film as musicology
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Film as Musicology: "Amadeus"
Author(s): Robert L. MarshallSource: The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 81, No. 2 (Summer, 1997), pp. 173-179Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/742458Accessed: 05-09-2015 20:06 UTC
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Film
s
Musicology:
madeus
Robert
. Marshall
Friends,
ilm
uffs,
ellow
musicologists:
have cometo
praise
Amadeus,
not to
bury
t Butbefore
get
o that etme
say
hat
felt
rivileged
when was asked otake
part,
uring
he 1996annual
meeting
f he
American
Musicologicalociety,
n thefirst-ever
anel
devoted o estab-
lishing newdiscipline ithinurdiscipline, amely ilm sMusicology
(ossia:
Musicology
s
Film
Criticism).
t was
certainly
bout ime or uch
a
panel,
onsidering
ow
many
imes have been
asked-and I am sure
just
bout ll
ofus have beenasked: Was
Mozart
eally
ike hat?"r
"Were
here
eally
uch
reaturess castrati-andwere
hey
eally
ike
That?" n short:
ollywood
as discoveredhe
romance fmusic
istory
and has become nfatuatedith
t
(if
not
necessarily
ith
s).
Butbefore
true ove can takeholdwith hisnew
object
f
desire,
inseltownvi-
dentlysconvinced hat osmeticurgerysnecessary-minorrmajor
(no
pun
ntended)
s thecase
may
e. But
ince,
or he
ove
object,
he
more adical he
urgery,
he
greater
herisk f
disfigurement,erhaps
fatally
o,
twould eem ofall o
us,
f o
anyone,
o be
on
guard-pre-
pared
o do
battle,
f
necessary,
utnot to
assume hatwe are
destinedo
be
up against
n
inevitably
ostile
ntagonist.
In
short,
efore
ny
fus are
tempted
o seek he
thrilling
ush fthe
sense
f
ntellectualnd moral
uperiorityybashing ollywood or alsi-
fying
hefacts
f
music
istory,
nd
n
the
process
erhaps
isking
o
little
embarrassment,
e had better
ause
for moment
nd
consider: hat
would
we think
f,
ay,
ny
historiansf ncient
istory
ho
would ake
Shakespeare,
r
Handel,
ver hecoalsforwhat
hey
ad done tothehis-
torical
ulius
aesar?f heir eefwere
olely
with he
undisputed
ircum-
stance hathard acts
ad
been
disregarded,
earranged,eliberately
is-
torted,
r even
completely
ade
up,
n
indignation
ropelled
urthermore
by
reluctanceo
acknowledge
he
manifestly
ifferent
urposes
f
histo-
riographynd ofdramaturgy,ndby nunwillingnessoacknowledgehat
creative
rtists,
fter
ll,
carry oetic
icenses-that
s,
icenses
o
kill
fac-
tual
truth hen t
stands
n
the
way
f
poetic
r
dramatic
ruth-well,
thinkwe
might
e inclined odismissuch
riticism,
e it
ever o
earnest,
as
smug,
arrow-minded,
nd
the
most readed
f
pejoratives
urled ur
way)pedantic uibbles-to
dismiss
t,
to
put
t
mildly,
s
altogether
iss-
173
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174
The
Musical
uarterly
ing
he
point-the
artistic
oint
hat
uthorizeshat
oetic
icense o
kill,
or at eastmaim, he iteral ruth.
The
aesthetic,
nd indeed he
moral,
oint,
rom ur
perspective,
when
onsidering
he
genre
or,
f
ne
prefers,
he
lk)
ofthe
music-
historical
ilm
bviously
as to be the
ame s that
nforming
ur ttitude
toward
ts
ounterpart
nd antecedent:hevenerable-if
lways
uspect-
historical ovel.And t
s
the
ame
ttitude,
eally,
hathas tosteer ur
judgment
f
Shakespeare
rHandel
or
any
esser
mortal
ho
chooses o
"do a number"n
Julius
aesar-or on the
kings
f heHouseof
Lancaster
orYork.Namely:f, rmedwith he hield f heir oetic icenses,heyre
going
o trash
he
facts
f
history
nd,
long
he
way erhaps,
ast baleful
light
n the
reputations
f
great
ndfamous
men,
hen
hey
ad better e
prepared
o redeem he
historiographical
nsult ith sufficient
ortion
f
poetic
ruth,
ustice,
r ome ther
ompelling
orm f
dequate ompen-
sation.
