Although there is a lot of fiction about the rivalry between Antonio Salieri and Mozart, there is but little proof that this rivalry resulted in something more than the usual fights to win the court’s appointments at the time. Salieri was born 6 years before Mozart (1750). He was appointed director of the Italian opera by the Habsburg court, a post he held from 1774 to 1792, and dominated the Italian language opera in Vienna. From 1788 to 1824, he was also responsible for music at the court chapel and attached school, as the Austrian Imperial Kapellmeister.
We presume that the arrival and ascendancy of Mozart in the Viennese musical scene must have created some impact in Salieri’s life and undermined his influence. However, he remained one of the most sought after teachers and we can mention Beethoven, Schubert and Liszt among his pupils.
Salieri's music slowly disappeared from the repertoire in the 19th century and was rarely heard afterwards until the revival of his name in the dramatic and highly fictionalised Peter Schaffer’s 1979 play “Amadeus”. This play reached its greatest popularity through the very successful 1984 film version directed by Milos Forman. In the play, Salieri is characterised by his internal conflict of the great admiration he had for Mozart’s works with the painful feeling that his own works were quite mediocre when compared to the young genius’. “Amadeus” means “love of God”, or “God’s love”. This leads to an insane jealousy that culminates with Salieri renouncing God for blessing his idol to posterity while condemning him to oblivion. Salieri then decides to kill Mozart (totally fictitious) thus cheating God’s judgement by reaching notoriety through universal loathing. “How I did murder Mozart", he says, “with arsenic - out of envy!". His revenge is perfect: if people will remember and celebrate Mozart for his masterpieces, they will also remember him, who ended Mozart’s life so early.
The play is based on factual dates and events, but it is totally fictional in the treatment of the characters. What is brilliant in Schaffer’s writing is the perception of the two main characters: one is a born genius who effortlessly pours out masterpiece after masterpiece, while the other is a skilled mediocre who can only temporarily amuse the mundanes. Salieri, ending hospitalised in a mental institution, announces himself as “the Patron Saint of Mediocrity”.
I have read many biographies of Mozart, including the complete and superb volume from Jean & Brigitte Massin, and greatly enjoyed the transcription of the letters to his father, Leopold. After seeing the film “Amadeus”, I bought and read the book of Schaffer’s original play. And then, I came up with the revelation of the Salieri’s Principle that rules our intellectual lives. According to the Salieri’s Principle, the world is to be divided into three major groups of intellectuals: the Geniuses, the Salieris and the Masses. Notice that these groups apply to people that devote their brains to some sort of intellectual pleasure or activity. I am sorry to say that this precludes 95% of mankind. Thus, we are referring here to the 5% (350 million) that are left from the world population of 7 billion people at the time of this writing.
The Geniuses are easy to accept and understand. They count for an infinitesimal part of the intellectual population, something like 0.2%. They excel in what they do, in a manner that is peerless, exquisite and unique. A Genius usually doesn’t have to make an effort to become a Genius; he’s born one. Mozart was a Genius. Beethoven, Bach, Christ, Budha and Einstein too. Vermeer and Rembrandt, Shakespeare and Stevenson, Barrett Browning and Allan Poe, Spinoza and Voltaire, Cartier-Bresson and Salgado, Garnier and Niemeyer, da Vinci and Michelangelo, Bernstein and Boulez, Glenn Gould and Uchida, Schwarzkopf and Fischer-Dieskau, these are all examples of Geniuses in their own areas of expertise. Being a Genius is not a passport to happiness, as the lives of many Geniuses prove it. But happiness is not the main objective in a Genius life; accomplishment is. A Genius is born to give the world the benefit of his aptitude. He is the pride of the human race and will leave his indestructible mark for the future generations.
The Masses is a group that is very clear to understand, although harder to accept. They count for the greatest part of the intellectual population, something like 90%. Although they aren’t intellectually gifted as a Genius, they also don’t worry much about this fact. Many of them are intellectually active, respecting and enjoying the intellectual works of others. The main objective in their lives is the quest for wealth, power and happiness, which include the occasional love for science and the arts in general. The Masses are further divided into subgroups of consumers and producers. There are consumers of beauty, science, arts, and even spiritual matters. There are also producers in the Masses, but they usually manufacture artifacts, develop ideas or realise projects that are invented, designed or inspired by Geniuses or Salieris. The main advantage of belonging to the Masses is the fact they enjoy living more than any of the other groups, since their main objectives are much more mundane.
Finally, enter the Salieris, the remainder of the intellectual population, some 9.8% leftover. As a matter of fact, this is the worst group to be in. The name Salieri is the most appropriate definition for these members of the human race: they are very capable to produce beautiful work that is praised by the Masses. Nevertheless, they miss the godly spark that would make them unique and unmatched. Among the Geniuses, they are mediocre. Among the Masses, they are agreeable providers with no sense for practicality. Even applying themselves to their utmost ability, they are unable to ascend to the highest category. And when they try to be practical, it is often disastrous. For most of them, the main objective is, of course, to become a Genius. Needless to say that they never attain this objective, with rare exceptions. Most of the time, their lives are populated with frustrations and failures. The truth is that the Salieri is not good enough to become a Genius, and not mundane enough to be a member of the Masses. He’s ordinarily dissatisfied with this unbearable condition and unable to enjoy living as much as any member of the Masses. It’s very often a sad life, even when they are successful in what they do, since their main aspiration is never attained.
Every now and then, I am exaggeratedly described as a Genius by relatives and close friends, when referring to some of my products in different fields. In spite of their kindness, I’m conscious that I may have been only what I would call a “multifaceted Salieri” most of my life. Programming (software), photography, music, writing, drawing, I can do all these capably, and some times even above average. A dear friend of mine has graciously written once: “you are so good in so many totally different fields!”. It may be true in a few cases, but I will never reach the level of excellence that will raise me to the highest group. It would be already difficult, if not impossible, for me to be a Genius in only one of those fields, never mind all of them at the same time. I can choose to live miserably regretting this fact, or I could lower my expectations and be happy with what I am able to do.
All this considered, I do have good news to my Salieri brothers; this is my final advice: don’t be so grumpy and miserable as the Salieri in Schaffers’ play or in Forman’s movie. If we are happy with the work we do and we bring joy and happiness to the people around us, this is more than enough to justify our existence! Even though Salieri’s legacy is minuscule compared to Mozart’s, he had a good life, contrary to the fiction of the play and the movie, bringing joy to his contemporaries. And glad and grateful we should be, with all those who are intellectually active and sensitive enough to appreciate our modest work and reward us with their kind words of praise!
Hence, like anybody else, I wouldn’t mind to be a Mozart, but in the impossibility of that, I am just as proud being a Salieri. However, I am certainly going to ignore the main ambition of a Salieri; instead, I intend to concentrate in being happy doing what I like, the best way I can...
