greatest at what he does within the bounds he chooses to set. But I like answers as
well as questions. The five in my pantheon give me those.
Mozart is unrivalled at what he does because no one else plays the same game. What other composer has put such a premium on delicacy, on poise, on self-effacement? That doesn’t deny that he was a red-blooded mensch who loved hijinks and good times as much as the rest of us. His Rondo alla Turca is one of many masterpieces showing that side. But it only rounds out the impression of a flawless dinner companion. A maxim of classicism in the Greek spirit is “nothing in excess”. Mozart's
exuberance and hijinks were just the right amount.
He was the master of moderation. His operas put passion mostly in the mouths of clowns and villains such as Papageno and Osmin and Queen of the Night. His sympathetic sorts have feelings too, but keep them circumspect. The perfect companion cares first about our feelings, not his. Mozart remains that even on our journeys together through the stars. We are kept safely away from the heat. We are allowed to feel anxiety because the world is so far below. That was half the point of the trip. The other half is the happy ending as he leads us safely home. Anxiety, but
not in excess.
That shows him as the master of levitation. Richard Strauss gives the example of Susanna’s aria “Voi che sapete” (you who know) from Figaro, an innocent ditty which somehow never lands on the tonic (home note) until the end. The beginning of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (a little night music) does this again. But the slow
movements of his piano concertos show it best.
Mozart is not my pantheon, even so. He is moderation in excess. I like the game the others all play. I like a sense of the first person singular. The five in my pantheon also take us through the stars. But they take us closer. We feel the heat because they do. Listen to Bach’s chaconne for solo violin, or passacaglia and fugue for organ.
Listen to the heilige dankgesang (holy song of thanksgiving) from Beethoven’s
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