I will
readily
oncede
hat
Hollywood
snotHandel.And
while,
y
the ame
oken,
eter
haffer,
he
uthor
f
he
play,
nd thefilm
cript,
of
Amadeus,
may
notbe
Shakespeare,
thinkwe
may
ll
agree
hathe is
notchoppediver ither-that s,he iscertainlyota mere pportunistic
purveyor
f abloid itillationut
learly thoughtful
ramatist ho
demandso be taken
eriously.
Now,
was
at
something
f
disadvantage
t
theAMS Film
s Musicol-
ogy anel
for ne
obvious
eason: nlike heother
works nder
eview,
Amadeus,
nd the
controversy
nd
hand-wringing
t
precipitated,
ere,
y
1996,
overly
amiliar
nd,
really,ery
tale.
The
play
had beenaround or
more hanfifteenears.topened nLondon n1979and nNew York
year
ater,
as
published
nbookformn
1981,
nd
appeared
s a movie
directed
y
MilosFormann
1984.
The
film
orld's ollective erdict n
themovie everberates
n the
fact hat
twon
eightAcademy
wards
n
1984,
ncluding
estPicture.
Our
colleagues
ave often
ad
more rouble ith
t,
owing,
f
ourse,
to
all
those
esky
istorical
mistakes"
r,
f ne
prefers,
liberties."n
response
o the
challenge
hefilm
resented
nthat
espect,
heOctober
1984 ssue f he ournal ighteenth-Centuryife ublished setof hree
short
ssays
nder herubricFilm
orum:
madeus,"
onsisting
f
"Amadeusnd
Authenticity,"
y
Jane
erry-Camp
Florida
tateUniver-
sity),
Amadeus:
rom
lay
o
Film,"
y
Mark
Ringer
UCLA),
and
"Amadeusnd theWorld fMilos
Forman,"
y
J.
L. L.
Johnson
College
of
Charleston).l
erry-Camp's
Amadeusnd
Authenticity,"ublished,
s
I
say,
n
1984,
wasableto
report
n
the
lists
pon
ists" ffactual rrors
thathad
already
eendrawn
y
hen,
ecited
many
f hose
rrors,
nd
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Films
Musicology:
madeus
75
added
uite
few
more,
uggesting
hat Amadeus' istorical
istakesnd
semi-mistakesre egion."2he interestedeader an consult he istsn
her
rticle.3
hough
Perry-Camp
s
argely egative
n
her
valuation f
thefilm nd evenworriedbout ts
ultimate ultural
mpact-concerned
thatMozart ere isonce
again
hevictim f
ommercial
nterests"4-she
does make n
important
oncession
or
confession)
hen
he
remarks
that there s one
overwhelmingalvaging
orce
n
Amadeus:
Mozart's
music."5
As with alieri,Amadeusndeedmaymake onfessorsfusall.So letme
nowconfess hat
thoroughly
dmire
lmost
verything
boutboth
he
play
nd the
quite
differentilm.
find he
play,
with ts
mphasis
n
what
Mark
Ringer
escribeds the theomachia
etween
alieri nd
the
Big
GuyUpstairs,"6
rilliant
heater,
ramatically
ffective,
nd
presenting
twoof hemore
memorableramaticharactersf
recent
ecades.
As
for
the
film,
s
Shaffer
nce
explained
n
an
interview,
hemain
protagonist
therewasno
longer
alieri;
t
was, ather,
ozart's
music.7
ne of
hiscen-
tral
bjectives
n
factwastosaturatehefilm
itht.
Now, neither ersion, madeuss of ourse work f he magina-
tion,
nd
the
uthor as felt ree o
shift he
chronology,
o fuse
hefacts
intonew
configurations,
nd to
augment
hem or
ramatic
ffect.
nd
I
find
othing rong
ith
his,
imply
ecause,
n
this
nstance,
t
works o
well. And I do think
t
is
carping
nd
pedantic
to
accuse
Shaffer f
dis-
torting
he
facts;
t
would
urely
e
absurd o
accusehimofnot
knowing
them. haffer
learly
nows hefacts
nd
exactly
whathe is
doing
with
them.As a
theatergoer,
could
only ay
hats
ff";
n
fact,
s
someone
whohasdippedntoMozart's iography,applaud haffer'sxtensive
familiarity
ith he
vents fMozart'sife
nd,
ven
more,
is
eloquent
and
perceptive
omage
o
Mozart's
music.
