The other effect of the "Mozart Effect"
The idea of "The Mozart Effect" is a valid one, though rather narrow in definition. To think that there is something different about Mozart's music is to open a door into another dimension. To think that it can
have an 'effect' on us as listeners is a basically eccentric notion.
Does all music affect us in one manner or another? The answer to that is surely 'yes', for why else do we select the music we love and listen to it in time of happiness and stress? It helps to change our mood; it helps to center us and go forth empowered into the rest of our day.
We as parents often try to direct what music our children can and cannot listen to. To some extent, this is because of the lyrics, which can be dangerous to young ears; but also, the pounding drums and low, screaming bass of much rock music leads us to wonder if listening to it opens a door into a dark abyss. So does Mozart's music seem to be the opposite -- it seems to connect us to a level of calm serenity where there is only order and love.
When we listen to other great composers, such as Mahler, Beethoven and Wagner, for example, our emotions are moved. When we listen to Mozart we are lifted.
To acknowledge that there is something distinct and peculiar about the effect of Mozart's music is a starting point for better understanding his life and the effect that he had on other people. For it seems to me that the effect of Mozart's music on him and those around him was not simply that of healing and uplifting; it was also destructive and devastating.
If there is a "Mozart effect" to Mozart's music, why didn't it help him to live a long and prosperous life, for example? Why were there so many traumatic twists and turns to his personal life and to his career? Can we just forget the tumult over trying to find a spot for Wolfgang at one of the European courts? That struggle cost Mozart's mother her life; Wolf was just a young adult when she died in Paris, far from Leopold and Nannerl in Salzburg. Later, and certainly somewhat as a result, Leopold and Wolfgang's relationship became strained and fell apart. So did Wolf's relationship to Nannerl, who ended up appropriating not only most of Leopold's estate, but many of Wolfgang's compositions as well. Nannerl and Constanze were bitter enemies -- they are even buried in completely different locations in Salzburg. In short, the 'effect' of Mozart's music, if we start with the premise that there is such a thing, was to destroy the Mozart family. Let us not forget that Wolfgang himself died just short of 36 years of age.
have an 'effect' on us as listeners is a basically eccentric notion.
Does all music affect us in one manner or another? The answer to that is surely 'yes', for why else do we select the music we love and listen to it in time of happiness and stress? It helps to change our mood; it helps to center us and go forth empowered into the rest of our day.
We as parents often try to direct what music our children can and cannot listen to. To some extent, this is because of the lyrics, which can be dangerous to young ears; but also, the pounding drums and low, screaming bass of much rock music leads us to wonder if listening to it opens a door into a dark abyss. So does Mozart's music seem to be the opposite -- it seems to connect us to a level of calm serenity where there is only order and love.
When we listen to other great composers, such as Mahler, Beethoven and Wagner, for example, our emotions are moved. When we listen to Mozart we are lifted.
To acknowledge that there is something distinct and peculiar about the effect of Mozart's music is a starting point for better understanding his life and the effect that he had on other people. For it seems to me that the effect of Mozart's music on him and those around him was not simply that of healing and uplifting; it was also destructive and devastating.
If there is a "Mozart effect" to Mozart's music, why didn't it help him to live a long and prosperous life, for example? Why were there so many traumatic twists and turns to his personal life and to his career? Can we just forget the tumult over trying to find a spot for Wolfgang at one of the European courts? That struggle cost Mozart's mother her life; Wolf was just a young adult when she died in Paris, far from Leopold and Nannerl in Salzburg. Later, and certainly somewhat as a result, Leopold and Wolfgang's relationship became strained and fell apart. So did Wolf's relationship to Nannerl, who ended up appropriating not only most of Leopold's estate, but many of Wolfgang's compositions as well. Nannerl and Constanze were bitter enemies -- they are even buried in completely different locations in Salzburg. In short, the 'effect' of Mozart's music, if we start with the premise that there is such a thing, was to destroy the Mozart family. Let us not forget that Wolfgang himself died just short of 36 years of age.
Labels: magic flute, mozart effect, mozart's life, music
posted by Pamela Brown at 12:34 PM
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