probably my heart
May 1, 2009 7:58 PM Subscribe
"Maybe, just maybe, we've found the next Mozart." Not just a six year old virtuoso, but a composer as well, Emily Bear seems likely to keep us listening longer than most precocious child pianists. As one tv talk show host has learned, as a composer Emily is both speedy and prolific.
Isn't this the kind of thing that fucked up the other Mozart?
posted by The Whelk at 8:10 PM on May 1, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 8:10 PM on May 1, 2009
There are kids in China and Korea who could play circles around this little tyke and they're years younger too.
Too bad there's a ton of censorship in those countries or people just don't pimp their children like parents do here.
posted by ChickenringNYC at 8:19 PM on May 1, 2009
Too bad there's a ton of censorship in those countries or people just don't pimp their children like parents do here.
posted by ChickenringNYC at 8:19 PM on May 1, 2009
I wonder what would happen if a child like that did not have the type of connections this one has, not to mention a very talented grandmother.
I would have liked to have heard more of her own music, they blocked it out in the first link with all that news blabber.
Spoke to soon, the third link was brilliant.
posted by Malice at 8:21 PM on May 1, 2009
I would have liked to have heard more of her own music, they blocked it out in the first link with all that news blabber.
Spoke to soon, the third link was brilliant.
posted by Malice at 8:21 PM on May 1, 2009
I'm sure it's impressive but she has a lot of training too. I think being gifted in music isn't all that unusual for children and with the right, intensive training (which she's obviously gotten) I suspect that most children who had a 'natural' gift like that would be able to archive a pretty high level early on.
posted by delmoi at 8:23 PM on May 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by delmoi at 8:23 PM on May 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
Wow. Very impressive -- the stuff she writes doesn't sound anything like kid music, even talented-kid music. This is a fully-fledged talent. Key modulations, tempo and dynamic changes, an awful lot of harmonic complexity.
This is the real deal.
posted by chimaera at 8:24 PM on May 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
This is the real deal.
posted by chimaera at 8:24 PM on May 1, 2009 [3 favorites]
ChickenringNYC:There are kids in China and Korea who could play circles around this little tyke and they're years younger too.
Hey thanks for pointing that out! I guess that invalidates all of Emily's accomplishments. She's not so talented after all.
You have an innate talent too. You seem to have cornered the market on churlishness.
posted by csw at 8:28 PM on May 1, 2009 [13 favorites]
Hey thanks for pointing that out! I guess that invalidates all of Emily's accomplishments. She's not so talented after all.
You have an innate talent too. You seem to have cornered the market on churlishness.
posted by csw at 8:28 PM on May 1, 2009 [13 favorites]
What do you mean by "being the next Mozart"?
If you mean composing the same sort of music, or nearly so, being the next Mozart is not particularly noteworthy, his compositional style is pretty well understood and frequently imitated. If that is being the next Mozart, then being the next Mozart is in the same league as being a good juggler or card sharp - admittedly nothing to sneeze at, but more a craft of refining a known quantity than an art of invention.
If you mean revolutionizing music, then her chances of making anything that people like, but have not heard before, is pretty damned slim. Music does not exist outside history, we have a world of cultures in a long and convoluted dialogues within and between themselves, and the advent of the likes of Mozart, or John Cage, or Elvis, have more to do with our being ready to hear what they have to offer than any particular greatness of the individual composer or musician.
By the latter, (in my opinion more interesting), definition, "The new Mozart", if she exists, is probably working with stylistic elements of hiphop, and her main instrument is more likely a DAW rather than a piano.
posted by idiopath at 8:35 PM on May 1, 2009 [2 favorites]
If you mean composing the same sort of music, or nearly so, being the next Mozart is not particularly noteworthy, his compositional style is pretty well understood and frequently imitated. If that is being the next Mozart, then being the next Mozart is in the same league as being a good juggler or card sharp - admittedly nothing to sneeze at, but more a craft of refining a known quantity than an art of invention.
If you mean revolutionizing music, then her chances of making anything that people like, but have not heard before, is pretty damned slim. Music does not exist outside history, we have a world of cultures in a long and convoluted dialogues within and between themselves, and the advent of the likes of Mozart, or John Cage, or Elvis, have more to do with our being ready to hear what they have to offer than any particular greatness of the individual composer or musician.
By the latter, (in my opinion more interesting), definition, "The new Mozart", if she exists, is probably working with stylistic elements of hiphop, and her main instrument is more likely a DAW rather than a piano.
posted by idiopath at 8:35 PM on May 1, 2009 [2 favorites]
I'd love to see her take a crack at composing for something other than a single piano. She's extremely talented, but I think something that (so far) distinguishes Mozart is that he also composed at an early age for instruments that he himself did not play. Although Mozart did not really start doing so until about age 9, so I guess we can give her a couple of years yet.
posted by jedicus at 8:38 PM on May 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by jedicus at 8:38 PM on May 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
This girl is also a pretty sharp pianist (although it looks like she's about three years older)
That said, while her playing is pretty good what's really amazing are her compositions. At least they're pretty impressive to me.
