As I finished the wonderful book, Mozart's Starling, by Lyanda Lynn Haupt, I came to realize how much misinformation has been handed to me throughout the years. At lessons, music history classes and theory classes and even just talking amongst my colleagues, I have been discussing, giving and receiving false information about this amazing person. Let's face it, no one knows exactly what happened in his life, but we all would like to imagine. I would like to imagine anyway. Ms. Haupt does a spectacular job researching his life and comparing her family life with her starling, Carmen, and Mozart's life with his family and his starling, "Star" (She gives the name Star to this bird. No one knows what the bird's name was officially.)
After I finished this book, I felt as if I had a lot more knowledge about this composer than I did before. First off, I had no idea that he actually owned a starling. That wasn't mentioned even once in my music history classes. Is that essential knowledge, probably not, but it would have kept me awake a bit more in class. I might even suggest this book to anyone who is in a music history class. This book is far more interesting and I love the fact that the author includes the environment, language and so much more. I love that fact because music is so much more. It is more than just theory and notes. It is a communication that is explicit in its emotional connection and is so clear in the moment to all who really listen. I also love the comparison between bird songs and written music by humans! I personally, always believed that birds are little musicians. When I practice my violin, I usually have hummingbirds, crows, sparrows and even parrots sit in my guava tree next to my living room window. They peek inside, watch me play, and are probably wondering what my human calls are all about.