Do you ever feel like Mozart's pieces are sort of....bland?

Question

I don't want to sound ignorant or naive. Especially because that would put me into the typical-teenager-stereoptype. XD.
But do you ever feel like the pieces are sort of boring? I just feel like...There's no "depth" to them. Sometimes, it feels like all the instruments are playing at once just because they can. My favorite composer Tchaikovsky is my favorite because I feel like I can always clearly hear everything that's going on, and every instrument playing always seems to have its own "purpose."

Sorry if I've offended anyone. XD. Go ahead and tell me your opinion. Insults are fine. I don't care. But say something meaningful to. ^_^.

Answer 1

Paul makes a very good point. With our 21st-century ears and experience, we can't possibly hear Mozart's music as people would have heard it in the late 18th century - we are simply too 'cluttered' with other things.



It took me quite a few years to appreciate Mozart properly. I found his music too light and lacking in substance. For me (and perhaps for you too), appreciation of Mozart came later when I was more experienced and more mature as a listener.



I am actually surprised that you say:



"it feels like all the instruments are playing at once just because they can. My favorite composer Tchaikovsky is my favorite because I feel like I can always clearly hear everything that's going on, and every instrument playing always seems to have its own "purpose.""



I often feel the opposite; Tchaikovsky's music can sound too 'thick' to me sometimes - he uses many instrumental doublings whereby several types of instrument are playing the same line of music. This is something Mozart did much more sparingly (partly because the orchestra in his time was much smaller).



As for Mozart's music having "the same mood throughout", I wonder if you have actually heard a representative selection of his music. I have posted some links below which show how varied in mood his music actually is.



And don't worry about 'offending' people - they will get over it. Some people make a career out of being 'offended'. As I always say "No-one ever died of being offended!".

Answer 2

Mozart lived from 1756 to 1791, and was composer of the Classical era. Classical music has a lighter, clearer texture than Baroque music and is less complex (as it was formed as a form of rebellion to the complexity of baroque music) , yet variety and contrast within a piece became more pronounced than before. Importance was given to instrumental music, therefore the Orchestra increased in size and range.



Tchaikovsky lived from 1840 -1893 and was a composer of the Romantic era. Romantic music, as opposed to the Classical struggled to increase emotional expression and power to describe deeper things. Main characteristics of this style were a freedom in form and design, a more intense personal expression of emotion in which fantasy, imagination and a quest for adventure play an important part, and emphasis on lyrical, song like melodies.



As you can see, these composers are from two very different periods, therefore you cannot compare their works in those terms. Romanticism in music produced by definition 'deep', personal music, while classicism offered a relief from the musical style preceding it.



Compare this yourself:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVxwuirUX-M -Baroque (1600–1760)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZD9nt_wsY0 - Classicism (1730–1820)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikBD3DcSGFM -Romanticism (1815–1910)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8po7FZonP-I - Impressionism



Everyone has a right to opinion, and I'm not a big fan of Mozart myself, but you cannot deny the worth of his music, nor can you categorize any music without knowing the facts and circumstances under which it was composed.



And interestingly enough, Tchaikovsky wrote his Orchestral Suite No. 4 in G, "Mozartiana" (1887), as a tribute to Mozart. Just saying.

Answer 3

I love Tchaikovsky and Shostakovitch <3



Anyways, I wouldn't say that Mozart's music is bland by any means. I personally love some of his piano concertos and sonatas, though I still prefer Liszt by far. Then again, I feel it's opinionated with what music you like. You may just prefer romantic over classical just like maybe rock over pop. Mozart is by no means my favorite composer, but his music is still brilliant and I can appreciate it.

Answer 4

I don't believe that Mozart is bland. To Paul: I also don't believe that Mozart couldn't imagine what music would become, but I do agree that the "ear" was different. By future - I mean to him, our past, in this genre.



"The wonders of the music of the future will be of a higher & wider scale and will introduce many sounds that the human ear is now incapable of hearing. Among these new sounds will be the glorious music of angelic chorales. As men hear these they will cease to consider Angels as figments of their imagination." - Mozart

Answer 5

I know exactly what you mean, and the reason is because we've all listened to Mozart with post-Romantic ears. Mozart was a brilliant composer, but even he couldn't have imagined the symphonic writing of composers like Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, or Stravinsky.

Answer 6

I think the way music affects us as individuals is what makes it so beautiful. I would definitely never call Mozart "bland"...but he is also not my favorite.



This may be typical, but I've always preferred Beethoven over Mozart.

Answer 7

Absolutely. There was a time when I felt Mozart held not more surprises for me. I was tired of hearing continuous runs of 16th notes in his piano sonatas. I was bored.



Even in Mozart's later years, the music public was tiring of his music. Musical tastes are always changing. The funny thing is I am now 64 years old and seem to be regaining a new appreciation of his music.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZtV914zX54&feature=PlayList&p=C0D520625AEAB6F5&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=25



Pure genius

Answer 8

I've never gotten that impression myself, though like you I am a teenager. When I have wanted to dislike Mozart because it was a "stereotypical type of classical music" to listen to, I still could never resist him. I've had that problem with Bach certainly, but never Mozart. There is something magical about him and I don't know what it is, his music is so clear and there never seems to be a wrong note, and in my opinion it is completely alive. To me you don't sound ignorant or naive, as I am not frustrated with your "lack of sophistication"(however some silly people might put it) in terms of appreciation, but rather baffled at how Mozart doesn't still sound completely fresh to people because I have found his music completely and utterly timeless, even when I have wanted to dislike it. There are certain works of Mozart that are easy to write off in the way that you describe; his piano sonatas are often not as complex seeming as later works, often but not always, but his masterpiece symphonies, operas, string quartets, and above all else, late piano concertos seem completely timeless to me in a way that few other than Beethoven can match.



In fact, to my ears that were accustomed to The Beatles, The Who, and Led Zeppelin for the longest time found Mozart considerably more appealing than Beethoven, who I found long winded and clumsy at first, but with the help of his Mozart sounding works like the 6th symphony, I got him and now love him. Like I said, there is something magical and alive about him in many of his works so that you can't miss it.



Also, I consider Tchaikovsky and Mozart similar in that they have a similar instantaneous appeal because they are both so wonderful with melodies, so alive in the most visible respects, so "colorful", though the differences are many. What Mozart pieces have you listened too? I don't mean to tell you that I think you are wrong or that your viewpoint is illegitimate, its just that my perspective on Mozart is so different I am both fascinated and perplexed because it seems to me the opposite of the way I viewed him, not wanting to like him due to his popularity but finding him impossible to resist.



If I had to show one Mozart piece that is extremely inspiring to me...I don't know if I could pick so here are a few of my favorites.

Piano sonata in b flat finale played by Gulda(great Mozart interpreter among other things)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUuT_z1p8O4&feature=related



"Dissonance" quartet, first movement

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjZylz3nCwQ



C minor fantasy by Gulda(if this doesn't amaze you man...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjjdee0B960

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXMEkzYjjuY&feature=related



Mozart Symphony 40 finale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJHYnBl-DJQ



Edit: Great Selections from Del, and funny that we both ended with the symphony 40 finale.

Answer 9

It will be heresy to some, but I know what you mean. Although I've never heard anything he wrote that was bad, a lot of it is a bit samey.



Of course he had a massive output, wrote a lot of stuff to order, and it's probably inevitable that there's a degree of repetition.

Answer 10

Kinda