Journal Article

Amadeus: A Vision of Musical Genius

Viljoen, Martina, Viljoen, Nicol

2018

Overview

In this article, the film Amadeus is studied as a representation of musical genius. It is argued that the compelling portrayal of the composer's artistic persona displays elements of incongruity and paradox, as also suggested in mainstream Mozart scholarship. While it is acknowledged that the film fails to exemplify Mozart's life story factually or objectively, it is found simultaneously that the core narrative content is corroborated by authoritative biographical sources. In terms of an interpretive frame of reference, Salieri's dramatic monologue is one point of entry through which Mozart's persona is creatively construed in Amadeus, while the film's soundtrack may be seen as another, acting as a 'second narrative' that illuminates Mozart's inner being in a profound and extraordinary way. In this regard, the work of Leonard Ratner, Wye Jamison Allanbrook and Stephen Rumph serves as points of departure for reading Mozart's music as based in a rich lexicon of expressive signs and symbols. Understood in this way, Amadeus's soundtrack offers deep insight into human character and emotion, and, ultimately, also into Mozart's own consummate grasp of human existence.

• Publisher: Hrvatsko Muzikolosko Drustvo
• Subject: Classical music / Composers / Film & stage music / Motion picture criticism / Motion pictures / Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791)