As to the
music:
ave we notall been
mpressedy
Salieri's
mpas-
sioned
nd vivid
description
f
he low
movementf
the
Serenade or
ThirteenWind
nstruments,
.
361
(with
tsmemorable
queezebox
image)?
As to the
composer-specifically,
haffer's
erpetuating
he
myth
of
Mozart's ffortless
omposition
n
that amous
cene
where
onstanze
shows im
her
husband's
manuscripts
nd Salieri
woonswhile
ontem-
plating
heir
mpeccable
otation-probably y
avorite
cene n
the
movie-well,
et
usnot
overreact
n
our
glee
at
having
nearthedn
recent
ears
umerous
ketches nd
draftsn
Mozart's
and nd
proceed
all too
hastily
o
debunk
he
myth
f
ffortless
omposition
ll
too
cate-
gorically.
he fact
emains hat
Mozart's
manuscripts
reall
toooften
ll
too
cleanfor omfort.
remember
tudying
n
amazement
ordering
n
disbelief,
nd a sense f
he
eerie,
he
utograph
fthe
Piano
Concerto n
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176
TheMusical
uarterly
E-flat,
.
482,
and
realizing
hat,
with
espect
o the
compositional
process,tcontained othingf nterest.ndeed, herewere lmost o
corrections
f
ny
kind,
ot
even
minor
nes.
I lovethat cenebecause tforces s all to confronthe
unsettling
conundrumf rtistic
reativity
f
he
highestmaginable
rder.
ndeed,
Amadeus,
t eems o
me,
s as much s
anything
lse
symptom
f urneed
to account
or he
chievements
f he
great-toexplain
nd
comprehend
whatmade
hese,
ur ellow
reatures,
o
extraordinary.erhaps
his eed s
even
greater
ow han ver
efore,
ince na secular
ge
our
great igures
have na real ense ecome urgods.And when here regods ndmyster-
ies,
hat
s,
major
nanswered
uestions,
herewillbe
myths.
t s a
symp-
tom f he
vitality
f ur
worship
f he
great
hat he
mythology
oncern-
ing
hem s not
static,
losed
ne,
n "ancient"
mythology,
ut s
quite
alive
nd,
ccordingly,onstantlyhanging.
haffer's ozart
s almost
he
alter
go,
he
Jungian
shadow,"
f heMozart
amiliar
o theromantic
period.
The "new
mythology"-the
ew
gospel ccording
o
Peter haffer
(and
others)-is
a reflectionotofromantic
dealization,
hich awthe
artist s a flawlessnd
perhaps
s a
tragic
ero, utratherf he geof
psychoanalysis
nd
conoclasm.We
now ee theblemishesn the
portrait
with
microscopiclarity.
ozart
he
man
was
by
no means
porcelain
angel.According
o thenew
mythology,
ewas
not
necessarilyarticu-
larly
dmirablet
all.
Ironically,
he
Mozart fromantic
myth
ives n
nonetheless,
ot
only
n Amadeus ut n ourmost
ophisticated
iographi-
calstudies.We
still
refer
o
castMozart
nthe
tory
fhis ife s a
largely
innocent
ictim,
e
it
of he
Archbishop
f
Salzburg,
fhis
rival
alieri,
orofhisfathereopold.
It s not
necessary
o
be
a drama rfilm ritic o realize hat haffer's
lay,
andthe
movie, oo,
re
bout
alieri,
ndthat
n
themMozarts Salieri's
obsession.
onsequently,
nlike
mmortal
eloved,
mpromptu,
rFarinelli
(and
apart
rom
ll
questions
f estheticaste
rhistorical
ruth),
madeus
belongs nly
oa limited
xtent o
the
raditional,
entimental
enre
f he
Hollywood
musician's
iography.
t s a fable-a
fable
bout
God's
apri-
cious pportionmentf alentmong iscreatures:pecifically,is ncom-
prehensible
avoring
fthemost
ecidedly ndeserving.
n
Shaffer's
able
we do not
ee the
historical ozart
bjectively,
or
ven
through
he
author's
yes,
ut
only hrough
he
yes
fSalieri-as Shaffer
magines
Salieri
o be for isowndramatic
urposes.
nd
according
o
Shaffer's
bitter,
nvious,
nd
resentful
alieri,
Mozartwasan
infantileratwith
n
obnoxious
augh
whodid
notknow
howto behave r
dress
nd
who
seemed
o
findnfinite
leasure
n
utteringcatological
ords.
