There are a few different categories an idol can fall into: an inspiration, an influence or a motivation.
Inspiration: These people are the ones you’d like to emulate or live up to, they’re role models who represent or stand up for values you believe in. They may not be successful in an area that you want to be in but you admire them nonetheless.
Influence: These people have the most direct effect on you since, for want of a better word, you copy them or steal ideas from them. For example, this could be a musician whose music you transcribe, learn and incorporate into your own playing, or this could be a family member whose advice you often follow.
Motivation: These people energise you, whether that’s being around them directly, listening to their words, observing their actions or in this case, hearing their music. As you’ve probably guessed, for me Mozart is in this category.
Mozart was a prolific dynamo capable of conjuring up moments of musical genius consistently. He composed over 600 works including 68 symphonic works, 54 concertos, 23 operas and 18 masses. Conductor Roger Norrington compared Mozart and Beethoven, saying they had one thing in common: they both wrote very fast but…
“But Mozart was writing for Saturday. Beethoven was writing for eternity.”
Whether it was a commission from a wealthy patron or music for a concert to honour some visiting dignitary or person of note, Mozart was churning out masterpieces in abundance. But this in itself is not the thing about Mozart that motivates me, it’s the Saturday part. He’s workmanlike in his approach to his craft, his job.
There is something child-like about him, something joyous, indulgent, fun (sometimes there isn’t a better word than this to use). He doesn’t take what he’s doing too seriously, I mean, he’s totally obsessed with music of course but he’s far less pretentious than a lot of other composers or artists.
He died at the age of 35 but lived at a pace that crammed in more than enough life. Cheetahs have an average lifespan of 10–12 years whereas tortoises can live for up to 150 years! There seems to be a correlation between the speed at which something lives and the length of time it lasts.
I dislike Mozart’s music but sometimes I listen to it just to leech off the energy in it, it’s rejuvenating, uplifting, pure and yes, unfailingly motivating — not because of some inherent property it has, but because it speaks to people who get the job done and take life… one Saturday at a time.