An Analysis of Historical and Musical Elements in the Film "Amadeus" (Part II)

Marshall did not end his argument on just the character description. He stated that Mozart’s name, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, itself was also a myth adopted by the people. In fact, his full name as we know today had been only used twice by Mozart, and mostly, he preferred to go by the name of Wolfgang Amade.[12] Born Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, he was often called Wolfgang Gottlieb by others. However, with time, his middle name “Amadeus” gradually became the norm and posthumously, the name Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart became somewhat official as people started publishing his name in that fashion. To stay neutral, the directors of Amadeus chose to refer to him as simply Mozart or “Wolfie,” which was mainly used by Constanze.

However, the most important myth that essentially drove the film differently from the actual history was the controversy regarding his death. While Mozart’s official death certificate indicated his cause of death as “severely military fever,” this was a very vague term; today, it would be the same as saying “the flu.”[13] Because 18th century also lacked much science behind medicine, the clinical precision of the term “fever” was subjected for questioning. Furthermore, rumors began early on to the effect that Mozart was poisoned – either accidentally from an overdose of mercury, the leading treatment at the time for syphilis, or was deliberately by a rival: Antonio Salieri. In 1823, a rumor circulated that Salieri had confessed that he poisoned Mozart, which was even heard by the famous composer Beethoven, who recorded the rumor in one of his conversation books.[14] Therefore, Shaffer and Forman were not so far-off in terms of portraying the truth in the film: a rumor about Salieri being involved in Mozart’s death and confessing his possibly nefarious wrongdoing at his old age did exist. The directors were merely fusing events that may have happened into a series of likely scenarios. On the contrary, because of its ambiguity surrounding Mozart’s death, the directors were able to design a creative storyline, although factually misleading, that highlighted an alternative ending to one of history’s greatest loss.

While there were various historical elements that were deviating from the actual events, there were also features that the directors pinpointed precisely about Mozart’s character as a person. In the film, Mozart is described as a person who did not care about using foul language and scatological terms. In reality, this was common with the people of his era, and Mozart was easily the man of his time; he knew how to please the crowd and how to behave in front of different categories of people, speaking in their manner and addressing their cultural needs. He was known to be quite sensible and adaptive, able to accommodate into any setting.[15] Thus, the directors were able to match Mozart’s characteristics with the history, in this respect. An iconic example of this is the famous scene of the mask party where Mozart uses unrefined, low-brow jokes to roast how boring Salieri was and how obsolete Salieri’s music style was with the crowd, which was people of common class. Although it may have been offensive to Salieri who is present at the scene, the unsophisticated jokes by Mozart serve as a quintessence of how Mozart was when he played in front of people at actual events (with less intensity on vulgar jokes, of course).

Besides the historical elements incorporated by Shaffer and Forman, there are also musical elements that must be discussed in order to fully digest the directors’ motives behind creating the film. While the purpose of the film was to recreate the life of Mozart from the perspective of a jealous man who became obsessed with the godly talent and glamorous career of Mozart, it was also to express Mozart’s music as a character and a part of the narrative. Because Amadeus is considered a musical drama biography film, the use of music in Amadeus does not simply add to the background. The film was mainly shot around music and the plotline was developed accordingly, each piece carefully explained by the narrator Salieri, as he lauded and commented on Mozart’s outstanding works. The writer compiled a series of scenes that were crucial to understanding the directors’ intents in characterizing the figure of Mozart through the film.