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Films
Musicology:
madeus 77
This
depiction ismayed,
onfused,
nd fascinatedudiences-and
capturedheirmagination.eopleunderstandably,ndquiteproperly,
were
keptical
nd wanted
o know f herewas
any
ruth othis
ortrayal.
It washard or
he
general
ublic
o
imagine
hatMozart sed uchfoul
language-the anguage
as
we
enlightened
neshave
always
nown)
that
rupts
n theBasle etters ritten
y
Mozart o his cousinMaria
Anna
Thekla,
he
daughter
f
Leopold
Mozart's rother.
ot
that
we
have
felt
ery
omfortable
ith
hose
ettersnd the ideofMozart's
ersonal-
ity
hat
hey
eveal.
What sonetomake f hem? ow has our
profes-
sioncome
to terms ith hem? et me count he
waysor
at least ome f
them)
s
the
player
n Hamlet
might
ave describedhem
if
his
preco-
cious nterestn
genres
ad beendirected
o
modernntellectualashions
rather hanElizabethan ramatic
orms):
he
characterological,
he
psy-
choanalytical,
he
ociological,
he
cultural-linguistical,
he
clinical-
pathological.
Forwhat
t
may
e
worth,
find
he
ociological
or
perhaps
t
is
the
cultural-linguistical)xplanation
hemost
atisfying.
n the
ighteenth
century,
mong
hemiddle
lass,
ody arts
nd functions ere
alled
by
their ernacularames, ottheir atin uphemisms.twould eem hat
talking
bout he
xcretory
unctionstthetime
at
least
n
theGerman-
speaking
orld)
was
omething
f n obsession-a bit ike
alking
bout
one'sdiet
oday, erhaps,
r
about
ne's
nalysis.
As tothat
nfuriatingaugh:
orMozartians
scholars
nd
ay
dmir-
ers
like),
t
is,
f
nything,
ven more
epellent
han hefoulmouth
f
Shaffer's/Salieri's
ozart.
o
begin
with,
n
contrastothe
catological
language,
here s
absolutely
o historical
vidence
or his
diosyncrasy.
Wesimply avenocontemporaryestimonyt all as to howMozart
soundedwhenhe
laughed.
utwhile
t
lacks
ny
documentary
ubstantia-
tion,
ne can find
plausible
ramatic ationale
or
his
ersistent,
rat-
inglyrritating
ttributettachedothe
play's
ntihero
not
nappropri-
ately
or
musician,
sounding
ttribute-a
eitmotiv).
moment's
reflectioneveals
hat t must e
meant
o
represent-it
must e meant o
be-the
mockingaughter
f
he
gods: aughter
irected
oward
ll
us
commonmortals hohave been
pitefully,
aliciously
enied
he
fire f
creative
enius.
ndeed,
alierihimselfnformsisconfessor
and
us)-
uponrecalling
he ncident t the
carnival,
hen
Mozart,
fter
aving
delightedveryone resent
ithhis
grotesquely
omic mitationf
he
sourpuss
ourt
omposer
t the
keyboard
concluding
he
wooden
ompo-
sitionwith
resoundingerfect
uthentic
art),
ursts
et gain
nto
hys-
terical
aughter-that
ThatwasnotMozart
aughing
t
me,
Father. hat
wasGod.
That
wasGod
laughing
t me
through
hat
bscene
iggle.
o
on,
Signore,augh, augh."
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178
TheMusical
uarterly
For he
purposes
f his
anel,
t all
events,
he correct"
nderstanding
f
Mozart's oul anguagerhowhe laugheds ofno import.What s mpor-
tant-at leastwhat s
mportant
or
s,
s membersfour
profession,
o
recognize
nd
acknowledge-is
hat he
film
timulated
idespread
nd
intense
eneral
nterest
n twoMozart
henomena:
heman nd his
music.Almost t onceMozart ecame hemost
opular,
mostwell-
known,
most
urchased
nd,
do
believe,
hemost
rulynjoyed
fthe
classical
omposers,eadily isplacing
eethoven,
chaikovsky,
nd
any-
one else
who,
before
980,
might
ave
disputed
isclaim o that
osition.
