Prince has said to the effect that he thinks of himself as a modern-day Mozart.

In your opinion, those of you familiar and unfamiliar with classical, does Prince stand up to Mozart or even supersede WAM in the artistic sense?
[Edited 1/30/09 13:56pm]

First off, who is WMA? Do you mean WAM?

Secondly, I think he very well might be on that level. Some would disagree, but honestly if you look at the context of each composer's time period... Classical music was the "pop music" of Mozart's day. Sure, Prince doesn't do Mozart's style of music, because that's not what is the big music these days.

But also, unbeknownst to a lot of people, one main reason we have a lot of Mozart's famous compositions today is because Mozart did a lot of work-for-hire. He was paid often times to compose. Prince is also a musician who is paid to compose, though he receives his compensation a bit differently than musicians did in Mozart's time.

I'd say overall it's hard to say for sure, but I personally believe Prince is on the same caliber as Mozart, though a totally different style of music and presentation.

I'm not sure Prince stands up to Mozart....I think Mozart had the bigger audience and even by today's standards.....considering how long has Mozart been dead, more people probably listen to Mozart than Prince. Sad but probably true.

Not sure of work output as I'm not that familiar with all of Mozarts compositions.

Thing is, and I don't know how true this is but I did hear or read something that Prince was quoted as saying he'd love to write an opera?

Maybe someone could add some weight to this but that poses the question, do you think Prince could write an opera in the classical sense?...maybe then comparisons to Mozart could be merited.

I love Prince and I love Mozart...I have most of Mozarts Opera's and his amazing requiem.

Thanks for correcting me and for your opinion. I love it when amateurs chime in on their thoughts of how Prince compares to Mozart. I look forward to more opinions on this while I chuckle.

"considering how long has Mozart been dead, more people probably listen to Mozart than Prince. Sad but probably true." -quote

I'm curious. What is sad about this? Its all about surviving the test of time. Do you think Prince will? I mean, in 250 years from now?

Are you saying I was wrong in correcting you? You said "WMA", which would imply Wolfgang Mozart Amadaeus, while that is clearly not his name.

Who is the amateur here? I was simply trying to give an educated opinion to your question.

Also, I'm not sure if Prince could compose an opera comparable to Mozart's operas... But on the same token, could Mozart compose at least one album of pop-rock music per year, do dance routines, dress flamboyantly, sing in falsetto, rap, etc...?

Could Mozart write "Purple Rain"? I doubt it.

berniejobs said:

No you were right in correcting me. But you are an amateur re: Mozart, no doubt. Nothing wrong with that. I was asking for amateur opinions.

Could Mozart write PR? Who knows. Could Prince write an opera at 7? Doubt it.
[Edited 1/30/09 14:24pm]

hmmm, can't honestly say I'm familiar with Mozart's work, but I'm pretty sure he wasn't FUNKY!

I've said this all along, in the end, Prince will be the one that everyone is compared to (even Mozart)

The comparison is hilarious and unfair to Prince

At the age of 5 Mozart was composing music already, and at the age of 8, he'd composed a full scale opera far superior to Prince's only Opera which he composed in his late 30s .
Moreover, comparing Prince's Opera , Kamasutra, or any of Prince's albums to Don Giovanni is just laughable. Mozart simply smokes Prince in composition, emotion, skill, and overall concept.

Remember, Mozart could critically listen to something being played, while writing down full scale symphonic pieces, while composing an entirely different one in his head than the one he was writing down.

250 years have passed, and Mozart's music is still loved, studied, and emulated. 250 years from now Prince's music will be loved, studied, and emulated as well. But there will be no comparison. The only age and time you'll ever see Prince being compared to Mozart is from Prince fans, still alive today. In the future, long after we're all good and gone, such a discussion wouldn't even cross a music professor or student's mind.

And I'm saying this as a Prince fan.

Rockability said:

prince vs MOZART!!!!1
prince is couldn't even wipe Mozarts shoes !! MOZART was a child PRODIGY he was a genius at 5 years old. It took prince years to develop his talents

berniejobs said:

you are really reaching aren't you

golfgolfmark said:

agreed

i remember someone else in the BBC 'interviews' i think a guy compared him the same way you sentenced about prince but i dont recall him ever saying that about himself? where is this text or audio/video?
[Edited 1/30/09 15:42pm]

golfgolfmark said:

I love Mozarts requiem and his Serenade in B-flat, K. 361 "Gran partita": III.

tangerine7 said:

It was on the Diamonds and Pearls video disc, a compilation of songs from that period of time. The scene took place in a train station, where a bunch of folks corned Prince and asked him a bunch of questions, one of them being "Do you consider yourself the modern day mozart".
He answered "yes", but it's hard to determine if he's just being funny or serious from the delivery of the answer.

