Hi everyone!  Yesterday was Mozart’s birthday.  We celebrated by watching the excellent movie “Amadeus”!  It is still one of our favorite movies.  There are a couple of our favorite scenes which especially show the genius of this movie: through brilliantly vivid, emotional description by Salieri of the “Adagio” from “Serenade for Winds, K 361”, it allows everybody, even non-musicians,  to fully appreciate the music as if they shared Salieri’s deep knowledge and love of music.  He directs our ears to all the things that make it so gorgeous, and he describes his feelings about it with such emotion that we can’t help but hear the beauty just as he does.

The second scene, probably our absolute favorite, is when Mozart is on his deathbed, writing the “Confutatis” of the Requiem Mass, and Salieri is writing down the music according to Mozart’s dictation.  In this scene, the brilliant screenwriters let the audience hear the layers of this powerful and beautiful piece one by one – just as Salieri hears each for the first time.  Then the scene culminates with the full choir and orchestra performance of the piece.  It is SO exciting to listen to each part separately and hear how beautiful they each are on their own – and then hear the final result of putting them all together!  It allows us to hear the piece more completely and appreciate it all the more.

Please enjoy these clips from the film!  And if you haven’t seen “Amadeus” yet, we HIGHLY recommend it!