The Big Shot

[BobBradshaw]

The Big Shot

Haydn sits primly on the side,
never a hair out of place
on his powdered wig.

Everyone admires the Master.
The old man takes to flattery
like a horse to a bucket of oats!

That is why he wants me
to sign my scores "Ludwig,
Pupil of Haydn"....I refuse!

How often has he cut
our lessons short?
He has taught me nothing.

What does he think
hearing others
call me "the next Mozart"?

I'm assured that behind my back
he dismisses me
as "The Big Shot!"

Is he as frightened
of the future
as he is of having his palm read?

Is that why he hides his fears
sitting there with perfect posture,
a rehearsed smile on his face

as if watching one
of a thousand good amateurs
in Vienna play--

The Master politely looking
for just the right moment
to excuse himself?

[CalebMurdock]

I'm assuming this poem is a fantasy and that these composers didn't necessarily know each other -- or at all. So the poem is a fantasy, right? It's hard to say anything because I don't know much about the men or what their attitudes might have been, so I don't know how right or wrong you might be about what you're saying. Perhaps I should just not post in cases like this, but there are so few people on the forum, and I hate to see anything go without a comment.

At one point Haydn is calling Beethoven a "big shot", but then Haydn is referred to as the "Master", but it seems to me Mozart would be the master in that group (although Mozart was gone by then).

I just learned that Mozart died at 35 -- I thought he was older than that. That explains why he is always portrayed as a young man.

[BobBradshaw]

This is no fantasy. This all happened. Haydn was the most respected composer before Mozart arrived on the scene, and after he died. Nearly everyone called him the Master. Beethoven was a young man, and studied for awhile under Haydn.

[CalebMurdock]

You're right. Beethoven's and Mozart's lives did overlap by 21 years, and Haydn was born before both of them. When I first looked up their birth/death dates I misconstrued what I was reading. I wasn't aware they knew each other. I guess it makes sense that they did. Thank you for the education.

The poem reads well enough, although Beethoven's feelings strike me as a little petty. But then, I know enough about great poets to know that none of us who are creative are above a little pettiness. We are all concerned about our legacies.

My love of classical music is centered on an earlier period. I have several CD's of music by Praetorius.

[BobBradshaw]

Thanks