A letter to Wolfgang

Dear Mozart,

If only you were born today.

You would have written far more than 41 symphonies, 27 piano concertos, 23 string quartets, 17 piano sonatas, 7 major operas and numerous other pieces.

Assuming that you’d get better health care and would probably reap the financial benefits of our copyright laws, you’d also have a swell time composing music on the computer.

You wouldn’t have to jot down a single crotchet, because everything you play would be automatically converted to score. In real time.

You could replay every note you’ve written at the press of a button. You could change the tempo at any point in time.

You could listen to multiple instruments in unison. And, if you had a keyboard like mine, you’d fuss over whether to use the Steinway or the Bösendorfer piano today.

Also, if you should ever change your mind about the key signature, you could always get your software to do a simple transposition.

You could listen to how your masterpiece sounded like, in different room sizes.

You would have had a much easier time doing your work. But I’m sure there’s a certain charm to scribbling down your ideas with quill and ink.

Regards, …

Comments

  1. Hi Lin

    I think Mozart and others like him were very much a product of their times. Today, with the vast array of games, toys, and other forms of entertainment available, kids are not naturally led to think up ways to entertain themselves like creating a new game or coming up with a tune. Worse still, today’s kids may be sent by their parents to one of those hot-housing nurseries.

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