greetings, eastman_grad! can you explain to me the meaning of your quote: 'anyone can write two bars of mozart, but only mozart can write three.' i'm just a little confused. i'm counting bars here and something strikes me as strange (unless it's a fantasie) -because mozart typically - and i could be wrong- was extremely symmetrical in his writing. now...haydn on the other hand..... susan
It means that many people can write two bars that sound like Mozart. After that, however, his inventive genius becomes more and more transparent and thus, more difficult to mimic. This is true no matter what phrase structure Mozart used. Also, it's not my quotation.
Just an aside: I think that if you looked more closely at the music itself, rather than what other people have said about it, you'd discover many interesting asymmetries. Yes, the phrase structure AT THE BEGINNING of a work often proceeds symmetrically, but Mozart often alters this when material is presented in a different context.
Best,
EG
Topic: Hi Everyone