I think she's also a pretty good performer. I mean she makes it look easy. Of course it probably is easier to play your own music then something you had to memorize.
posted by delmoi at 8:42 PM on May 1, 2009
That said, while her playing is pretty good what's really amazing are her compositions. At least they're pretty impressive to me.
I think she's also a pretty good performer. I mean she makes it look easy. Of course it probably is easier to play your own music then something you had to memorize.
posted by delmoi at 8:42 PM on May 1, 2009
jedicus: This link is supposedly her "Orchestral Debut" of an original song. If that's accurate, wouldn't that mean she'd written the other parts as well?
posted by delmoi at 8:44 PM on May 1, 2009
posted by delmoi at 8:44 PM on May 1, 2009
csw, I'm not being churlish I'm just saying 'calm down, yeah she's fine'.. because in the big picture, relative to the many hyper-talented children in the world who do NOT get exposure, she is not all that talented. she is just young, cute, and blonde and that's what americans eat up.. Whether the little cute blonde girl is a beauty pageant model, a missing girl, a kidnap victim, or the "next mozart" (which i won't even get into), americans will pay attention. THAT is what annoys me about this.
posted by ChickenringNYC at 8:45 PM on May 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by ChickenringNYC at 8:45 PM on May 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
idiopath: I agree that she has yet to invent a new compositional style, and that it is rare, but I'm not sure the next musical geniuses would probably be working in hiphop. There is plenty of new, experimental, and revolutionary music being done with traditional instruments. New genres of music do not necessarily need new media.
posted by thebestsophist at 9:06 PM on May 1, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by thebestsophist at 9:06 PM on May 1, 2009 [2 favorites]
There are kids in China and Korea who could play circles around this little tyke and they're years younger too.
Yeah, but in that link where she is kneeling on the piano bench she demonstrates an intuitive mastery of jazz that you will not see in the Asian prodigies to which you refer.
Agreed, her original compositions are boring.
I think she should ditch classical and become a true original.
posted by kozad at 9:24 PM on May 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
Yeah, but in that link where she is kneeling on the piano bench she demonstrates an intuitive mastery of jazz that you will not see in the Asian prodigies to which you refer.
Agreed, her original compositions are boring.
I think she should ditch classical and become a true original.
posted by kozad at 9:24 PM on May 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
This was fantastic. I dig this little chica and her songs are deep - there's tons going on there and I love where she goes with the structure.
Normally I don't fawn over precocious tots, but I'm a huge fan of Miss Emily Bear now. Just think of where this woman will go as she grows older, and has more experiences. What a catalog to look forward to!
Great post.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 9:26 PM on May 1, 2009
Normally I don't fawn over precocious tots, but I'm a huge fan of Miss Emily Bear now. Just think of where this woman will go as she grows older, and has more experiences. What a catalog to look forward to!
Great post.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 9:26 PM on May 1, 2009
I agree with chimaera-- there were changes in the middle of the piece I listened to that were interesting. And she's got that. . .thing that musicians have-- fluency of expression or something. At any rate, I connected with it and had a musical experience-- that's a gift.
But callin her the next Mozart? Sheesh, give a kid a complex why don't ya?
posted by flotson at 9:27 PM on May 1, 2009
But callin her the next Mozart? Sheesh, give a kid a complex why don't ya?
posted by flotson at 9:27 PM on May 1, 2009
I'm no expert on China, but I'm pretty sure the Chinese censors aren't blocking videos of cute kids playing instruments.
But they are blocking videos of ugly kids playing instruments.
posted by notswedish at 9:28 PM on May 1, 2009
But they are blocking videos of ugly kids playing instruments.
posted by notswedish at 9:28 PM on May 1, 2009
b1trot: "intellectually interesting"? Were we listening to the same music? This is not groundbreaking or throught provoking composition, this is another iteration of the reification of centuries old musical cliches. There is more to provoke thought in a Soulja Boy single (not that I would cite Soulja Boy as the height of musical innovation).
thebestsophist: there are two radio stations on my media player, one of them is the stream from sfsound.org. I am aware that new ground is being broken in composition with old instruments.
