The Mozart 220 Commemorations

You may already have heard something about the most important news of the day, namely regarding an exceedingly dignified event in my short-term schedule.  Preparations are well underway for my ceremonial duties...


...on Monday to mark 220 years since Mr Mozart's departure from the material world and his permanent entry into the ethereal one.

Something to put you in the mood

As you can imagine, there are a great many activities underway here in my little villa in Adelaide, especially in the music room.  Monday 5 December 1791 was a very sombre day indeed and we are attempting to ensure it is remembered in a suitably mature and respectful manner.

You are most welcome to join us in the music room, of course.  You may also wish to support the great many mourners who will require your compassion in the parlour.  I shall be around to comfort anyone who feels tearful.  I have even been inspired to provide some lovely, lace handkerchiefs for the purpose.

I do believe that compassion is the first step towards appreciation.  Enlightened persons know that appreciation is the first step towards respect, just as respect is the first step towards affection.  Monsieur Adelaidezone and I even share the opinion that affection is always the first step towards love, as do Mr and Mrs Mozart.

Many Mozart 220 events will be occurring elsewhere on Monday, in the global and digital worlds as well as the ethereal one, though we hope you will also make the time to visit us here if you have already accepted an invitation to attend a ceremony or memorial elsewhere. We shall keep a place ready for you, just in case.

Mr Twitter has already agreed to create a suitably sombre twitterly mood in his establishment.  He is doing his best to provide an appropriate ambience for any persons wishing Mr Mozart had managed to leave a completed composition of the work now numbered K. 626, and even works numbered 627, 628, and so on and so forth.

Lady Facebookian has been assisting me with the large number of invitations I have been writing.  She has very kindly provided most of the envelopes.  You will note, upon receiving your own invitation, dear reader, that the event shall commence at 11.30pm on Sunday evening.

There will be an all night vigil, during which we shall listen to several performances of Mr Mozart's Requiem in D Minor, K. 626.  Then at dawn, in whatever time zone you may then be occupying, we shall gather for five minutes of complete silence.  Do, therefore, unwrap your cough sweets beforehand, suppress your sneezes, and leave very small children in the company of a responsible but tone-deaf adult.

We shall at the same time, of course, be remembering all persons who have never been able to hear Mr Mozart's music, either through deafness of any kind, cultural ignorance, or the unfortunate inability to tune a radio appropriately.  Mr Beethoven will be assisting with this aspect of our ceremony.

To make Mr Beethoven happier than he usually appears to be, I wish to remind you, quietly, that it will be his birthday on 17 December.  You may wish to surprise him with a party on that day.  In the meantime, however, Mr Beethoven already has a van full of musicians waiting to play his own quite famous work, the fifth symphony, before breakfast this coming Monday. I do not yet know what he would like to hear on his birthday, but anything at all would be preferable to nothing.

You may be wondering why I have asked Mr Beethoven to assist us.  Well, I am sure the particular piece of his music we have chosen can mostly speak for itself, especially at our commemoration to Mr Mozart.  However, you may also wish to note the age of Mr Beethoven when he composed it, rather arduously, in his mid 30s.

We are fortunate, of course, that he considerably outlived Mr Mozart, who died in his mid 30s, though I am wondering whether many persons in attendance at the first performance of the Beethoven 5th, 6th, and several other pieces, in the Theater an der Wien on 22 December 1808, would have died of hypothermia in their seats.

We are especially fortunate that Mr Mozart completed rather a lot more wonderful symphonies, operas and other sorts of musical compositions than the later composer.  It is why the tone of our commemoration will hopefully have a brighter mood as the day progresses.

You will probably be relieved to hear that we shall not be replicating  the whole of Mr Beethoven's 1808 concert on Monday morning.  Our commemoration will continue, just before breakfast, with Mr Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A, with tea, coffee and small, plain cakes served during the second movement to ensure the meal in question is not missed, except by the musicians, who will each be given a glass of milk and a biscuit afterwards.

I shall then call for silence again, after the biscuit crunching has stopped, so that I may begin the eulogy.  To provide you with a brief hint of the tone of my speech, I shall begin with an overview of Mr Mozart's infinitely worthy contributions to pop and rock music.  He was, after all, the composer of the greatest pop song ever written, and of the greatest rock anthem of all time.

These will not be performed on Monday morning as their inclusion in the ceremony would be inappropriate for the time of day, especially for the singers, however you may wish to listen to these historically important recordings in the meantime:


The greatest pop song ever written

The greatest rock anthem of all time


After my eulogy, it will be time for you to give yours, dear reader.  You may wish to do so in my music room, in the parlour, in Mr Twitter's Coffee House, in Lady Facebookian's establishment, or even in the library of the Duke and Duchess of Wikipedia.  I am sure all those persons will welcome your contributions to the commemoration.

Monsieur Diderot, who usually assists me here in my little villa, is currently helping the Duke and Duchess with one of their little fundraising efforts for the 21st century Enlightenment.  Mr Mozart himself is also keen to assist with any worthy fundraising and with various commemorations.  He will probably not be attending in person here until at least mid morning on Monday, when he will be giving one of his usual presentations on mentorships.

Before luncheon, we shall be listening to Mr Mozart's most appropriate work for the day, namely the Missa Brevis No. 10 in C major, K. 220.  It is the perfect work with which to mark 220 ethereal years.  Mr Mozart will be playing one of the trombones, so I believe.  You may wish to know something of his early practice schedule whilst listening to a sample of an earlier performance:


A Presidential Address
(Mr Mozart's own opinion of his influence on the world)

Cantabile Tales
(One of my blog-pamphlet postings from England)


Luncheon will probably be served sometime in the middle of the day, and you may wish to bring along some sandwiches in case we are short of supplies.  We are expecting a warm and sunny day in Adelaide, with a minimum temperature of 15C and a maximum of 29C.  Perhaps you would like to enjoy a picnic.  Mr Mozart may ask to join you if you do.  He may even ask for one of your sandwiches.

The afternoon and evening will mainly be devoted to a more relaxed schedule, with a few surprises if you are still awake, and even more surprises, I am sure, if you happen to fall asleep.  We shall, you will remember, be commemorating Mr Mozart.  He tells me he is not particularly fond of 20th century classical music, or even 19th century or 21st century compositions, though you may be able to change his mind regarding such matters.  The Australian Broadcasting Corporation is currently trying its best to do so.

Well, I do hope there is enough information here for now.  Please let me know if you have any questions about the commemorations, though I have been told that a few useful leaflets may be available in Mr Google's bookshop.

I recommend that you purchase at least a few recordings of the aforementioned music if you have not already done so.  It would be even better if you would also be able to attend a few performances, or  perhaps participate in a musical capacity if you have that ability and the appropriate funding.

Mr Mozart is now practicing on the trombone again, and I really do need a few quiet moments with a cup of tea.  I always find tea to be so much easier to prepare than a commemoration.