What Is Mozart Enlightenment
Amadeus Film Review
“ “What is Enlightenment?” asked the prominent German Intellectual Immanuel Kant. “It is a man’s emergence from his self imposed...inability to use one’s own understanding without another’s guidance...Dare to know! ‘Have the courage to use your own understanding’ is therefore the motto of the enlightenment.’ “” (Ways Of the World). The film “Amadeus” was set during the age of enlightenment. The film depicts the life of Mozart, while subtlety depicting issues related ideals of the Enlightenment. The film takes its audience through Mozart’s life, and shows us the creative stifling Mozart faced, how he overcame such censorship, and the differences between the entertainment cultures of the court and the people.
As mentioned, …show more content…
the film takes place during the age of enlightenment in Europe. During this time, many people began to question the the rights of the Royals and the “Privileged”. They shared hostility of varying degrees towards “ established political and religious authority. Many took aim at arbitrary governments, the ‘divine right of kings’, and the aristocratic privileges of European society.” (Ways of the World). As such ideas towards the wealthy and powerful slowly began to travel and spread, it began to cause unrest and increase the gap between the common people and those of the higher class.
Many of the leaders of this time were afraid of such unrest, since it could lead to a revolution. Such an example was displayed in the movie when Mozart wanted to write an opera for the French play “Figaro”. Figario was banned in the France due to the fact it began to cause political unrest between the classes. This was the main reason Emperor Joesph III banned the play in Vienna. He was worried about what sort of disturbances it would cause in Vienna.
However, Mozart was able to creatively overcome the restriction. He convinced the court that they had missed the whole point of the play. He wanted to present Figaro in the form of am opera and change the focus of the story to love. Originally, when Mozart first faced the ban on the play, he was frustrated. He had no interest in politics, and didn’t understand no did he care to understand the political power play that was taking place during that time. So, when faced with opposition he simple changed his music’s focus to love. He found that he could use love to distract all people of all classes. He used the power of “love” to change the perspectives of certain issues.
An example of such an instance was when the emperor had called upon Mozart to write an opera in honor of this country. At first the court wasn’t able to decide is it should be written in German or Italian. Some members of the court felt that the opera should be in Italian since that is the “proper” form of opera. Other in the court including the emperor felt that it should be in German. They wanted Vienna to also have some holding in arts. When Mozart was asked which language he prefers his opera to be in, he said German. He told the court of how he wanted to show the world what Vienna was about. When asked where the opera was set, Mozart giggled and said, “a harem!” This offended the court even more. In his first German opera he had told the emperor of how is opera would be placed in a harem. The entire court was appalled by such a suggestion.
Mozart went on to explain that it was to be about “love”, and he convinced the emperor to let him write the opera but stating, “Forgive me, Majesty. I am a vulgar man! But I assure you, my music is not.” In doing so he was able to overcome the restriction placed upon his opera. He managed to do the same thing with his second opera “Figaro”. He convinced the court is was about love. He also stated, “Sire, only opera can do this. In a play if more than one person speaks at the same time, it 's just noise, no one can understand a word. But with opera, with music... with music you can have twenty individuals all talking at the same time, and it 's not noise, it 's a perfect harmony!” In doing so he was able to distract the people of the court and the common people from the social issues present in the play. I think that for Mozart focusing on love was the simplest way for him publish his work without loosing the quality of his music. Love is something both all social classes share.
Another problem Mozart unknowingly faced was Salieri’s jealousy. Unlike Mozart, Salieri knew and understood the power play. He knew when to say what, and how Matters should be approached. This knowledge helped him build road blocks in Mozart’s musical career path in Vienna, and eventually his demise. Mozart only had two focuses, his music, and living life to the fullest. He had no desire to rise up in the ranks of the political world, and I feel that this was also part of his undoing. His lack of understanding of the royal court cost him dearly. Had he known how to play the politics in the royal court he would have been able to attain much more success as a composer, had a steady finical income, had more power to remove road blocks in his musical path, and he would’ve had more access to spreading his music. Instead Mozart was dependent on those around him until his untimely death.
Salieri, on the other hand learned to play politics. In doing so he was able to work his way up the ranks, right up to the royal court. He was also the emperor’s personal musics teacher, and well as composer. But Salieri lacked the talent that Mozart possessed. The lack of talent, and with Mozart in Vienna as competition he was unable to rise any higher. However, I feel that if he had been able to put aside his jealousy and worked with Mozart he would have been able to be more than mediocre. Unfortunately he let his jealousy take over leading to his madness.
