# Wanted: Mozart style - how to begin?



## Pawelec (Jul 14, 2015)

Frankly, I don't know where to start. Maybe with what I can do, that will be shorter.

I have some experience with recorder, piano and pipe organ, but by no means I can name myself a musician. I've never liked notation, treble clef isn't that bad, bass clef takes me some time to figure out, but tenor clef and transposing instruments are nightmares. But, let's end the sad stuff.

I'm not a very active instrumentalist, but I listen to classical a lot. Mozart and Eybler are my favourites (BTW has anyone noticed Eybler used the same beginning of _Domine Jesu_ in both his and Mozart's _Requiems_?). Classical period works in minor keys are incredible, it's a shame there's not many of them. I also read about music history and theory, but I've reached the point where it makes little sense to do so without knowing the notation well to fully benefit from given examples.

I'd like to compose. That's because I often hear pieces of music in my head, usually I don't realise that until I start humming the melody. Strangely, my melodies use harmonic minor scale, just like Mozart's. I thought I'm just reproducing something, but I took effort to check that and it turned out my ideas weren't copies nor variations of already existing pieces. The problem is they are for orchestra and choir and while they are somehow similar to each other, they don't form whole pieces. They are sketches. Sketches I'd need to write down, expand and join into whole pieces and orchestrate. Seems demanding.

Now the question: where (aside from learning the notation) should I start? Scales? Harmony? Voice leading? I'm afraid this would lead me to Baroque counterpoint (I feel obliged to honour Bach's _St. Matthew's Passion_ before I continue writing), but after looking briefly at the Mozart's choral works I see the classical counterpoint worked differently, I'd describe it as _less crowded_. It seems simpler, maybe I don't need to go through all the Baroque stage to get to the Mozartean one. Or maybe the fact Mozart used harmonic minor scale for melodies makes it harder than I think?

PS I know I'm far from composing a fugue, but one of my fugue subjects is whole phrase (8 bars) long and I like it so much that I though of writing a second subject for it to get double fugue like in _Kyrie_ from Mozart's _Requiem_. But isn't the subject too long?


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

You could learn counterpoint as Mozart himself did, though Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum (available in English), supplemented with direct experience of contemporary styles.

At the same time, you should learn all you can about the workings of common practice harmony.

Then you can apply these lessons to the forms and melodies typical of the classical era (and you'll realize at this stage that they are a result of the former and not at all arbitrary).

Fugue subjects usually do constitute a whole phrase, although the following voices usually enter before the end of the phrase.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

There's an online course that's quite good, "Write Like Mozart." Voice leading, counterpoint, all the rest to learn to write music that sounds like Mozart (good luck with the genius part). Lots of rules to follow but great fun.

You can participate in the exercise and tests or simply audit the course. Reasonably in-depth and technical. Looks like it's not being offered right now, but something to watch for. It's free.

Added: I see you can add it to your watchlist so that when/if it's repeated you'll be notified.

https://www.coursera.org/course/classicalcomp


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

Mahlerian said:


> You could learn counterpoint as Mozart himself did, though Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum (available in English), supplemented with direct experience of contemporary styles.
> 
> At the same time, you should learn all you can about the workings of common practice harmony.
> 
> ...


And if you're going to learn from Fux, it's time to take a good look at Palestrina.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Lukecash12 said:


> And if you're going to learn from Fux, it's time to take a good look at Palestrina.


Not really. 16th century counterpoint is so different than 18th Century Mozartian counterpoint.


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## Pawelec (Jul 14, 2015)

Vasks said:


> Not really. 16th century counterpoint is so different than 18th Century Mozartian counterpoint.


Honestly, I didn't even consider studying any forms of counterpoint before mid-Baroque. But I can see Mozart preferred something similar to _nota contra notam_ (at least in the _Requiem_ - this is the work which interests me the most) while Bach uses almost all possible note lengths at the same time.

I cannot find any scores of Eybler's _Requiem_ in c minor. The choral parts are different than those of Mozart, but they still are subtle where they need to be. I'd love to look at them.


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## Pawelec (Jul 14, 2015)

I know it's double post but I find editing the above a bit purposeless...

Same as Mozart, I fell in a very impractical love with basset horns. Impractical because there aren't many basset horn players nor many basset horns as such compared to other clarinet family instruments.

Transposing instruments are not a problem anymore, in Notion 5 (with the samples, hence the basset-love) I can switch between transposing, concert pitch and concert tuning display.

Now my question is if there are any publications about Mozart's harmonic style. I can feel the difference between his and e.g. Haydn's harmony while listening and I prefer Mozartean progressions.


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