What I was trying to point to was this show of music as class symbol, where music on a certain instrument with a certain style of transition between established elements somehow semiotically represents depth, intellectual challenge, profundity, etc. I am not saying that you can't make insteresting and new music on a piano, but that we have a set of cultural prejudices and stereotypes that lead us to mistake cliched tripe on a piano for profound music. Look at some of the denser Public Enemy tracks, before the recording industry was enforcing sampling law the way it is today - there are elements of free jazz, electronic composition a-la Stockhausen, they were actually turning the usage of samples in a very new and interesting direction, but they don't play any of the culturally approved instruments that geniuses play, and they use melodic and rythmic forms that a 19th century European would not recognize, so nobody thinks to call the bomb squad "composers".
posted by idiopath at 9:32 PM on May 1, 2009 [6 favorites]
thebestsophist: there are two radio stations on my media player, one of them is the stream from sfsound.org. I am aware that new ground is being broken in composition with old instruments.
What I was trying to point to was this show of music as class symbol, where music on a certain instrument with a certain style of transition between established elements somehow semiotically represents depth, intellectual challenge, profundity, etc. I am not saying that you can't make insteresting and new music on a piano, but that we have a set of cultural prejudices and stereotypes that lead us to mistake cliched tripe on a piano for profound music. Look at some of the denser Public Enemy tracks, before the recording industry was enforcing sampling law the way it is today - there are elements of free jazz, electronic composition a-la Stockhausen, they were actually turning the usage of samples in a very new and interesting direction, but they don't play any of the culturally approved instruments that geniuses play, and they use melodic and rythmic forms that a 19th century European would not recognize, so nobody thinks to call the bomb squad "composers".
posted by idiopath at 9:32 PM on May 1, 2009 [6 favorites]
This link is supposedly her "Orchestral Debut" of an original song. If that's accurate, wouldn't that mean she'd written the other parts as well?
The link says "this version was orchestrated and conducted by Rich Daniels," which normally means that she wrote the piano score and that Daniels arranged it for piano and orchestra. In any case, the orchestra largely follows the piano directly. It's not the complex interplay you see in, for example, a Mozart piano concerto. As I said earlier, though, Mozart didn't really get going until he was about 9, and her accomplishments to date are remarkable.
posted by jedicus at 9:33 PM on May 1, 2009
The link says "this version was orchestrated and conducted by Rich Daniels," which normally means that she wrote the piano score and that Daniels arranged it for piano and orchestra. In any case, the orchestra largely follows the piano directly. It's not the complex interplay you see in, for example, a Mozart piano concerto. As I said earlier, though, Mozart didn't really get going until he was about 9, and her accomplishments to date are remarkable.
posted by jedicus at 9:33 PM on May 1, 2009
There are probably hundreds if not thousands of Mozarts today, but not enough people to listen to them and make them into recognized Mozarts.
Well, the simple fact is that musical technology is so, so much more accessible today anyone can sit down at a computer and produce almost any kind of sound they want. The only real limits are creativity. In Mozart's time, how many 9 year olds had access to a symphony to actually perform their compositions? Maybe he could imagine it all in his head, I don't know. How many tykes could ever even hear music performed on instruments?
I don't know what percentage of kids would have this kind of skill if fully developed, but I think it would be a lot.
Anyway, I still find this girl pretty impressive.
posted by delmoi at 10:06 PM on May 1, 2009
Well, the simple fact is that musical technology is so, so much more accessible today anyone can sit down at a computer and produce almost any kind of sound they want. The only real limits are creativity. In Mozart's time, how many 9 year olds had access to a symphony to actually perform their compositions? Maybe he could imagine it all in his head, I don't know. How many tykes could ever even hear music performed on instruments?
I don't know what percentage of kids would have this kind of skill if fully developed, but I think it would be a lot.
Anyway, I still find this girl pretty impressive.
posted by delmoi at 10:06 PM on May 1, 2009
My fellow bean-platers, please remember that the "Next Mozart?" question is posed to us by a television reporter and not the claims of the talented Emily Bear or her family. It is most likely a figurative Mozart, not a literal one and the product of a fairly slow news day.
TV thinks that you're stupid. It's a hideously loaded lead/lede to foist on a talented kid. As mentioned above music doesn't exist out of history. Besides, there's only one Mozart and he's dead, mirrorshades or no.
All that said, give Emily 10-20 years and a little rust and heartbreak and an open road to play music on and we'll see.
posted by loquacious at 10:07 PM on May 1, 2009
TV thinks that you're stupid. It's a hideously loaded lead/lede to foist on a talented kid. As mentioned above music doesn't exist out of history. Besides, there's only one Mozart and he's dead, mirrorshades or no.
All that said, give Emily 10-20 years and a little rust and heartbreak and an open road to play music on and we'll see.
posted by loquacious at 10:07 PM on May 1, 2009
Oh the other hand check out this amazing two year old. It's almost like she has three hands!
posted by delmoi at 10:09 PM on May 1, 2009
posted by delmoi at 10:09 PM on May 1, 2009
but they don't play any of the culturally approved instruments that geniuses play, and they use melodic and rythmic forms that a 19th century European would not recognize, so nobody thinks to call the bomb squad "composers".
