Celebrate Mozart's birthday and his music at annual concert at Michigan State

As part of its West Circle Series, the Michigan State University College of Music has been celebrating Mozart’s birthday with a special concert each year for the past 13 years.

Because Mozart wrote about 800 works of music in his 35 years, there is no fear of repeating specific pieces from one year to another. Deborah Moriarty, who heads up the piano faculty and also curates the West Circle Series, says she always tries to find a theme for each concert.

And she also ends each concert by serving cookies with Mozart’s likeness in frosting and everyone singing “Happy Birthday”.  It has become one of the college's most popular concerts.

Few, if any, composers have produced so vast a repertoire of music from which to choose. The brilliant and irascible Mozart wrote symphonies, operas, chamber music, concertos, sonatas, choral works and symphonies. He lived from 1756 to 1791.

For this year’s concert, Moriarty is concentrating on Mozart as a pianist and a composer of piano music.

Moriarty thinks of this concert as particularly upbeat.

“I’m calling this a happy happy birthday concert because all the music is in a major key – thought to be more joyful sounding than the minor keys,” she said.

Mozart was a prodigy piano player and loved to played duets with his sister.  Sitting on the same bench, they gleefully played pieces for “piano four hands,” two people at the same piano. They also played sonatas for two pianos.

Of course, the piano in Mozart’s day sounded a whole lot different than today’s imposing 9-foot Steinway that will be heard at this concert. Mozart’s piano was smaller in every way.

Mozart’s piano                      Today’s 9-foot Steinway Grand

187 lbs.                                   990 lbs.

72 keys (give or take)           88 keys.

7.3 feet long                          9 feet long

Knee pedal                             foot pedal

Monday’s concert will feature three sonatas; for solo piano, piano four hands and two pianos, and they were all written within a few months of each other. All performers are MSU faculty members.

IF YOU GO

Happy Birthday, Mozart!

• Performers: Deborah Moriarty, Tamar Mikeladze, Derek Polischuk and Eric Zubner

• Joanne and Bill Church West Circle Series

• Fairchild Theater

• Monday, Jan. 30, 7:30pm

• Tickets $17 adults, music.msu.edu, 517-353-5340 or at the door.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Mozart birthday concert at Michigan State part of West Circle Series