Music Banter - Composers' Eccentricities

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I got it!! know is he wrote one of the most beautiful pieces for clarinet

Quote:

Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA (Post 861783)

We see Mozart fidgeting compulsively, talking nonsense and delighting in word-play and the coarsest bathroom humor, and even leaping about the room miaowing like a cat.

Based on these behaviours, but judged relative to modern day expectations obviously, he would probably be diagnosed with Aspergers if he were alive today.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen (Post 1353748)

Based on these behaviours, but judged relative to modern day expectations obviously, he would probably be diagnosed with Aspergers if he were alive today.

I wonder if he would still have been as successful if he were alive today. :usehead:

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Originally Posted by stjames (Post 1355173)

I wonder if he would still have been as successful if he were alive today. :usehead:

Yeah who knows. For starters he might not have been nurtured musically from such an early age and who knows which direction he might have taken genre wise?

Apparently Bach once pulled a knife on a bassoonist and they had to be physically restrained.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen (Post 1353748)

Based on these behaviours, but judged relative to modern day expectations obviously, he would probably be diagnosed with Aspergers if he were alive today.

Interesting hypthesis, Stephen, that Mozart might have had Asperger's.

I looked into this and found a good article online about creativity and Asperger Syndrome, which is thought to be linked to the intensity and intellectual creativity associated with many admired, innovative people:

Quote:

The Benefits of Asperger's Syndrome

About the Benefits of Asperger's

Diane Kennedy, an author and advocate for Asperger Syndrome, writes, "They are our visionaries, scientists, diplomats, inventors, chefs, artists, writers and musicians. They are the original thinkers and a driving force in our culture."

Hans Asperger, the German doctor who discovered the syndrome, would agree with Kennedy's assessment. He believed that "for success in science or art, a dash of autism is essential. The essential ingredient may be an ability to turn away from the everyday world, from the simply practical and to rethink a subject with originality so as to create in new untrodden ways with all abilities canalized into the one specialty."

However, it is absolutely impossible to diagnose anyone posthumously or without having the person in the room. Clinicians can only diagnose Asperger Syndrome by observing behaviors. Another problem in throwing people like Mozart and Benjamin Franklin into the Asperger population is that even if a person is in front of them, doctors have a hard time distinguishing between intellectual giftedness, Attention Deficit Disorder and Asperger Syndrome. There has been little research into the personalities of intellectually gifted people, but the few that have been done show that they are often intense, restless, strong-willed, and sensitive to light and sound -- all qualities of Asperger Syndrome.

People with very high IQs often question the status quo, resist direction, have long attention spans, undergo periods of intense work and effort, and like to organize things even as children. Other people often perceive them as "different." All this is the same with those who have Asperger Syndrome.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by jekluc (Post 1356466)

Apparently Bach once pulled a knife on a bassoonist and they had to be physically restrained.

Ha ha! This seems to be true, and there is a good back-story. I read that Bach pulled the knife in self-defense after the bassoonist attacked him because Bach had compared his bassoon-playing with the sound of a nanny-goat.

A very sensitive bassoon player: I thought bassoons were *supposed* to sound like goats bleating!

Quote:

Bach's Personality

Bach wasn't patient with incompetents, or tolerant of effrontery that got in the way of his work (witness his reactions to the Scheibe attacks).

Recall the incident in which he pulled off his wig and threw it at another musician, exclaiming, "You should have been a cobbler!"

And the one where he disagreed with Silbermann's organ tuning so vehemently that he called 1/3 of it "barbaric".

And the one where Bach pulled a dagger on a bassoonist (nobody injured, fortunately; and according to Bach the dagger was only in self-defense against the other guy's attack; the bassoonist was upset because Bach had compared his playing with the sound of a nanny-goat).

Actually, Rameau's eccentricities should not go unmentioned. Rameau (1683-1764) developed an interesting theory about music based on the overtone series. He had some real evidence to partially back this up, but unfortunately being thin-skinned, he reacted to critics of the theory by getting angry. This perversely caused him to push more and more grandiose and unsupportable claims as time went by, so determined was here to show just how wrong his critics were. This of course backfired. Sadly, he ended up something bordering on a laughingstock as a music theoretician (not as a composer). Toward the end of his life, if I remember correctly, he was declaring that something he called the "corps sonore" (a sonorous or vibrating object) as being fundamental to the philosophy of all civilizations. He was writing about how the corps sonore was the most sacred object of the "Egyptian priests" of ancient times. To make a long story short, he was wearing the classical musical equivalent of a tinfoil hat. This should not diminish his real achievements, though, including a good deal of music that in its own way was ahead of its time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VEGANGELICA (Post 846409)

~ Erik Satie made up his own religion in which he was the leader...and the only member! He used his church to rant against his music critics.

~ When Erik Satie died, his office was found to contain a total of four pianos: two of which were back to back, and two of which sat upside-down on top of the other two. He was using the upside-down pianos to store sheet music, says my conductor.

~ Erik Satie is considered the parent of "furniture music" (background Muzak music).

Another eccentricity of his would be that he was a collector of umbrellas.
Also, many of his works had loony titles like f. ex. Dessicated Embryos, Distinguished Waltzes of a Jaded Dandy and Bureaucratic Sonatine. (All translated from French of course)

Gabriel of Urantia

I recently got into Gabriel of Urantia's work as a composer, he is a contemporary artist, and it is by far one of the most unique styles of music to have graced this planet. He combines 3-4 styles in every one of his songs, and his worship songs are very well done and exquisite. I have heard other artists mix styles but it sounds chaotic and cheesy. Gabriel of Urantia's work is very beautiful and tasteful. I highly suggest checking him out: gabrielofurantia[dot]com/]

Agustin Barrios Mangore is an eccentricity. Do follow my advice and get hold of his material. He was a majestic composer and player.