Mr. Stern Nicole Zhao H36
Beginning Strings- Period 6 Due Date: January 5, 2015
Salieri: The Composer Left Out
The film, Amadeus, begins with the scene of Antonio Salieri, a renowned composer, at a
very fragile age. In this opening scene, Salieri attempts to commit suicide however is rushed to a
hospital where his wound is mended for. After his abrupt act, he is confined to his room and a
priest visits him in hopes of confession or enlightenment. Hesitant to share his life history at first,
Salieri shares his so called triumph over the voice of God, in which fellow composer Mozart is
said to possess. Salieri then shares his life story beginning at the point of time where Mozart and
his blissful music came into play. Throughout this story, Salieri reveals to be unjust and
eventually commits acts of jealousy as a result of Mozart’s masterful pieces of music. Ultimately,
Salieri is overcome by his feelings of jealousy that he commits sinful acts such as the false
presence of Mozart’s father which Mozart believes to be a higher order. After this scene, Mozart
commits himself to his work, writing multiple pieces of music at a time. This would ultimately
lead to his demise which Salieri blames himself for. As Salieri exclaims in the film, “Show me
some mercy! I beg you…” He may have felt victorious at first however his guilt over the years
knowing his involvement in Mozart’s death contributes to his belief of the act of murder, a
damned sin that would indubitably be punished.
Murder, by definition, is the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by
another. No doubt, the killing of one human being is unjust without proper reasoning such as
punishment. From the beginning of the film, Salieri exhibits signs of jealousy of fellow
composer Mozart. Salieri becomes acquainted with Mozart by his pieces of music, how beautiful
and bliss they sounded. Mozart’s divine pieces seemed to always have its flow and spirit. A
combination of instruments and unique sound each one made, the pieces seemed to just flow into
Mozart’s head. In the film, it is noted that Mozart had all the pieces in his head already and that if
he were to write it down, he would only write an original and no more. Mozart, characterized as
an abrupt and ardent individual, is blessed with a gift of writing divine pieces of music. In the
film, Salieri gives insight on how Mozart’s music seemed to be the voice of God. This enrages
Salieri who prays every day to be blessed with the same gift. Salieri questions, “How can a man
with such unhinged fervent be blessed?” As Salieri becomes more acquainted with Mozart, he
becomes feverishly jealous which ultimately leads him to commit unjust acts. Through these
potentially fatal acts, Salieri exhausts Mozart to the point of death. Mozart, greatly affected by
his father’s passing is unknowingly fooled by Salieri and for that, he loses his life. In essence,
