Amadeus is a 1984 film loosely depicting the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It does an amazing job of humanizing Mozart in a way that textbooks and other education material rarely do. Showing him as fallible, imperfect, and in his day-to-day life, it becomes very easy to sympathize with and relate to the composer. While he is extremely talented, the man is still human, and the film displays this wonderfully.
A musical piece in the movie that stood out especially was “Martern aller Arten” from the opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction From the Seraglio), Act II, Scene 3. “Martern aller Arten” is an aria, meaning it was written for a single voice with orchestral accompaniment. It has a German libretto which is performed by a female soprano (Die). Both the singer and orchestra harness a wide variety of dynamics that fluctuate beautifully throughout the piece. It is homophonic in texture, meaning the the vocals and orchestral composition move together in harmony. The orchestra is made up of flutes, oboes, violins, violoncellos, clarinets, cornets, trombones, timpani, and violas, among others (Marten).
While the intricate performance of the orchestra's music is easy to appreciate, I find the vocals to be much more enthralling. The smooth transitions by the performer between pitches is admirable. Mixed in with the variance in tempo, the piece requires exceptional skill both from the singer to produce and Mozart to envision.
The complexity of “Martern aller Arten” makes for a perfect example of the variety of music both possible and available in the Classical era. For this and its sheer beauty, it is the piece that stood out the most in Amadeus.
- Charles Stover, 26 April 2011
Works Cited
“Die Entführung aus dem Serail.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 18 February 2011. Web. 26 April 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Entführung_aus_dem_Serail>
“Marten aller Arten score.” Elizabeth Parcells. Web. 26 April 2011. <http://www.elizabethparcells.com/PDF%20Scores/Martern%20aller%20arten%20Mozart.pdf>
“Movie Amadeus Scene Die Enfuhrung Aus Dem Serail.” 25 January 2008. YouTube. 27 April 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOuKo-v3tno&t=2m30s>
