He also, sometimes, has a photographic memory for music. In university he had a listening test on a piece of classical music. He was able to visualize the score that he had studied when in high school, and identify the types and numbers of instruments.
The important point about this story is that the Church so revered the wonderful Miserere that it kept its score secret so it could only be performed in Rome, so Mozart had no other choice but to memorize it.
Reputably, Mozart had perfect pitch and a phenomenal musical memory and he composed almost without corrections—a look at his handwritten scores and that's obvious, they're neat and near perfect.
Your son is clearly one of those lucky people so gifted.
_
FYI, if interested, here's a YouTube recording of what Mozart wrote down from memory (truly amazing if you ask me): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDOENZediM8
You mean “Mozart in the middle of his career” at 14 ;) (he was already an international star for seven full years before he was 14)
Sorry. Yeah you're right. I recall when I got to the age of 35 he died at I asked myself what the hell have I done in my 35 years.
The comparison was embarrassing (even now years later I still use that comparison).
Thanks to Köchel and others essentially Mozart's entire life's work is very well documented and that over those 30 years he produced about 626 musical works most of which are of the highest standard, and of those some rank as works of sheer genius, not only have they stood the test of time but they still remain popular and well loved by millions some 233 after his death.
Mozart's talent and his life's work can thus be held up as a standard—a level of excellence—to which many of us would like to aspire.
What makes Mozart special, perhaps more so than many other famous composers, is how much he achieved in such a short life. He's up at the pinnacle with others who have achieved great things. Even for those of us who are not composers Mozart's yardstick can remind us of our own often-limited talents and work and how we wished they were better or how we might go about improving them. At times I experience such notions when listening to his music.
There is only one standard of accomplishment and it's set by people like Mozart.
Accepting that is humbling, but it's required to know yourself and grow. My contributions probably won't amount to much, but Mozart (et al) have shown us what good looks like and it's fun to strive.
Right, not yet anyway. But one thing's pretty certain I won't be a household name 233 after I'm dead. ;-)
A great aspect about famous composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc. is that they still remain household names several centuries after their deaths because their compositions bring immediate pleasure to us whenever we hear them.
Now, that's a lovely way to be remembered.
Mozart is immortal in that sense