From a NY Times article about Mozart

“At first we laughed at what seemed such pure gibberish, but his father then began to observe the most important matter, the notes and music,” Schachtner recounted. “He stared long at the sheet, and then tears, tears of joy and wonder, fell from his eyes. ‘It is so very difficult that no one could play it,’ Leopold said. And Wolfgang replied: ‘That’s why it’s a concerto. You must practice it till you can get it right.’ ”

Wow, the kid was 7 or 8. What were you doing at that age (Mozart had already started composing at age 5; it's not his youth that is so surprising in this article, it's that these two pieces were only just discovered)? I'm pretty sure I was playing a game called "Dog and Cat" with my best friend, Jeremy. It involved one of us pretending to be "Dog" and the other pretending to be "Cat," and barking and meowing at each other as indicated by our respective roles. Oh, yes: we were thespians.

Click on the title of today's post to read the entire article. Or you might consider taking out your flute and practicing. Maybe some Mozart!