Week 2: Deconstructing the Musical Prodigy

De/constructing the Child Prodigy

The Mozart children

Leopold Mozart and his two children, Wolfgang Amadeus and Marie Anne; the father stands to [left], facing [right] and playing the violin, leaning on the back of the chair at the harpsichord, his son, aged seven, is seated at the instrument and his daughter, aged twelve, stands singing on the far side, pillars in the background, [as well as] sky and trees in [left] and centre. Watercolour and bodycolour, on contemporary gold, black and green wash mount. Drawn by: Louis Carmontelle (1777). British Museum Online Collections.

Listen:

Read:

Prodigy-Chapter_MozartDownload
Nannerl-NotenbuchDownload

Teresa Carreño

Listen and examine score: “Mi Teresita”/”Kleiner Walzer”/”Little Waltz” (1896)

Note: listen to all versions on playlist!

Here is Carreño’s performance of it on a piano roll!

Watch this short video for more about piano rolls:

Stanford-University-Piano-Roll-ArchiveDownload
Carreno-WaltzDownload

Read:

carreno-150Download
Prodigy-Chapter_CarrenoDownload

7.14.23 (assignments 2 and 3 due via Blackboard along with Discussion Board post)

Weekly Discussion Board Prompt:

2-3 paragraphs: Pick any two “child musical prodigy” videos on Youtube to compare to one another. What do you find interesting about the video? What does the comments section tell you about how others are perceiving and reacting to the video?

Assignment 2: Compare at least two recordings of “Mi Teresita” and write about your observations. (2 paragraphs)

Assignment 3: Use Carreño and Mozart newsclippings

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