u/WinnerEconomy169

I love progressive rock and I really think Op.80 by Beethoven is the first prog rock piece ever created. It starts off with a simple piano, setting the tone, then adds in orchestration, building up, and eventually explodes into a chorus that transcends space and time. The Idea in the music is clear, perfectly executed and the build up is about as explosive and beautiful as anything. I really consider it Beethovens greatest work and the genesis of prog rock. It is also the precursor of the 9th and it manages to be better than the 9th. Check it out if you have not, it will leave your heart dripping.

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They really did a number trying to flatten out all the quirks that made his music interesting over many listens.

It’s a great book! It’s unfair to leopold, I think he was instrumental in Wolfgang becoming who he was, but I enjoyed this book so much

Salieri isnt just a bad guy or an antagonist, he represents all of us mediocre people who subjugate our life to needing to feel like we belong rather than living it alongside the truth. Mediocre people build their opinion based on how others react to it, based on what is popular, based on what feels safe to believe and what does not alienate us from society. Genius stands on its own, judging and critiquing not based on the opinions of others or what is popular, but based on what is and what should be. People like music because of cultural connections, because of collective expression, or because it makes them feel validated. Genius doesnt, it stands on its own two feet and judges purely on what is. We dont like that. We mediocre people try to destroy opinions and works that make us question our opinions and where we stand. We use our ability to belong to a group based on bending our views to the group as a way to climb socially, which we do, and we use that social power to stay at the top. Salieri can talk to the emperor, navigate the aristrocacy, move people and wins the battle not based on his ability to make music, but his ability to belong. That is why at the end of the movie he proclaims himself the “patron saint of mediocrity” and he says “I absolve you, absolve you all”. He represents us, the mediocre nobodies who abuse human social structures to remain in power even when others are able to connect us to god, destroying those who bring beauty. The whole movie is making that point, the fact that we all suck.

Seriously, how dope would Neal Morse and Gabriel be?