The first scene is where Mozart presents himself for the first time in the court of Emperor Joseph II. Only available in the “Director’s Cut” version of the film, this is an extended scene that was later released by the makers. Before Mozart makes his appearance, Salieri prepares a small piece as a welcome message for Mozart and plays in front of the Emperor and his staff. However, Mozart plays witty and extemporizes on the tune just after hearing one time and develops Salieri’s theme into his own “Non piu andrai” from Le nozze di Figaro.[16] This is an “inside” joke played by Mozart as he makes this ironic reference: Figaro sings “Non piu andrai” towards the end of Act 1 as he pretends to send young Cherubino to war. Cherubino, who is an inexperienced novice, is comparable to Salieri, and this is an innuendo that is set up by the directors to show Mozart as a clever, witty character. In fact, as if stealing Salieri’s spotlight was not enough, Mozart adds a slight twiddle on the end and gives his iconic, high-pitched laugh that seems to be laughing at Salieri. From this scene, the audience can witness his famed powers of memory and “improvisation-composition-performance dynamic that is intrinsic both to his oft-praised keyboard improvisations and to his piano concertos, where all three activities interact fluidly in the production of works.”[17] Personally, the writer deems this scene as the turning point of the film: while Salieri stays somewhat neutral towards Mozart before this scene, he turns more jealous and bitter towards Mozart after this event.

The second scene that is essential to understanding the directors’ motives is the scene where Constanze goes alone to Salieri to plead for her husband to be appointed teacher to the Emperor’s young niece. As Salieri is browsing through Mozart’s handwritten composition, music appears in the background and Salieri is seen to be going through various emotions; while he seems to be astonished at what he has in his hands, he is just as much envious at Mozart for his godly talent. When Salieri reads through the transcript, the background music begins with Symphony No. 29 in A Major, I: Allegro moderato, then transitions to Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orchestra No. 10 in E Major, then Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra in E Major, I: Allegro, and finally ending with Mass No. 17 in C minor. Salieri is in absolute awe of the works and is shocked to see how clean it looks – with barely any revisions, incomplete fragments, or erase marks.[18] How Mozart wrote down his extraordinary works with such fluency and smoothness goes on to show how his music and his process of composition are as remarkable as they are. Nearly correction free, the music is in such natural, untroubled fashion, and this begins a small fire inside Salieri that sets him at a bit of despair, but also fuels him to bring a downfall on Mozart.

After these two scenes, the film quickly accelerates toward the direction of Mozart’s death. This is marked by the scene where Mozart is working on the play Don Giovanni. During this time, Mozart is at his all-time low, deeply saddened by his father Leopold’s death, and this directly inspires him to create the play Don Giovanni, where the Commendatore – who returns from the dead - represents his father. After the play’s production, he comes across Salieri, who disguises as a black-clad ‘stranger,’ which resembles the Commendatore figure, that asks him to make a Requiem for a person. Burdened by so much calamities at once and greatly intimidated by the ‘stranger,’ Mozart is shown feverishly and shakily at work, alcohol to hand, with the soundtrack of the opening ritornello from Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor K. 466. The music continues as he walks across bleak, snow-ridden Viennese streets, which portrays him as losing control in an increasingly cold, doom-laden world for him. Through these scenes, the audience can see the irony designed by the directors: the Requiem that Mozart is working on is actually for himself.[19]

The Commendatore in the play "Don Giovanni"

Last but not least, there is a merge of historical truth and the film’s dramatic truth as Mozart’s death makes its turn. When Mozart is moments before his death, he is composing the Confutatis of the Requiem with the help from Salieri, who writes into the music for him. This is where the film fabricates its course of events. In the film, Mozart is seen to be composing the opening of the movement; however, the opening bars, where the bassoons, trombones, trumpets and timpani join in, he was not responsible for composing the parts.[20] In addition, Mozart preferred to write down a continuous draft comprising the most significant instruments and voices first, then returning to complete the full score, which was contrary to the film’s suggestion, where Mozart is seen to be composing orchestral and choral works simultaneously. The film’s sequence is mainly to “show how arts fit together, interact, and complement one another,” as well as to reveal “the urgency with which Mozart was so often required to work in order to meet the deadline [for the Requiem].”[21] Closing the film, the entire movement of Lacrymosa of Requiem is played out as the audience sees the Mozart’s body going to the grave. The Requiem marks the end of Amadeus and the film implies the death of Mozart as unjustified, leaving a dark, brooding atmosphere.

