Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a Creative Person - Essay Example

Creative Individual An assessment of a creative artifact, person or place: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart This paper seeks to assess Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a creative person. The paper starts off by giving a brief introduction about the subject and moves on to justify my stance in light of various creativity theories and references from academic literature. While this paper would at various occasions shed light on how other critics view Mozart’s creativity, the ultimate justification would be based on own conclusions from the study carried out on the subject through various sources. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the most famous music composers of all time. Throughout his career, Mozart is said to have composed over 600 pieces with many of them being symphonies, chambers and types of choral music. Mozart’s creativity brought him to light at a very young age, where at merely five years of age he was given the opportunity to perform before the European Royalty. Since a young age Mozart had a passion to grow up as a great musician and this is what led him to leave the position of a court musician in Salzburg. Most of his famous works are believed to be composed in Vienna, a little before his death (ABERT, H., SPENCER, S., & EISEN, 2007). Before shedding light on Mozart’s creativity in light of various definitions, creativity theories and academic literature it is highly essential that I put forward my view of the creative personality. Mozart’s creativity if brought to light from the fact that he was, and is most likely the only composer in history to have produced masterpieces in not one, but practically all genres of music. His work was widely spread across various genres and this alone sheds light on how creatively different he was able to think as a musician. It is said about him that Mozart did his first concerto at the young age of just four, while he went on with his first symphony at the age of seven. But Mozart did not stop there, and went to perform at this first Opera at the young age of just 12 years. Throughout the musical world, many have regarded Mozart as a child genius. Moreover, the various manuscripts written by Mozart have led people to believe that his works were often composed in just one go, as compared to completing the piece in various sittings (CAMPBELL, 2000). Before proceeding to discuss how, if Mozart was creative at all, it is essential we first understand the definition of creativity. The famous dictionary Merriam Webster defines creativity as the quality of being creative or the ability to create new and different things. Looking at Mozart in the light of this very definition, we can say that Mozart was a creative personality because throughout his life he created new and different forms of music. However, what needs to be understood is that concluding if a person is creative on the basis of just one definition would not be an ideal conclusion at all. We need to look in depth into various models before running onto any conclusions. According to a research published in the Creativity Research Journal by the title “The Standard Definition of Creativity”, Runco and Jaeger have defined creativity as being bipartite, a mix of both originality and effectiveness. The article goes on to describe originality as something that is unusual, novel or unique. However, the article also clarifies that being original alone is no symbol of being creative, as it is highly essential that original things much be highly effective in nature for them to be creative. If we look at the works of Mozart in detail, we get to know that there were many musicians before him who did create various forms of music that were liked by the audience at large. However, what specially sets Mozart apart from his competitors is the fact that the form of music he created was unlike that composed by his peers. Symphony for instance, is one of the most famous creations of Mozart, a creation that no one else had come up with in its proper form before Mozart did. If we were to consider Mozart’s creativity in the light of the definition mentioned in the Creativity Journal, we first need to find out if Mozart was original, and secondly was he effective? Mozart’s work was genuinely original as till date no one has blamed him of copying their work or ideas. The journal defines originality as something unusual and unique, and that is something that Mozart’s music is. The form of music he came out with at that time was truly unorthodox, unconventional and completely out of the box. But the second part of the said definition also brings in the tinge of effectiveness with originality for someone to be defined as creative. So was Mozart effective? Despite the fact that Mozart was not so big a success at his times, the effectiveness of his music was discovered after his death. Its effectiveness can be seen from the fact that many famous musicians like Beethoven used his tunes and compositions after his death and made him a commercial success. Another model of creativity is the 5Ps of creativity. These five pieces include positivity, playfulness, passion, persistence and persuasion. It is believed if that a person fulfills all these C’s then he is a creative individual. Does Mozart possess all these C qualities? We will now consider each of these separately. Positivity refers to being able to seek opportunities and remaining tolerant. Throughout his life Mozart faced many up and