LazarusHeart said:

um i don't know about that. I doubt 250 years from now people will want to listen to ancient music about sex

Got to say also that the film " Amadeus" is absolutely brilliant.

If you're not a fan of Mozart, then watch this and I guarantee you will be.

Tom Hulce who plays Mozart is wonderful.

If Mozart was anything like how Tom Hulce portrays him then I'm afraid to say Revolution, that Mozart was funky....and dare I say more funky than Prince!

Now you'll have to watch the movie to understand what I mean!

...But Mozarts dead!

LazarusHeart said:

yeah thats right forgotten about that . thanks.

Sure, Mozart could compose music in 4/4, 2/4, 3/4, 6/8 and even 5/4.

But could he CLAP on the 2 & 4?

Doubt it.

It's all about DNA.

Mozart wouldn't write about boxes of chocolates that could knock the socks of anyone that that comes his way


where tha strings?


FAIL

cdcgold said:

Why not? They still read the Song of Songs, don't they? And the Kama Sutra? Both were written much more than 250 years ago.

BOTH are great artists and composers in their own right
[Edited 1/30/09 21:10pm]

cdcgold said:

Prince's contributions to pop and rock music are a big deal. The last century will be remembered for giving African American music a voice in popular music. Gospels, Hymms, etc. found their way into Zepplin and other rock acts. Prince took it a step further by blending supposed white and supposed black music together.
He fell in to a unique place in music history regard sexuality, content, and morphing of various genres. I think he'll definitely get his props.


All I'm saying is that in 250 years time, nobody, and I mean, NOBODY is going to compare Mozart and Prince. Mozart is in a completely separate class of composers, unless Prince truly does have some tricks up his sleeve.
And honestly, I don't think Prince needs to be compared to Mozart--Prince's musical contributions are fine on their own.

Genesia said:

Look i really don't mean to offend you and my post was a little juvenile i admit, but face it most of the younger generation don't even know who prince is, and it doesn't help him that he refuses to allow his videos to be played on youtube. In this day in age kids discover just about everything on youtube, most youtube videos are seen by at least a million people and most other music legends videos have millions of views on their videos with means the kids are learning about them. Prince is missing out on some valuable chances of exposing his music to the younger generations, he made a big mistake fighting youtube. I am apart of the younger generation ( born after 1989 is all i'll tell you) and most kids my age have never even heard of him. the only reason i know who he is is cause my mom used to love him and she hasn't even listened to him since before i was born. I myself am not really a fan either.

if he's become obscure in less than 30 years he is not going to last much longer, especially after all his hardcore fans die off
[Edited 1/30/09 17:09pm]

LazarusHeart said:[quote]

cdcgold said:

I am not so sure about this. Suspend disbelief for just a second and ponder this. When people today think about Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy and Brahms, we often lump them together and compare them. BUT, if you lived in any of their respective eras, you would have never been able to compare them because their music is vastly different.

We are now living in the era of Prince and we think we can't lump him in with those other geniuses because he is so different. But, just imagine, if in 500 years from now a BRAND NEW MUSIC STYLE that we can not even FATHOM is created. Suppose more notes are invented in some crazy musical 4th dimension. Then sure people in that era will listen to Prince and Mozart and say "oh they sound the same" just as many of your average rock fans of today think Beethoven and Mozart sound the same.

cdcgold said:

YouTube is a brand and has only been around a few years. Something else will come up in a couple more years to replace. Prince doesn't need YouTube.

He wears Versace but he doesn't need Versace to be able to wear clothes.

People thought MySpace would be King forever and now Facebook's ass is starting to creep ahead of MySpace. (Why I have no idea. Fuck Facebook.)

cdcgold said:

How ridiculous. Are you saying that, without youtube, nobody can be "known?" There's no video of Mozart...and he certainly didn't have youtube.

Youtube is a passing fancy. In 10 years (or less), it'll be completely forgotten. And the music will love on just fine without it.

Genesia said:

I'm not saying nobody would be known, I'm saying youtube is great publicity for some of the older artist who may have been forgotten because kids would have no way to be exposed to them


for instance this temptations video
http://www.youtube.com/wa...tRwmgYEUr8

it has over 4 million hits. now I'm not saying they need youtube (every one knows the song my girl) but a 14 year who searched for this video could look on the sidebar and see other less know material of the temptations and become a fan of more of their music and there are tons of videos of Mozart even Mozarts symphony # 1 that he wrote at age 7 is on there

http://www.youtube.com/re...ery=Mozart

And you're right he didn't need youtube to stay relevant that's because his music is brilliant, and breathtakingly beautiful and is enjoyable to MOST people of All ages
[Edited 1/30/09 17:31pm]
[Edited 1/30/09 17:32pm]

cdcgold said:

Do you honestly think 14-year-olds are clicking on the Temptations and Mozart on youtube?

I doubt the average 14-year-old has heard of the Temptations or Mozart any more than he's heard of Prince.