But as nice consolation prizes, Public Enemy found a huge audience, participated in the culture in a big way, and also made tons of money. (leaving aside the fact that creating music in the studio with samples is sort of compositionally orthogonal to actually conceiving and playing it on the piano.) So, not bad. This girl has no control over the familial culture into which she was born, and she makes art within those traditions--for now. Perhaps prodigies who play "classical" instruments get more attention than a young hip hop virtuoso, but at least the hip hop virtuoso can look forward to a life of making music people will actually listen to in large numbers. So those grapes aren't too sour after all.
What I heard was a kid expressing herself astonishingly well through the musical idioms she knows and has experience with. I would have love to hear her play some more jazz, I agree that the short clip in the first link showed a real, intuitive connection.
Miss Bear is very fortunate to have the musical connections in her family that she does, but that doesn't diminish her obvious talent and genuine heart.
posted by LooseFilter at 10:13 PM on May 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
But as nice consolation prizes, Public Enemy found a huge audience, participated in the culture in a big way, and also made tons of money. (leaving aside the fact that creating music in the studio with samples is sort of compositionally orthogonal to actually conceiving and playing it on the piano.) So, not bad. This girl has no control over the familial culture into which she was born, and she makes art within those traditions--for now. Perhaps prodigies who play "classical" instruments get more attention than a young hip hop virtuoso, but at least the hip hop virtuoso can look forward to a life of making music people will actually listen to in large numbers. So those grapes aren't too sour after all.
What I heard was a kid expressing herself astonishingly well through the musical idioms she knows and has experience with. I would have love to hear her play some more jazz, I agree that the short clip in the first link showed a real, intuitive connection.
Miss Bear is very fortunate to have the musical connections in her family that she does, but that doesn't diminish her obvious talent and genuine heart.
posted by LooseFilter at 10:13 PM on May 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
washburn, thanks for a great post. She's a pretty amazing child.
She has a bio at her website, which lists some of her other accomplishments.
posted by Houstonian at 10:17 PM on May 1, 2009
She has a bio at her website, which lists some of her other accomplishments.
posted by Houstonian at 10:17 PM on May 1, 2009
In Mozart's time, how many 9 year olds had access to a symphony to actually perform their compositions? Maybe he could imagine it all in his head, I don't know.
I agree that "the next Mozart?" thing is ridiculous, and not really worth pursuing. But I did want to say that, yes, young Mozart really could hear it all in his head. His musical acuity was astonishing.
posted by LooseFilter at 10:20 PM on May 1, 2009
I agree that "the next Mozart?" thing is ridiculous, and not really worth pursuing. But I did want to say that, yes, young Mozart really could hear it all in his head. His musical acuity was astonishing.
posted by LooseFilter at 10:20 PM on May 1, 2009
They should blind her, in some humane manner.
Then she'd really have some chops.
posted by Fupped Duck at 10:50 PM on May 1, 2009
Then she'd really have some chops.
posted by Fupped Duck at 10:50 PM on May 1, 2009
wow. such deep compositions, so young... just simply amazing.
Yet I can't help but wonder how even Mozart himself would have fared with a camera shoved in his face and all the "You're such an incredible genius and Mommy loves you so much, HI EVERYONE THIS IS MY GENIUS OFFSPRING MY NAME IS CHERYL SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL PLZ" that seems to lurk in the sidelines.
I definitely don't want to detract from her obvious gift, but I can't help but feel that the early ZOMG NEW MOZART attention might in and of itself reduce the chances of her growing into an actual new musical revolutionary like Wolfgang Amadeus.
posted by ScotchRox at 11:12 PM on May 1, 2009
Yet I can't help but wonder how even Mozart himself would have fared with a camera shoved in his face and all the "You're such an incredible genius and Mommy loves you so much, HI EVERYONE THIS IS MY GENIUS OFFSPRING MY NAME IS CHERYL SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL PLZ" that seems to lurk in the sidelines.
I definitely don't want to detract from her obvious gift, but I can't help but feel that the early ZOMG NEW MOZART attention might in and of itself reduce the chances of her growing into an actual new musical revolutionary like Wolfgang Amadeus.
posted by ScotchRox at 11:12 PM on May 1, 2009
also, perhaps more importantly, y'all are neglecting to put this in relevant historical context:
1756, Salzburg, January 27, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is born
1761, at the age of five Amadeus begins composing
1773, he writes his first piano concerto
1782, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart marries Constance Weber
1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart becomes a free mason
1791, Mozart composes "The Magic Flute"
On December 5th of that same year, Mozart dies
1985, Austrian rock singer Falco records
Rock Me Amadeus!
