This is the first installment in my series, “Great people saying great things about Mozart.” (See my prelude.) Not everything great composers have said is worth taking at face value. But when patterns emerge, it’s worth paying attention. It would be bizarre for many great minds to be completely wrong about the same thing. Not impossible, but unlikely. Likewise, aesthetic testimony is not always reliable. Indeed, much of it is probably not worth much. Experience art for yourself, don’t just trust the experts! But under the right circumstances, we learn something from aesthetic testimony. And I think that nearly two centuries’ worth of great minds saying great things about Mozart tells us something about Mozart.
Haydn's Mozart
Haydn's Mozart
Haydn's Mozart
This is the first installment in my series, “Great people saying great things about Mozart.” (See my prelude.) Not everything great composers have said is worth taking at face value. But when patterns emerge, it’s worth paying attention. It would be bizarre for many great minds to be completely wrong about the same thing. Not impossible, but unlikely. Likewise, aesthetic testimony is not always reliable. Indeed, much of it is probably not worth much. Experience art for yourself, don’t just trust the experts! But under the right circumstances, we learn something from aesthetic testimony. And I think that nearly two centuries’ worth of great minds saying great things about Mozart tells us something about Mozart.