Mozart Madness

I think Mozart may have been insane. Of course, there's no doubt he was a musical genius. But he must have spent his life walking that fine line between genius and insanity. Let me explain.

In choir right now, we just began rehearsing for our next concert, which will be Mozart's Requiem. We rehearsed the "Dies Irae" and part of "Requiem" this evening, and during the "Dies Irae" I couldn't help but marvel at how incredible that piece of music is. It's so fast, loud, and intricate, I can easily imagine Mozart furiously composing it, perhaps putting to music the demons that he heard in his head. Or, perhaps it was the music itself that was driving him to insanity; I imagine it must be incredibly bizarre and crazy for someone to have music buzzing in his head, desperately trying to get out. I couldn't imagine having music like that in my head, because I too would be desperate to write it and get it on paper; it would certainly be enough to drive anyone mad.

Whatever the state of Mozart's sanity, we can be forever grateful to him for having the genius to compose such incredible works. I'm really looking forward to learning and performing the Requiem. I even plan on watching Amadeus for some inspiration!