Another difference between Salieri and Mozart was their “social” standing. Salieri represented the privileged, and the royal class; while Mozart seemed to represent the people. Also Salieri was more conservative, and held onto to the traditions and rules of the higher class. In a way constricting himself from growing musical by doing what was done and had always been done. Mozart, however, was a free spirit. In a way represented the age of Enlightenment. He wanted no restrictions on his music. He was bold and daring, and never apologetic for his ideas and work. He challenged the royal court with his new musical works. He was willing to write operas of what was considered crass, and taboo. Mozart was a force to be reckoned with, just as were the ideas of the age of Enlightenment were.
Such differences were also part of the problem of Mozart’s lack of success during his lifetime.
H was unable to fully grasp the what it was the court wanted, and the what the people wanted and balance it. The royal court wanted something that will uphold the values of the nation, show tradition, and something classic. This was shown in when Mozart was attempting to convince the royal court with his opera that was to take place in a harem in Turkey. Mozart exclaims, “ I am fed to the teeth with elevated themes! Old dead legends! Why must we go on forever writing about gods and legends?” To which Baron Van Swieten responds, “Because they do. They go on forever. Or at least what they represent. The eternal in us. Opera is here to enoble us. You and me, just the same as His Majesty.” The common people on the other hand wanted something with more bright colors, pizzazz, loud music, comedic, and simple, and easy to follow along. For them shows and operas were more of a form of entertainment. A distractions from their mundane daily life. This was clearly shown in the film when Mozart’s friend had asked him to right something for the his theatre, and Mozart’s wife objected saying that Mozart was of a higher standing than that. There was a big difference in the people of different classes in the way they defined entertainment and
art.
The film Amadeus, was able to subtilely able to show the audiences the differences in classes, and the political unrest that occurred during the age of enlightenment. It was done by showing what restrictions Mozart faced, and how he had handled them, his relationship with Salieri, and his demise.
Bibliography
1) Strayer, Robert W. "Chapter 15: Cultural Transformations: Religion and Science 1450-1750." Ways of the World: A Brief Global History. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2009. 745. Print.
2) Amadeus. Dir. Milos Forman. Perf. F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge. Orion Pictures, 1984. Amazon Prime.
“ “What is Enlightenment?” asked the prominent German Intellectual Immanuel Kant. “It is a man’s emergence from his self imposed...inability to use one’s own understanding without another’s guidance...Dare to know! ‘Have the courage to use your own understanding’ is therefore the motto of the enlightenment.’ “” (Ways Of the World). The film “Amadeus” was set during the age of enlightenment. The film depicts the life of Mozart, while subtlety depicting issues related ideals of the Enlightenment. The film takes its audience through Mozart’s life, and shows us the creative stifling Mozart faced, how he overcame such censorship, and the differences between the entertainment cultures of the court and the people.
As mentioned, …show more content…
the film takes place during the age of enlightenment in Europe. During this time, many people began to question the the rights of the Royals and the “Privileged”. They shared hostility of varying degrees towards “ established political and religious authority. Many took aim at arbitrary governments, the ‘divine right of kings’, and the aristocratic privileges of European society.” (Ways of the World). As such ideas towards the wealthy and powerful slowly began to travel and spread, it began to cause unrest and increase the gap between the common people and those of the higher class.
Many of the leaders of this time were afraid of such unrest, since it could lead to a revolution. Such an example was displayed in the movie when Mozart wanted to write an opera for the French play “Figaro”. Figario was banned in the France due to the fact it began to cause political unrest between the classes. This was the main reason Emperor Joesph III banned the play in Vienna. He was worried about what sort of disturbances it would cause in Vienna.
However, Mozart was able to creatively overcome the restriction. He convinced the court that they had missed the whole point of the play. He wanted to present Figaro in the form of am opera and change the focus of the story to love. Originally, when Mozart first faced the ban on the play, he was frustrated. He had no interest in politics, and didn’t understand no did he care to understand the political power play that was taking place during that time. So, when faced with opposition he simple changed his music’s focus to love. He found that he could use love to distract all people of all classes. He used the power of “love” to change the perspectives of certain issues.
