George Rochberg, Music for the Magic Theatre (1965-69)

First, acquaint yourself with this Mozart work, the fourth movement of the divertimento, K. 287:


Next, listen to the second movement of Rochberg's Music for the Magic Theatre: (The link is to Napster, which will allow 25 free plays without an account.)

Questions:

1. How are the two pieces the same? How are they different?
   
2. What changes did Rochberg make to the original?
   
3. Would you consider this a composition, an arrangement, or something else entirely? Alternatively, is this piece original?
   
4. Read Jorge Luis Borges's short story "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote". How is Rochberg like Menard?
   
5. What does listening to Rochberg's piece reveal to you about listening to Mozart's piece? Put another way, is it still possible to listen to Mozart with eighteenth-century ears? What has changed?
   
6. Many people would reject this work because they would consider it not original. Why is originality valued in Western aesthetics?
   

Additional resources:

• Rochberg's biography at Presser Online
  
• Liner notes for the recording (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)