Amadeus essay samples

In this paper I will talk about the film Amadeus from 1984. I will summarize the movie focusing on the Mozart rebelled actions against the patronage system explaining the concepts, especially looking for how rich people from that time hired composer to write music only for their own interest. The film is an adaption after Shaffer’s stage play Amadeus from 1979 in which the composer Antonio Salieri discover Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s brilliant talent but it’s running him because of his pride and envy feeling. The action is set on Austria, more precisely in Vienna during the second half 18th century.
The patronage system was a program that worked during the Classical Era where the musicians were paid for their works. Every musician that was part of this program, composer or performer needed to write or to play music for their patron. The system had pros and contras for the composers. The good things were that they assured the composer financial security and stability, a roof under your head and food but the bad things were related to isolation and the creativity was restricted because the composer needed to write pieces every time the patron wanted, even if we has in a good or in a bad mood or maybe without any inspiration at that moment, and sometimes the patron wanted a new composition every week. Another contra argument was that the musicians lived like servants and they needed to compose what the boss wanted being restrained in the walls of the court they lived, without exposures from the musical influences that were outside the patron yard. Regarding the movie, we can relate two characters from the Enlightenment Era that were Mozart and the Emperor Joseph II. For the last period of his life, Mozart worked under Joseph II in Vienna and composed three operas while serving the patron: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute. As an example from the movie we can consider the scene when Salieri who was under Joseph patronage was invited to write a welcome march for Mozart arriving in order to write an opera for Joseph II. After Mozart heard only once the march, he is playing it from the memory also criticizing and improving it during the performance. This particularly scene provide as an example of a pre-existent patron-ship between Salieri and Joseph II, and the beginning of Mozart as a servant hood in Vienna.
It is good to note that Mozart was a rebel figure of that time and he didn’t agree with the patronage system. He work in this system at the beginning having his patron the Prince Arcbishop of Salzburg for which he worked between 1773 and 1781 but also during his time he made long trips to Salzburg to find work in other places. He dismissed from the patronage of Prince Arcbishop of Salzburg and then Mozart became a musical freelancer. He worked almost independently until the end of his life in 1791. It was hard to find work with the composer skills that he had because of his rebel character but the struggle to live from publishing music, playing at patron houses and teaching. He was one of the first composers that preferred to work independently rather than writing music on someone’s order, as all those composers from that period did. It had a time when he reached a big success but in the by the end of his life he had serious financial difficulties.
The story has its starting point in 1823, when Antonio Salieri tries to suicide and in the same time his is loudly begging for forgiveness by having killed in 1791 the great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A priest is coming to ask him if it was something to confess. At the beginning Salieri is uninterested to talk about it but then he starts to unravel the story of his life and the partnership with Mozart.
Salieri begin his “ confession” with reminiscences from childhood and how much he loved music, sacrificing himself by giving his chastity to God as a devotement for his passion in exchange for a great composer carrier. He waited a sign back from God and the next day his father died, Salieri considering that “ a miracle” and then he moved to Vienna with all his family where he was discovered. He started his carrier believing that the talent and the success of a composer are coming from God’ rewards at his suffer and soon was contacted by Emperor Joseph II for which he became a court composer, a respectable and well paid one.
In the meantime, Mozart arrived with patron Prince Arcbishop of Salzburg at Vienna. He is still under the patronage system of Arcbishop but is struggling to find other things to do because he is feeling trapped, working for this patron didn’t gave him the liberty that he wanted, feeling exploited and believing he can do more for his music to preserve well. Salieri went to a concert at the Arcbishop’s palace hoping to see and meet Mozart. After quiting from Archbishop patronage system Mozart was prospered in Vienna being invited to compose and perform from many people. He became quite famous and after a few years later he was invited at the court of the Emperor Joseph II, where for the presentation Salieri toiled to create the “ March of Welcome.” The surprise came from Mozart that after only hearing once the march, he reproduced it at the piano and without struggle he created also variation in addition to this theme transforming then into the march “ Non pui andrai” for his later “ The Marriage of Figaro” opera. Meanwhile Mozart become a freelancer composer who wrote music for anyone who contact him and in order to ensure his leaving he was doing other work as teaching and performing.
At the beginning Salieri considered Mozart’s music miraculous and astonishing but gradually Salieri is seeing how great and good composer Mozart is compared with himself and Salieri realizes that he will never be as good as Mozart is. So for this reason, Salieri is starting to become jealous on Mozart, beginning to feel inferior and believing that God, through Mozart talent is laughing of his mediocre musical pieces. Mozart is now having a good life, the commissions were coming and he learned just enough money for everything and was being happy with his wife Constanze, but the happiness is perturbed by the death of his father. This was a big shock for Mozart that made him start drinking and stopping for composing anymore. Because he didn’t belong to a serious patronage system then he didn’t needed to compose weekly and from the problem started. The commissions were decreasing and the financial family expenses were increasing and Mozart was desperate.
Salieri profit from this situation ad he develop a complex plan to have his glory back by resorting to some unorthodox methods. So he disguised himself with a costume and a with mask that was similar of the costume that Leopold had at some party and commission Mozart to write a new piece requiem, giving him the big amount of money, the money that Mozart needed with so much desperation. Mozart starts writing at the piece without doubting the identity of the mystery patron. The Salieri’s biggest plan is to kill Mozart after he finish to write one that will become one of his famous works “ Requiem Mass in D minor” and take all the credit for the composition, reestablishing his place at the court. In the mind of Salieri this plot should remained only between him and God. They will be the only once that they will know the true. In this way, Mozart will write the requiem but Salieri will take all the fame and glory and renown what he deserved.
Mozart received a new commission, to write opera “ The Magic Flute” thing that tired him more arriving in his highest point of tiredness between writing at the both works in the same time, alternating them. The problems with heavy drinking have made his life harder and in the end even his wife Constanze leave him. He collapses after the premier at the “ The Magic Flute” and Salieri is taking him home and convinced him to finish the Requiem during the night. Mozart was dictating and Salieri was writing it. During the morning Constanze is coming back and she has given Salieri out of the house but is already too late, when she entered in his husband room, Mozart is already dead. Salieri is left without power and his complex plan failed because Constanza locked the manuscript of the requiem which was also left unfinished. The film is ending with Salieri visibly shaking after finishing the confession to the priest. Salieri is feeling miserable aware of his own mediocrity, believing that rather God killed the greatest composer Mozart then to let Salieri to have his glory. Before the credits come, you can hear the laughs of Mozart.
In conclusion, the patronage system has a good way to assure security and a normal life to the composers from that period. For the vast majority of the composers that was the safety and the best thing that could achieve in their life but not for Mozart. He struggled for more. He believed in his music and he didn’t want to be press by some patron, he wanted to compose when he wanted and what he wanted. So for this reason he becomes the first freelancer composer in the history of music. There were then hard times but every sacrifice he made then was worth because nowadays after almost three hundred years he still remembers Mozart and the majority of the people consider him one of the great composers in the history of music.