The Next Mozart

[Amalie]

12 year old Jay Greenberg, a student on full scholarship at New York's Julliard school, has already written five full-length symphonies, a feat many say puts the jusical prodigy in a league with composers like Mozart, Jay says music just fills his head and he has to write it down. He says "it's as if the unconscious mind is giving orders at the speed of light", and the music is fully written, playing like an orchestra in his head. All he has to do is download it.
He composes so rapidly that he often crashes his computer. In fact, he often hears more than one new composition at a time and once he writes it down he makes no revisions. Sam Zyman, a composer, and Jay's teacher of music theory at Julliard for 18 years, says he's never seen a student with the talent that Jay possesses, comparing him to Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Saint-Seans. Jay's parents are as surprised as anyone. Neither is a musician, His mother says when Jay was around two he started writing and actually drawing instruments. He managed to draw a cello, say the word and write it down. She didn't know how he even knew what a cello was...but he wanted one.


By elementary school, his teachers had no idea how to handle a boy whose hero wasn't Batman, but Beethoven.


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~ Courage, so it be righteous, will gain all things ~

[Chaszz]

Originally posted by Amalie:


12 year old Jay Greenberg, a student on full scholarship at New York's Julliard school, has already written five full-length symphonies, a feat many say puts the jusical prodigy in a league with composers like Mozart, Jay says music just fills his head and he has to write it down. He says "it's as if the unconscious mind is giving orders at the speed of light", and the music is fully written, playing like an orchestra in his head. All he has to do is download it.
He composes so rapidly that he often crashes his computer. In fact, he often hears more than one new composition at a time and once he writes it down he makes no revisions. Sam Zyman, a composer, and Jay's teacher of music theory at Julliard for 18 years, says he's never seen a student with the talent that Jay possesses, comparing him to Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Saint-Seans. Jay's parents are as surprised as anyone. Neither is a musician, His mother says when Jay was around two he started writing and actually drawing instruments. He managed to draw a cello, say the word and write it down. She didn't know how he even knew what a cello was...but he wanted one.


By elementary school, his teachers had no idea how to handle a boy whose hero wasn't Batman, but Beethoven.

I saw a segment on this boy on '60 Minutes', a TV newsmagazine, that featured some of his music. I was surprised to find I liked it very much even though it was in many ways modern and dissonant, which I usually don't react to very well in CM, with the exception of Prokofieff.

It was fascinating to see Jay walking down the street, looking like a typical awkward gangly twelve-year old schoolboy with his knapsack, and hear him humming the music that evidently continually is being created in his mind.

His music was then played by an orchestra at rehearsal and was full of power and interest. He may well be the next Mozart, but it will not be the classical Mozart. His music is roiling and jaggedly emblematic of our time.

Chaszz
http://charles.zigmund.com




[This message has been edited by Chaszz (edited 01-27-2005).]

[~Immortal Beloved~]

God Bless Jay Greenberg's talent!...what amazing child!

[SR]

It remains to be seen if we have the next Mozart. In my experience a prodigy is someone who is as good at 10 as they are at 20. The other 20 year olds udually catch and surpass them.

Mozart was born at a time, with a father and with talents that all clicked. Mozart was a VERY rare prodigy in that he continued to improve. Why was this ? It was because Mozart's musical gift in the 18th Century could lead to fame and fortune. Think Greenberg can make a fortune writing string quartets now ? If Greenberg is to make big money in music he'll need to start writing for Britney Spears. Mozart's father was a domineering taskmaster. Leopold did not let Wolfgang back off. Leopold never accepted anything Wolfgang did as being good enough, even as a man, hence he never slowed in his striving and improving, Think Greenberg's dad has Leopolds musical knowledge or willingness to drive his son, even as a 25 year old ? I doubt it.

I am not deriding Greenberg at all, but declaring him the next Mozart is a bit premature, despite Dan Rather's opinion.

Steve

[Chaszz]

Originally posted by SR:
It remains to be seen if we have the next Mozart. In my experience a prodigy is someone who is as good at 10 as they are at 20. The other 20 year olds udually catch and surpass them.

Mozart was born at a time, with a father and with talents that all clicked. Mozart was a VERY rare prodigy in that he continued to improve. Why was this ? It was because Mozart's musical gift in the 18th Century could lead to fame and fortune. Think Greenberg can make a fortune writing string quartets now ? If Greenberg is to make big money in music he'll need to start writing for Britney Spears. Mozart's father was a domineering taskmaster. Leopold did not let Wolfgang back off. Leopold never accepted anything Wolfgang did as being good enough, even as a man, hence he never slowed in his striving and improving, Think Greenberg's dad has Leopolds musical knowledge or willingness to drive his son, even as a 25 year old ? I doubt it.

I am not deriding Greenberg at all, but declaring him the next Mozart is a bit premature, despite Dan Rather's opinion.

Steve

I think it was Lesley Stahl. Of course we all know we shouldn't pay attention to Dan Rather anymore :-}

[Uniqor]

This is really interesting, in the way that it makes me wonder what exactly is talent, especially when you try to make a connect between talent and the essence of music. The talent, whatever it is, of a 12 year old is best considered as a potential - I doubt that his current compositions are good, whatever that is.

He'll have to demolish all Mozart's music in order to be Mozart I'm afraid. Maybe he should turn his career from symphony writing to pop, punk or rock...