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A comparison and contrast essay
Music is an essential element in the community. It serves to entertain, sooth and educate society. In this paper, we shall focus on the lives and accomplishments of two great artists and understand their influence to current musicians. In 1756, Wolfgang Mozart was born into a Roman Catholic family. His family lived in Salzburg, which was then within the Roman empire. During the 18th century, the families tended to be larger than they are now, and as such Mozart was the youngest in a family of seven. However, five of his siblings died in infancy. His musical talent was noticed quite early. His father, Leopold Mozart, and his sibling Maria Mozart were particularly influential to his musical career. Leopold would teach his children music, academics, and linguistics. Classical scholars argue that Leopold may have noticed his son’s talent at this age, which then motivated him to teach him further. Consequently, Leopold was the first to recognize his son’s undeniable talent. On this note, between 1762-1773, Leopold toured Europe to pursue employment for the young, talented Wolfgang. His father would support him throughout his career. For example, Leopold tried to apply for a job in Salzburg on his son’s behalf, though Wolfgang rejected the job (Mozart, Stanley & Fiona).
Wolfgang composed about 600 classical works throughout his career. Wolfgang majored in the fields of symphony, choral, opera, concertante, and chamber. Classical musicians study his works in school to familiarize themselves with this field. He is one of the world’s greatest classical composers. The latter statement is ironic because Wolfgang was little known when he was alive. He struggled to put food on his table. He quit jobs one after the other since he felt the remuneration was not at par with his talent. The 40th symphony is one of his great masterpieces that is intensely studied, played, and listened all over. In 1791, Wolfgang established himself as one of the best musicians before his death. It was this year that he left a landmark on the world that future musicians like Ludwig Van Beethoven sought refuge for their works (Mozart, Stanley & Fiona). Wolfgang became famous after his death in 1791.
Claude Debussy was a French composer born in 1862 to a poor family. Debussy is widely regarded as the first impressionist, a term he vehemently rejected. Despite his humble upbringing, Debussy made an early music debut. He was admitted into the leading music school, Conservatoire de Paris at the age of 11 (Barraque). During his schooling career, he trained and studied the piano and tried to focus on innovation composition despite the disapproval of his professors. Debussy was talented from a young age but it took him several years to mature and invent his musical style. His musical opera of 1902 gained international fame and served the purpose of increasing his self-esteem in his musical career. Debussy composed works such as nocturnes and images, which were a reaction against the German musical tradition. He criticized the classical symphony immensely which may have prompted his invention into other musical fields.
Mozart and Debussy adopted the orchestra and were interested in opera. Another similarity is that both of these artists ventured into chamber music developing the string quartet. However, the classical era where Mozart lived favored the development of the regular phrasing, where the melody was regular and even. In the classical period, there was a clear polarity of tonic and dominant harmony.
Debussy ventured into sonatas just like Mozart and was able to complete three out of the targeted six sonatas (Schmitz). The use of the clarinet was also a significant similarity between the two artists. Its introduction meant that it became increasingly important for composers to utilize up to 4 French horns, two trumpets, and timpani. Both artists were skilled pianists. Both artists employed the Alberti bass feature as they played the piano.
Works cited
Barraqué, Jean. Claude Debussy. Rowohlt Verlag GmbH, 2018.
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, Stanley Sadie, and Fiona Smart. The letters of Mozart and his family. Springer, 2016.
Schmitz, E. Robert. The piano works of Claude Debussy. Courier Corporation, 2014.