Furthermore-andowcomes hereally oodpart-sincepeople
were afflednd could
not
get
nough
f he
movie,
r
Mozart,
rhis
music,
hey
urned o themembers
f his
rofession
or nswersnd
guid-
ance. n
1984
or 1985
that
s,
ust year
r two fter hemoviehad
opened),
remember
iving
talk bout
t
and
ts
relation
o "the
facts."
Afterwards
young
woman ame
to me and made confessionf
her
own,
namely,
hat hehad
by
hen
lready
eenthe
film
ome
hirty-five
or
forty
imes
nd
that
t
was
consuming
er.
ndeed,
he ndicated hat
t
had
given
her ifenew
meaning. lthough
he had
absolutely
o musical
background,
henowknew hat hewanted-needed-to find utas
much bout
Mozart s she
possibly
ould.As she
put
t-quite
spookily,
have
to
say-she
wanted
o
devote
her
ife o him.
am
sure
you
have
guessed
what
he was
driving
t:
yes,
hewanted
o knowwhetherhe
should
ecome
musicologist.
I
very
much
hope
shehas
gotten
ver
t
n
the
meantime.)
More
ignificantly,y
far:n thewakeof
Amadeus,
nroll-
mentsn
college
music ourses
ationwide,
specially
ourses bout
WAM
himself,
aw
unprecedented
ncreases.
By1991 theMozartmaniahad, f nything,ncreasedvenmore.At
a conference
nspired
y
he
major
Mozart vent
f
hat
year,
hebicen-
tennial,
remember
articipating
n
a
panel
discussion here omeone
from
he udience sked
why
Mozartwas
receiving
ll this
ttention,
especially
rom he
popular
media.One
of he
panelists
onceded hathe
really
ouldnot
ay:
t
was
omething
f
puzzle. pipedup
and
submit-
ted: It's hat
movie,
f ourse-still."
Thatmovie, hen, adbecome urmost otent lly. would ubmithat
it
became
hemost
otent lly
f
veryone
ngaged
n the
nterprise
f
cultivating
nd
promulgating
lassical
music-performers,
cholars,
nd
teachers.
o:
two humbs
p
here
orAmadeus
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Film
s
Musicology:
madeus
79
Notes
1. "Film orum:
madeus,"
ighteenth-Centuryife
(Oct. 1984):
116-22.
2.
Jane erry-Camp,
Amadeusnd
Authenticity,"
ighteenth-Centuryife
(Oct. 1984):
117.
3. Some
examples
f he
historicalnaccuracies
egisteredyPerry-Camp:
alieri nd
Mozart idnotuse modern
onducting
echniques;
ozart evermisbehaved
t the ourts
ofColloredo
r
Joseph
I;
Leopold
didnotmeethis
daughter-in-law
or hefirstime n
Vienna
they
irst et n
Salzburg);
alieri id notcommissionhe
Requiem
rom
Mozart,
norwashe
present
t
Mozart's
eath;
Mozart id notdrink imselfo
death,
orwas
there
a rainstormn the
day
fhis
funeral;
tc.
4.
Perry-Camp,
19.
5.
Perry-Camp,
18.
6. Mark
Ringer,
Amadeus: rom
lay
o
Film,"
ighteenth-Centuryife
(Oct.
1984):
120.
7.
Michiko
Kakutani,
How
Amadeus'Was Translatedrom
lay
o
Film,"
ew York
Times,
6
Sept.
1984,
uotes
Peter haffers follows: hemovie hasbecome
much
more
a celebrationf he
music
.
.
In thefilm... music lmost ecomes
character,
hemost
important
haracter."
n
a Times rticle fhis
own,
Paying omage
o Mozart"
New
York
Times,
Sept.
1984),
Shaffer rote:Inthe
picture,
hemusic
aturally
ecamemore
prominent
han n the
play...,.
the inema
ositively
elcomes
usic n
floods-and,
f
course,
coustical nundation
s
very
much hefate f
drowning
alieri.
Music,
ublime
and
unstaunchable,
ouring
n a stream ver
gasping
man's
ead,
s of
ourse
he entral
subject
f he
film"
emphasis
n
original).
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