On Jul 2, 2011, at 7:01 PM, Roman Turovsky wrote: > In fact a public expression of feelings through the choice of c-minor for his > Great Mass did cost Mozart his job in Salzburg.
What cost Mozart his job in Salzburg was that he didn't want it. He insisted that he be released, and it took months to finally settle the issue, with the Archbishop's steward, Count Arco, urging him to stay before famously kicking him out of the room in exasperation in May 1781. The C minor Mass dates from two years later (such parts of it as managed to finish were performed during a visit to Salzburg in 1783), and I'm not aware that anyone remarked on the choice of key at the time. > However _private_ expression was practiced earlier, from mid17th century on. As far as I can follow it (and following it isn't easy) this entire discussion about "self-expression" suffers from terminal vagueness. What exactly are we talking about? Do we mean specifically Composer X intending that the listener interpret the music as an expression of what Composer X is feeling? Or that Composer X intends to express any kind of personal, subjective feeling? Or are we talking about intensity of expression? Are Gesualdo madrigals self expressive? Is self expression Berlioz mirroring his infatuation with Harriet Smithson in the Symphonie Fantastique? Beethoven expressing his love of the country in the Pastorale? (and if so, what about Vivaldi in La Primavera?) A discussion of this sort really needs carefully defined terms or it becomes, literally, nonsense. To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