Amadeus is undoubtedly a phenomenal piece of work, despite the controversy surrounding the film’s genuine motives. While some may argue Mozart as being victimized by the mass media for marketing purposes through the film, it is crucial to remember that the purpose of the film was not to create a documentary or a biography of Mozart. Rather, Shaffer and Forman had a distinct purpose to create a piece of work that can engrave the name Mozart ubiquitously across the world. To do this, they chose to formulate the “dramatic truth” and words cannot describe how successful it was. By delving into the historical and musical elements incorporated by the directors within the film, one can better understand the reasoning behind why the directors chose to create a fictional story to uphold one of the greatest composers of all time.

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References

[1] Gianakaris, C. J. “Shaffer’s Revisions in “Amadeus”.” Theatre Journal 35, no. 1 (1983): 88-89.

[2] Brown, A. Peter. "Amadeus and Mozart: Setting the Record Straight." The American Scholar 61, no. 1 (1992): 50.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Perry-Camp, Jane. “Amadeus and Authenticity,” Eighteenth-Century Life 9 (Oct. 1984): 117.

[5] Ibid. 118.

[6] Horowitz, Joseph. “Mozart as midcult: mass snob appeal,” The Musical Quarterly 76/1 (1992), pp.1-16, at pp. 3, 12-15.

[7] Keefe, Simon P. "Beyond Fact and Fiction, Scholarly and Popular: Peter Shaffer and Miloš Forman's "Amadeus" at 25." The Musical Times 150, no. 1906 (2009): 47.

[8] Marshall, Robert L. "Film as Musicology: "Amadeus"." The Musical Quarterly 81, no. 2 (1997): 173.

[9] Marshall, Robert. "Mozart and Amadeus." Sonus, 1983, 2-3.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid, 4.

[12] Ibid, 5.

[13] Ibid, 6.

[14] Ibid, 8.

[15] Ibid, 10-11.

[16] November, Nancy Rachel, and Allen, Brenda. "Framing a Critical, Interdisciplinary Approach to Film: Teaching Amadeus." University of Auckland. Journal of Music History Pedagogy vol. 7, no. 2 (2017): 59.

[17] Keefe, 49.

[18] Ibid, 50.

[19] Ibid, 48.

[20] Ibid, 51.

[21] Ibid.

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Works Cited

Brown, A. Peter. "Amadeus and Mozart: Setting the Record Straight." The American Scholar 61, no. 1 (1992): 49-66.

Forman, Miloš., Saul. Zaentz, F. Murray. Abraham, Tom Hulce, Elizabeth Berridge, Simon Callow, Roy Dotrice, Christine. Ebersole, Jeffrey Jones, Charles Kay, Kenneth McMillan. Amadeus. Director's Cut. edition. Burbank, California: Warner Home Video, 2009.

Gianakaris, C. J. "Shaffer's Revisions in "Amadeus"." Theatre Journal 35, no. 1 (1983): 88-101.

Horowitz, Joseph. “Mozart as midcult: mass snob appeal,” The Musical Quarterly 76/1 (1992).

Keefe, Simon P. "Beyond Fact and Fiction, Scholarly and Popular: Peter Shaffer and Miloš Forman's "Amadeus" at 25." The Musical Times 150, no. 1906 (2009): 45-53.

Marshall, Robert L. "Film as Musicology: "Amadeus"." The Musical Quarterly 81, no. 2 (1997): 173-179.

Marshall, Robert. "Mozart and Amadeus." Sonus, 1983, 1-15.

November, Nancy Rachel, and Allen, Brenda. "Framing a Critical, Interdisciplinary Approach to Film: Teaching Amadeus." University of Auckland. Journal of Music History Pedagogy vol. 7, no. 2 (2017): 56-80.

Perry-Camp, Jane. “Amadeus and Authenticity,” Eighteenth-Century Life 9 (Oct. 1984): 117-119.