How does Emily's work fit in with Mozart's oeuvre, in our post-Falco landscape? What does this mean for all Falco/Mozart scholars? How should we now best become wunderbar?
these are questions any serious scholar of classical music must address.
posted by ScotchRox at 11:24 PM on May 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
1756, Salzburg, January 27, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is born
1761, at the age of five Amadeus begins composing
1773, he writes his first piano concerto
1782, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart marries Constance Weber
1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart becomes a free mason
1791, Mozart composes "The Magic Flute"
On December 5th of that same year, Mozart dies
1985, Austrian rock singer Falco records
Rock Me Amadeus!
How does Emily's work fit in with Mozart's oeuvre, in our post-Falco landscape? What does this mean for all Falco/Mozart scholars? How should we now best become wunderbar?
these are questions any serious scholar of classical music must address.
posted by ScotchRox at 11:24 PM on May 1, 2009 [1 favorite]
wow! some of these comments just make me kringe...
She IS a very talented pianist for her age, in her own right. In her own right... I don't think should be compared to Mozart or anyone else. And for any artist for that matter. I gets on my nerves a bit when the first instinct of people reacting to art is to compare them with someone else. I guess that's human nature though. But anyhoo, let the (little) person define themselves based upon their own talents. I think it makes life a little less stressful just to absorb and enjoy and not analyze everything. But I rant...
...Way to go kid! And keep up the good work if you feel like it. It's great stuff!
posted by noriyori at 11:26 PM on May 1, 2009
She IS a very talented pianist for her age, in her own right. In her own right... I don't think should be compared to Mozart or anyone else. And for any artist for that matter. I gets on my nerves a bit when the first instinct of people reacting to art is to compare them with someone else. I guess that's human nature though. But anyhoo, let the (little) person define themselves based upon their own talents. I think it makes life a little less stressful just to absorb and enjoy and not analyze everything. But I rant...
...Way to go kid! And keep up the good work if you feel like it. It's great stuff!
posted by noriyori at 11:26 PM on May 1, 2009
Yet I can't help but wonder how even Mozart himself would have fared with a camera shoved in his face and all the "You're such an incredible genius and Mommy loves you so much, HI EVERYONE THIS IS MY GENIUS OFFSPRING MY NAME IS CHERYL SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL PLZ" that seems to lurk in the sidelines.
Uh... Probably in a pretty similar way, I mean, Mozart's parents certainly promoted him. In fact, it was probably a lot worse for him.
This girls parents seem to be aware of the pitfalls of raising a 'prodigy' and don't want to ruin her. What her family is doing isn't all that different then what a lot of kids and parents do, except she's exceptional at it.
posted by delmoi at 11:32 PM on May 1, 2009
Uh... Probably in a pretty similar way, I mean, Mozart's parents certainly promoted him. In fact, it was probably a lot worse for him.
This girls parents seem to be aware of the pitfalls of raising a 'prodigy' and don't want to ruin her. What her family is doing isn't all that different then what a lot of kids and parents do, except she's exceptional at it.
posted by delmoi at 11:32 PM on May 1, 2009
While I loved this post and was genuinely touched by this little girl and her music, I have to agree with ScotchRox that all the attention might be detrimental. The first Ellen clip made me downright uncomfortable. I didn't watch the second for that reason.
posted by Captain Cardanthian! at 11:55 PM on May 1, 2009
posted by Captain Cardanthian! at 11:55 PM on May 1, 2009
Uh... Probably in a pretty similar way, I mean, Mozart's parents certainly promoted him.
fair enough. genius will always attract attention. and parents who see an opportunity will always seek to capitalize on it.
what I'm more interested in is the mass media effect. how does exposing this kind of genius so early affect their influence on the development of music? Mozart had to write some f'in concertos before he got noticed.
the audience hears about emily bear with her first compositions. and the general reaction is "wow what an excellent composer for an eight year old."
again, what i'm wondering is how/if Mozart would have developed if he got famous at age eight, then quickly forgotten when a cat did something cute on youtube.
posted by ScotchRox at 12:00 AM on May 2, 2009
fair enough. genius will always attract attention. and parents who see an opportunity will always seek to capitalize on it.
what I'm more interested in is the mass media effect. how does exposing this kind of genius so early affect their influence on the development of music? Mozart had to write some f'in concertos before he got noticed.
the audience hears about emily bear with her first compositions. and the general reaction is "wow what an excellent composer for an eight year old."
again, what i'm wondering is how/if Mozart would have developed if he got famous at age eight, then quickly forgotten when a cat did something cute on youtube.
posted by ScotchRox at 12:00 AM on May 2, 2009
What I learned from this thread:
If Mozart was such a gosh-darned musical genius, why didn't he call himself MC Wolfie and invent hip-hop?
