Tag: Eighteenth century

  • I write for all ears

    When Mozart was writing his opera Idomeno, his father warned him to make sure it was accessible to all the audience. Mozart replied: As far as the so-called Popular style is concerned, don’t worry about it; in my Opera you’ll find Musick for every kind of listener = except for those with the long ears…

  • Eighteenth century aesthetics

    Mozart was not at all a purely instinctive, intuitive artist. His remarks to the effect that he “loved to plan works, study, and meditate” and that “he preferred to work slowly and with deliberation” [demonstrate this] … On one level, Mozart’s musical aesthetic is informed by three fundamental and closely related principles that can be…

  • The state of opera: 1720s

    In 1720 in Italy, opera was largely dictated by the egos of the singers, rather than considering the text, or the composer: The satirical writer Marcello wrote that the opera composer will hurry or slow down the pace of an aria, according to the caprice of the singers, and will conceal the displeasure which their…