career. Also, what kind of music did he start off with, and did it change over time? Very nice topic, I really like it.

I appreciate how well thought through the process you followed to arrive at your thesis. I too think Mozart is a fascinating figure. You will need to research the state of classical music prior to Mozart: who were the leading figures prior to him and what had they contributed to bring classical music to the level in which he found it. In other words, establish the foundation upon which he built. We do have some of his recordings, but they are records. I'm sure you have better ones of your own. I would ask Ms. Preston for good sources of information as she may have music journals that we do not have.


From Meaghan,
Yes, I'll be sure to talk to Ms. Preston. At home I've got three CDs of Mozart music, as well as a book of sheet music from his Magic Flute opera, with a forward with a brief history of him that I'll be sure to look at.

First response

Your background thoughts on the topic are very detailed, and they support the reasoning behind your thesis statement. Also, you should look at other classical artists of today, and see if they have had any huge influences on their musical careers. For those who say Mozart, you could then get an idea of how broad his influence has spread worldwide.

first response

it is definatly specific enough but what aspects of his life are you going to look into? It would be interesting to see what (if any) outside influences were there on hhis work. Because of the phisical location of austria, what were the places that he visited that could have affected his work. who were the other composers that he knew and who did he look up to when he was younger. answering some questions like these would be good to discover pars of his life that are not common knowledge.

From Meaghan,
Yeah the first few questions are good. I would imagine that when he was younger he looked up to his father, also a composer, but the fact of the matter is Amadeus went on a European musical tour at the age of 5. He wrote his first full piece at age 4 (according to Leopold, his father.) Mozart's a beast.

My Topic

I chose the topic I did because not only am I interested in music (Mozart in particular), but I am also interested in the culture of Austria. I've always had an interest in the Germanic community, but following my recent trip to Austria I realized just how much amazing musical history was there.

When Mrs. Jewitt first said that the topic of the iSearch was going to be about a culture that we either didn't know much about or were interested (or both) I knew immediately which country that would be. However, what I wasn't sure was what aspect of the culture I wanted to focus on.

I knew that I was interested in music, but everything about Austria interests me. The architecture, food, and war history all attracted my attention. It came down to me thinking about my three favorite things on Earth: 1) Mozart, 2) baroque music, and 3) travel. I was able to link the first two, and decided to focus my research on Austrian music history.

The next step was what exact question I wanted. I had first thought of looking into what part Austrian composers (Strauss, Schubert, Mozart, etc) played in the classical music of today. However, Mrs. Jewitt thought that that was too broad, and we realized I could spend about three years researching that question alone. We narrowed it down to Mozart (my favorite person. Period.) and what effect his innovation and creativity had on the classical music we hear today.