An example of such an instance was when the emperor had called upon Mozart to write an opera in honor of this country. At first the court wasn’t able to decide is it should be written in German or Italian. Some members of the court felt that the opera should be in Italian since that is the “proper” form of opera. Other in the court including the emperor felt that it should be in German. They wanted Vienna to also have some holding in arts. When Mozart was asked which language he prefers his opera to be in, he said German. He told the court of how he wanted to show the world what Vienna was about. When asked where the opera was set, Mozart giggled and said, “a harem!” This offended the court even more. In his first German opera he had told the emperor of how is opera would be placed in a harem. The entire court was appalled by such a suggestion.
Mozart went on to explain that it was to be about “love”, and he convinced the emperor to let him write the opera but stating, “Forgive me, Majesty. I am a vulgar man! But I assure you, my music is not.” In doing so he was able to overcome the restriction placed upon his opera. He managed to do the same thing with his second opera “Figaro”. He convinced the court is was about love. He also stated, “Sire, only opera can do this. In a play if more than one person speaks at the same time, it 's just noise, no one can understand a word. But with opera, with music... with music you can have twenty individuals all talking at the same time, and it 's not noise, it 's a perfect harmony!” In doing so he was able to distract the people of the court and the common people from the social issues present in the play. I think that for Mozart focusing on love was the simplest way for him publish his work without loosing the quality of his music. Love is something both all social classes share.
Another problem Mozart unknowingly faced was Salieri’s jealousy. Unlike Mozart, Salieri knew and understood the power play. He knew when to say what, and how Matters should be approached. This knowledge helped him build road blocks in Mozart’s musical career path in Vienna, and eventually his demise. Mozart only had two focuses, his music, and living life to the fullest. He had no desire to rise up in the ranks of the political world, and I feel that this was also part of his undoing. His lack of understanding of the royal court cost him dearly. Had he known how to play the politics in the royal court he would have been able to attain much more success as a composer, had a steady finical income, had more power to remove road blocks in his musical path, and he would’ve had more access to spreading his music. Instead Mozart was dependent on those around him until his untimely death.
Salieri, on the other hand learned to play politics. In doing so he was able to work his way up the ranks, right up to the royal court. He was also the emperor’s personal musics teacher, and well as composer. But Salieri lacked the talent that Mozart possessed. The lack of talent, and with Mozart in Vienna as competition he was unable to rise any higher. However, I feel that if he had been able to put aside his jealousy and worked with Mozart he would have been able to be more than mediocre. Unfortunately he let his jealousy take over leading to his madness.
Another difference between Salieri and Mozart was their “social” standing. Salieri represented the privileged, and the royal class; while Mozart seemed to represent the people. Also Salieri was more conservative, and held onto to the traditions and rules of the higher class. In a way constricting himself from growing musical by doing what was done and had always been done. Mozart, however, was a free spirit. In a way represented the age of Enlightenment. He wanted no restrictions on his music. He was bold and daring, and never apologetic for his ideas and work. He challenged the royal court with his new musical works. He was willing to write operas of what was considered crass, and taboo. Mozart was a force to be reckoned with, just as were the ideas of the age of Enlightenment were.
Such differences were also part of the problem of Mozart’s lack of success during his lifetime.
H was unable to fully grasp the what it was the court wanted, and the what the people wanted and balance it. The royal court wanted something that will uphold the values of the nation, show tradition, and something classic. This was shown in when Mozart was attempting to convince the royal court with his opera that was to take place in a harem in Turkey. Mozart exclaims, “ I am fed to the teeth with elevated themes! Old dead legends! Why must we go on forever writing about gods and legends?” To which Baron Van Swieten responds, “Because they do. They go on forever. Or at least what they represent. The eternal in us. Opera is here to enoble us. You and me, just the same as His Majesty.” The common people on the other hand wanted something with more bright colors, pizzazz, loud music, comedic, and simple, and easy to follow along. For them shows and operas were more of a form of entertainment. A distractions from their mundane daily life. This was clearly shown in the film when Mozart’s friend had asked him to right something for the his theatre, and Mozart’s wife objected saying that Mozart was of a higher standing than that. There was a big difference in the people of different classes in the way they defined entertainment and
art.
The film Amadeus, was able to subtilely able to show the audiences the differences in classes, and the political unrest that occurred during the age of enlightenment. It was done by showing what restrictions Mozart faced, and how he had handled them, his relationship with Salieri, and his demise.
Bibliography
1) Strayer, Robert W. "Chapter 15: Cultural Transformations: Religion and Science 1450-1750." Ways of the World: A Brief Global History. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2009. 745. Print.
2) Amadeus. Dir. Milos Forman. Perf. F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge. Orion Pictures, 1984. Amazon Prime.