Happy 250th, "Wolfie"!

Today is the 250th birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as you may have heard. If all you know about him is from the fine (tho ahistorical) film Amadeus, you should get to know the man better. The BBC has a nice quiz that you should take, too, that is ok for you non-music majors. Those of you who think you really know your stuff should try the Haydn/Mozart string quartet quiz, which can probably stump lots of music majors.

It's amusing to hear of Austria's celebrations on this day (and year), as that's a nation very much stuck in the past. When we visited Salzburg I was amazed at how the town survives over flogging Mozart's corpse, which is especially odd because Mozart hated the city. Then again, such flogging did help create the delicious Mozartkugel (here's another English page). Mmmmm... wish I had some, think the goat got the last of them a few months ago...