# Listening to Mozart in reverse chronological order.



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Over the next period of time (weeks? months?) I intend to listen to every single piece Mozart has eve recorded from the Requiem to the little notebook of tiny piano pieces composed when he was about 5 years old. Mozart is one intellectual who has managed to impress me more and more when I revisit a piece even as famous as the 40th symphony. There are simply so many intricate details in the music which seem to spark up a highly analytical mind!

Has anyone ever done anything like this before? I think it would be an insightful experience to discover the gradual change of style over time from a listener's perspective. I have decided to go from the end first and work myself way back to the beginning more as a Benjamin Button style experiment than anything else. 

I'll be starting off with the Druce completion of the Requiem, conducted by Roger Norrington.


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

That sounds like an absolutely fun, exploring and educational experience. We look forward to you sharing your journey.

You discover that there are versions of pieces that were in draft, incomplete, variations, whole pieces within other pieces (e.g. whole three movement violin concertos beyond the standard few that are within orchestral serenades etc. etc.)


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

*Laßt uns mit geschlungen Händen, K623a* is next on the list!

It's very short, a choral piece, and appears here on this recording alongside a little *Masonic cantata K623*


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## PlaySalieri (Jun 3, 2012)

I wish I had the time to do that

do you have all the works on CD?

I have the brilliant classics set of the whole lot which might be handy for such a program


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Good luck... are you using the complete Phillips recordings? THose are awesome.


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

I think it's great that someone can go from creating a 'hate thread'(even if it was partially meant in jest) on the same composer and finding him "meh" to:



ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Mozart is one intellectual who has managed to impress me more and more when I revisit a piece even as famous as the 40th symphony. There are simply so many intricate details in the music which seem to spark up a highly analytical mind!


Just shows what a difference a little time, listening, and learning can do. The details and intricacy are what I love most about his music, and those that seem trivial or go unnoticed on the first listen have more importance and emotional significance on the next listen. I haven't listened to everything he's written, but I did post an article by some who did a similar experiment on your other thread, it's by Alex Ross, "The Storm of Style" that was written back in 2006. Be sure to save unfamiliar pieces you end up liking while exploring all his works, you'll get a better appreciation for how rich and varied his compositional output really is.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Albert7 said:


> Good luck... are you using the complete Phillips recordings? THose are awesome.


I don't have any complete set of works, primarily I'm using recordings I have and YouTube and Spotify when needed.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Trazom......what hate thread?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Being very familiar with Martin Fröst and Sabine Meyer on this concerto, I have opted for this recording that I am listening to for the first time of the *Clarinet Concerto K622*


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