To be a real prodigy, you must compose a symphony for feijoa and silly string.
Ah, metafilter. I are smarter for you being there.
posted by Sparx at 12:10 AM on May 2, 2009 [2 favorites]
If Mozart was such a gosh-darned musical genius, why didn't he call himself MC Wolfie and invent hip-hop?
To be a real prodigy, you must compose a symphony for feijoa and silly string.
Ah, metafilter. I are smarter for you being there.
posted by Sparx at 12:10 AM on May 2, 2009 [2 favorites]
I hate this kind of art music musical sensationalism. It makes classical music seem a little desperate for attention (which I guess it is and I should come to terms with that). I hope she is not ground down by the prodigy machine and, if she chooses to continue in music, I hope she gets the opportunities to develop into a mature artist.
posted by sundri at 12:32 AM on May 2, 2009
posted by sundri at 12:32 AM on May 2, 2009
Yet I can't help but wonder how even Mozart himself would have fared with a camera shoved in his face and all the "You're such an incredible genius and Mommy loves you so much, HI EVERYONE THIS IS MY GENIUS OFFSPRING MY NAME IS CHERYL SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL PLZ"
Yeah and if he had to deal with the assholes on metafilter he'd prolly of hung himself with piano wire.
posted by brevator at 5:44 AM on May 2, 2009
Yeah and if he had to deal with the assholes on metafilter he'd prolly of hung himself with piano wire.
posted by brevator at 5:44 AM on May 2, 2009
She is a very talented kid. As for the "Is she the next Mozart?" ridiculousness, I find that interesting given the fact that historically girl musical prodigies haven't been allowed on the world’s stage to the same degree as their brothers. And, in fact, Mozart himself was "the next Mozart," because before he was born, there was another Mozart charming the musical public: his sister, Maria Anna.
Maria Anna Mozart, nicknamed “Nannerl,” was born in 1751, and, like her younger brother, was considered a musical wunderkind. The two toured together and performed all over Europe as a brother-sister duo. At the beginning, her talents eclipsed her brother’s, and in fact it was she who received top billing. But as they grew older, it was her younger brother, Wolfgang Amadeus, who stole the show -- a child performing like an adult was far more appealing commercially than a young adult performing like an adult. Once she reached marriageable age, her father (their promoter, and the guy who'd be pimping them on YouTube and talk shows and everywhere else if this were a modern story) no longer permitted to perform and tour with her brother. Wolfgang encouraged his sister to continue performing, even if only privately, as he became a bigger and bigger star, but she retreated to Salzburg and eked out a living as a piano teacher. Even after their father’s death, the siblings were unable to fully reconnect. Maria lived out her days in Salzburg, teaching piano. She died in 1829.
posted by mothershock at 6:42 AM on May 2, 2009 [7 favorites]
Maria Anna Mozart, nicknamed “Nannerl,” was born in 1751, and, like her younger brother, was considered a musical wunderkind. The two toured together and performed all over Europe as a brother-sister duo. At the beginning, her talents eclipsed her brother’s, and in fact it was she who received top billing. But as they grew older, it was her younger brother, Wolfgang Amadeus, who stole the show -- a child performing like an adult was far more appealing commercially than a young adult performing like an adult. Once she reached marriageable age, her father (their promoter, and the guy who'd be pimping them on YouTube and talk shows and everywhere else if this were a modern story) no longer permitted to perform and tour with her brother. Wolfgang encouraged his sister to continue performing, even if only privately, as he became a bigger and bigger star, but she retreated to Salzburg and eked out a living as a piano teacher. Even after their father’s death, the siblings were unable to fully reconnect. Maria lived out her days in Salzburg, teaching piano. She died in 1829.
posted by mothershock at 6:42 AM on May 2, 2009 [7 favorites]
ChickenringNYC: "she is just young, cute, and blonde and that's what americans eat up.. Whether the little cute blonde girl is a beauty pageant model, a missing girl, a kidnap victim, or the "next mozart" (which i won't even get into), americans will pay attention."
She's young, cute, and brunette, actually.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:07 AM on May 2, 2009
She's young, cute, and brunette, actually.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:07 AM on May 2, 2009
ChickenringNYC, please post a link to your own creative work.
posted by chronkite at 7:34 AM on May 2, 2009
posted by chronkite at 7:34 AM on May 2, 2009
idiopath: very good point. I wonder if a genius in newer medium wouldn't still be able to create music in more traditional outlets as well (or have an innate understanding of). To me, one part of what makes genius capable of creating something new is a firm grasp of the fundamentals and is able to build, expand, and destroy our preconceived notions. Especially if we're to recognize it as genius and not just random sound. Our perception of music is very structured and in order to understand it, we need to be able to grasp hold of the structures that are being presented.
