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The Classical Spirit as Portrayed in Amadeus


Before you can understand what role Mozart played in developing the classical spirit, you must first learn what this spirit entailed. During the Classical era, arts were a flourishing centerpiece of cities. Many have dubbed the seventeenth and eighteenth century the Age of Enlightenment. This was time of great change brought on my great minds from all around the world. This era gave birth to some of the most popular and distinguished pieces of art from all of western civilization.
In the movie Amadeus, Mozart is depicted as a bit of an eccentric composer. The movie follows him through his childhood when he wrote his first symphonies, up until his abrupt death. The movie shows a human side to the composer that you cannot gain simply by listening to his music. It shows how he struggled while he was alive to earn for his family and profit off of his music. Like so many great artists of his time, he only was able to gain fame and fortune posthumous. You see a role that his family may have played in not only helping but also hindering in his writing of music. And most importantly it shows off his expertise in the understanding of music, one point in the movie depicting Mozart writing an entire symphony in his head.
The movie showed the Classical Spirit typical to that commonly associated with late 1700’s Europe. As large social gatherings began to emerge as a way to show off class and wealth the demand for composers and pieces grew. These composers were hired for individual functions and to compose individual pieces for these events. The movie shows the competition Mozart had between other prestigious composers during this time and how hard it was to earn money in the business. Without any television or radio at this time, the primary form of entertainment would have been operas and musicals hired out to such a composer as Mozart. With the partnering of the...