downs, and he was generally not financially stable. Despite all this he continued with his life and work, in often travelled to seek better opportunities in the musical field. So clearly Mozart did possess the quality of positivity. Playfulness refers to the ability of being mentally flexible and the ability take risks. Though I do not have enough information to confirm if Mozart was mentally flexible, he definitely was a risk taker. His risk taking abilities are evident from the fact that he often went on to other cities to look for better musical positions, despite the fact he had no assurance if he would be able to find work there. It is clearly evident that it was his risk taking skills that made Mozart who he is today (LOOMIS, 2012). The third P is passion and refers to being motivated and committed. Though I cannot say for sure if Mozart was motivated, I do feel that it was motivation only that led him to compose such melodious melodies despite the fact that he was never financially at peace. As far as commitment is concerned, Mozart was definitely committed to his work. Had he not been so, we would have not been able to cherish so many melodies. The fourth and fifth P are persistence and persuasion respectively. Persistence refers to having experience in one’s field and the ability to solve problems as they occur, whereas persuasion refers to having the ability to convince others. Mozart can truly be said to have persistence as despite all odds, ill-health and lack of financial stability he went on working towards his music. Though much cannot be said about his problem solving abilities and his abilities to convince others, on an overall basis I do believe that Mozart did lack problem solving characteristics. Many historians believe that Mozart’s character did not mature quite well enough and that is what why he lacked proper problem solving skills. If I were to conclude upon Mozart’s creativity based on the 5 P’s of creativity model, I think it would be fair enough to call him a creative genius. Without any doubt that kind of music that he created has never been created over the years and with all that he also does possess the creative qualities of positivity, playfulness, passion, persistence and persuasion. Another model seeks to look at factors which block creativity in a person. This model found by John Groth and John Peters looks at various barriers that block or suppress creativity in human beings. We will list a few of such factors and see if these existed in Mozart or not. Reported inhibitors according to the model given by Groth and Peters include factors like the fear of failure, having lack of confidence, fearing to take on challenges, being rebellious, fearing being too successful and being unable to face its consequences etc. Others include having too much ego, stressing out a lot for no odd reason, being fatigued and pressurized form home based circumstances. None of these factors were ever found in Mozart, which further strengthens my belief that Mozart was, without any doubt what so ever a highly creative individual (BERGSON & MITCHELL, 2012). It is essential to understand that It is the lack of all these listed factors that make a person creative because the existence of all these is what makes a person unable to grow creatively (SYRETT, M., & LAMMIMAN, 2002). Having covered these various models of creativity, I would now shift towards my conclusion. The various models that we have covered throughout the course of this research highlights towards the fact that Mozart without any doubt was a very creative individual, and probably one of the best musicians of all time. What we need to understand with Mozart is that he was not like many other famous and creative personalities that have existed throughout the course of history. While Mozart tried all his best to deliver the best he could during his life, it was not until his death that his work came to the limelight. Post his death, famous musicians like Beethoven used Mozart’s tunes to create masterpieces that people will remember for ages. The question however remains that to what extent was Mozart creative. Despite the fact that there is no clear or absolute answer to this question, in light of the various models studied and the fact that he achieved a lot during his lifetime in terms of being able to write tunes that belonged to not one, but many genres of music we can clearly conclude that Mozart was without any doubt what so ever a person at the helm of creativity. While some people’s worth is recognized during their lifetime and other’s after they part away from this world, Mozart falls into the latter category. However, undeniably his worth as a musician is something that can never be challenged and I believe with time he would be started being quoted in various magazines and research journals as a highly creative individual. Bibliography SYRETT, M., & LAMMIMAN, J. (2002). Creativity. Oxford, U.K., Capstone Pub. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=67247. CAMPBELL, D. G. (2000). The Mozart effect for children: awakening your childs mind, health, and creativity with music. New York, William Morrow. ABERT, H., SPENCER, S., & EISEN, C. (2007). W.A. Mozart. New Haven [Conn.], Yale University Press. ABERT, H., SPENCER, S., & EISEN, C. (2007). W.A. Mozart. New Haven [Conn.], Yale University Press. LOOMIS, A. (2012). Creative illustration. London, Titan Books. BERGSON, H., & MITCHELL, A. (2012). Creative evolution. [S.l.], Dover Publications. http://www.freading.com/ebooks/details/r:download/ZnJlYWQ6OTc4MDQ4NjEyMjgwOTpl. Read More