I suppose it'd be hard to find out since artists in newer mediums rarely cross over, and vice versa.
(thanks for the link)
posted by thebestsophist at 7:37 AM on May 2, 2009
I suppose it'd be hard to find out since artists in newer mediums rarely cross over, and vice versa.
(thanks for the link)
posted by thebestsophist at 7:37 AM on May 2, 2009
You have an innate talent too. You seem to have cornered the market on churlishness.
Pfft. In China and other places (like say Long Beach, CA) there are dozens of MeFi posters who could churl circles around this little tyke.
posted by notyou at 8:03 AM on May 2, 2009 [4 favorites]
Pfft. In China and other places (like say Long Beach, CA) there are dozens of MeFi posters who could churl circles around this little tyke.
posted by notyou at 8:03 AM on May 2, 2009 [4 favorites]
What makes Mozart significant is not the fact that he could play piano at the age of four and that he started composing at the age of six, or whatever -- that only makes him a curiosity -- it's that he wrote some of the greatest music ever. It's worth noting, by the way, that his most important compositions came in his thirties.
This girl seems quite talented indeed, but let's talk about her again when she writes something that competes with Mozart's requiem or symphony #40. Then we'll be able to tell if it's worth comparing the two.
posted by epimorph at 8:23 AM on May 2, 2009
This girl seems quite talented indeed, but let's talk about her again when she writes something that competes with Mozart's requiem or symphony #40. Then we'll be able to tell if it's worth comparing the two.
posted by epimorph at 8:23 AM on May 2, 2009
Philippa Schuyler was a child prodigy born in Harlem who many thought would go on to do wonderful things in music. She ended up accomplishing much more and transcended music with her writing skills.
posted by alteredcarbon at 9:18 AM on May 2, 2009
posted by alteredcarbon at 9:18 AM on May 2, 2009
attention might in and of itself reduce the chances of her growing into an actual new musical revolutionary like Wolfgang Amadeus.
what i'm wondering is how/if Mozart would have developed if he got famous at age eight, then quickly forgotten when a cat did something cute on youtube.
Well, Mozart was at least semi-famous before age eight, so your question isn't quite hypothetical. As mothershock very astutely points out, little Wolfie was the second prodigy in the family, and both kids were tirelessly promoted by poppa--much, much more so than little Emily Bear. Emily's parents seem to have very good perspective, actually, at least from the brief bits in the news story. (I think it's important that grandma is the pianist, not mom--the space of a generation would moderate the sort of drive that pushed Leopold Mozart with his own kids.)
The important thing to remember about artists (as opposed to, say, entertainers) is that their motivation is typically intrinsic--they are enamored of the art itself, and desire to create meaningful things in a specific medium. They are not driven (again, typically) by a desire for recognition or financial gain, so I would guess that young Mozart would have been mostly relieved if all that attention went away, as he could get on with the work/play of composing and playing music he loves without so many distractions. Contemporary popular culture fetishizes fame and notoriety to such an obscene degree that many forget that some among us are actually fairly disinterested in such, and are motivated by things like making good art, sharing expressive experiences, and participating in culture with our fellow human beings.
[Also, it's important to note that Mozart was far less of an innovator than a consolidator. He beautifully, exquisitely synthesized the disparate regional styles around him and sort of created what we think of as "the Viennese Classical style". (He showed some signs of more fundamental innovation toward the end of his life, but alas died so young we'll never know.)]
All of that is to say that there never will be an American Mozart, there can't be. WAM grew up in a world of unified culture, and only one musical tradition was available to him. While young Emily is gaining a terrific classical foundation to her musical skills and ideas, I have no doubt that--being American--she will find her own way into all sorts of interesting new places.
Or what thebestsophist said extremely well.
posted by LooseFilter at 9:51 AM on May 2, 2009
what i'm wondering is how/if Mozart would have developed if he got famous at age eight, then quickly forgotten when a cat did something cute on youtube.
Well, Mozart was at least semi-famous before age eight, so your question isn't quite hypothetical. As mothershock very astutely points out, little Wolfie was the second prodigy in the family, and both kids were tirelessly promoted by poppa--much, much more so than little Emily Bear. Emily's parents seem to have very good perspective, actually, at least from the brief bits in the news story. (I think it's important that grandma is the pianist, not mom--the space of a generation would moderate the sort of drive that pushed Leopold Mozart with his own kids.)
