happy Mozart

In lighter news, yesterday was Wolfgang Mozart's 270th birthday anniversary. Somehow this is a significant number, or more likely any number is an excuse to play Mozart, so the SF Symphony is going to be playing a lot of his music over the next few weeks. Meanwhile the local classical radio station, KDFC, celebrated the birthday itself by playing some music surrounding Mozart. Such as a piano variations on a Mozart aria by Carl Czerny, a composer of the next generation not noted for scintillating genius. And what they claimed was the best-known work of Wolfgang's father Leopold, the "Toy Symphony." What an insult to Leopold, who did claim the Toy Symphony at one point but is no longer considered a likely author, any more than various Haydn brothers to whom it's also been attributed. Besides, nobody should really want to take credit for this thoroughly uninspired work. Even lesser Mozarts deserve better than that.

Incidentally, it's properly pronounced in English as "mote zart," with a T in it, an approximation of the German pronunciation. I often hear non-musicians saying "moe's art," which is understandable but not au courant.