[Fmpro] Shore, Burton, Wood

[Fernando Rivas]

Then listen to "The Requiem." What changed? What happened
> to  Mozart that all of a sudden we get this incredible counterpoint? Does
> anyone know? Was this an evolutionary step in Mozart's style or  something
> else? A gold star for the person with  the correct answer.

Well, not that I¹m really after that gold star but Mozart, like most
composers and musicians of his era was well trained in the art of
counterpoint. Although Bach¹s music and older music of the Renaissance was
not in vogue publicly it was still known and studied by musicians.
Undoubtedly Mozart¹s inspiration to complete a religious work like the
Requiem drew him to approach it from the traditional standpoint of older
composers and the legacy of Church music in general. Though the Œclassical¹
style was homophonic, as opposed to polyphonic, and Mozart¹s concepts were a
product of the favored practices of the era, he was still able to pursue
polyphony and seemed to do so with more frequency as he matured.

 The 
> composers who have remained were the ones who  innovated. The ones who
> didn't innovate were left in the trash heap  of history.

That¹s not entirely true. Composers like Sergei Rachmaninoff, Benjamin
Britten or Samuel Barber are not exactly on the trash heap of history and
certainly have made a name for themselves though not as innovators.
Certainly not like Ives or Carter.  As I have written before innovation is
not the only gold standard for artistic achievement ­ it can be but doesn¹t
necessarily HAVE to be.  And sometimes what seems innovative is merely
artificial and inorganic ­ just an attempt to stand out from the rest.