The important thing to remember about artists (as opposed to, say, entertainers) is that their motivation is typically intrinsic--they are enamored of the art itself, and desire to create meaningful things in a specific medium. They are not driven (again, typically) by a desire for recognition or financial gain, so I would guess that young Mozart would have been mostly relieved if all that attention went away, as he could get on with the work/play of composing and playing music he loves without so many distractions. Contemporary popular culture fetishizes fame and notoriety to such an obscene degree that many forget that some among us are actually fairly disinterested in such, and are motivated by things like making good art, sharing expressive experiences, and participating in culture with our fellow human beings.
[Also, it's important to note that Mozart was far less of an innovator than a consolidator. He beautifully, exquisitely synthesized the disparate regional styles around him and sort of created what we think of as "the Viennese Classical style". (He showed some signs of more fundamental innovation toward the end of his life, but alas died so young we'll never know.)]
All of that is to say that there never will be an American Mozart, there can't be. WAM grew up in a world of unified culture, and only one musical tradition was available to him. While young Emily is gaining a terrific classical foundation to her musical skills and ideas, I have no doubt that--being American--she will find her own way into all sorts of interesting new places.
Or what thebestsophist said extremely well.
posted by LooseFilter at 9:51 AM on May 2, 2009
Also: I hate this kind of art music musical sensationalism. It makes classical music seem a little desperate for attention
I agree, and classical music IS desperate for attention. (There are some fascinating conversations/changes brewing inside this world, btw.) But I think this is more a symptom of mindless media thinking "classical music = smart! (even though none of us really listen to it ever)".
posted by LooseFilter at 9:52 AM on May 2, 2009
I agree, and classical music IS desperate for attention. (There are some fascinating conversations/changes brewing inside this world, btw.) But I think this is more a symptom of mindless media thinking "classical music = smart! (even though none of us really listen to it ever)".
posted by LooseFilter at 9:52 AM on May 2, 2009
Wow that kid's mom was my babysitter gowing up! The grandmother was our neighborhood piano teacher!
posted by poppo at 9:54 AM on May 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by poppo at 9:54 AM on May 2, 2009 [1 favorite]
She's definitely got some talent - but being recognized and taught by talented people at such a young age helps a lot. Her current compositions I find a little boring; very nice for a six-year-old, but no "zOMG FUTURE OF MUSIC." I'd be interested to see how she writes in ten or twenty years, if she can survive the public attention for that long.
posted by Zephyrial at 10:20 AM on May 2, 2009
posted by Zephyrial at 10:20 AM on May 2, 2009
The next Mozart? It's too early to say. From the way things sound now, she might be headed in the direction to become the next Yanni.
"His music really comes from the heart. He writes music with ease, the music comes out with relative ease. The feel-good portion of the music is a by-product. It coincides with what the people love to hear."
posted by inkyroom at 11:04 PM on May 2, 2009
"His music really comes from the heart. He writes music with ease, the music comes out with relative ease. The feel-good portion of the music is a by-product. It coincides with what the people love to hear."
posted by inkyroom at 11:04 PM on May 2, 2009
She should team up with harmonica man and they could take over the world with AWESOME.
PS: That last link. Yeah, I got all misty.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 6:12 PM on May 3, 2009
PS: That last link. Yeah, I got all misty.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 6:12 PM on May 3, 2009
Some thoughts from a composer on the board:
I think she should ditch classical and become a true original.
Classical is a mis-nomer. Just because a song is written on the piano and not produced up the wazoo doesn't make it "unoriginal." Granted, what she is playing is not ORIGINAL. But did you notice how old she is?
What I was trying to point to was this show of music as class symbol, where music on a certain instrument with a certain style of transition between established elements somehow semiotically represents depth, intellectual challenge, profundity, etc.
Well personally I think it's gone the other way. Pitchfork Indie Rockers turn their nose up at music written on the "upper class" instruments and refuse to acknowledge value there at all, instantly shrugging it off as "unoriginal" simply because 1.) the song has no words (Of course, much of the music *I* write has words. But still.) 2.) the song is not all produced and noisy and edgy 3.) they don't really now how to follow a piece of music with no words. Nowadays classical music outside of academia is populated by old Republicans, and I HATE it.
As for the next Mozart.....it's not possible. Musical tastes are so varies and so broad and so niche based that no matter how amazingly gifted you are, 90% of the world will think you suck. So sorry Mozart's of the future. You're just as screwed now as you were then. Only now you won't have the benefit of dying an early death; someone will probably care for you just enough to keep you hanging by a thread, and you'll get to live your life into old age penniless, alone, and un-appreciated. Prodigy child from Magnolia, anyone?
Some people call me a cynic.
posted by The3rdMan at 1:07 AM on May 4, 2009
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posted by LSK at 8:06 PM on May 1, 2009