Piano Concerto No.17 K453 - Mariana Achba/Vakhtang Kakhidze
On May 27, 1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart bought a small starling in Vienna. It wasn't just a pet: this little bird had a special talent!
Mozart soon realized that the bird repeated the melodies it heard with incredible accuracy, but not only that... it also added its own variations! One day, the starling sang the first 17 notes of Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453, with some modifications:
It added a musical coda in the
first complete bar.
It sang a G-sharp (G#) instead of a natural G (G) in the next bar.
It is said that it was the starling's version that became the definitive version of the concerto.
When his beloved bird died on June 4, 1787, Mozart organized a lavish funeral and even wrote a funeral poem, demonstrating the special bond he had with it.
A genius who found inspiration everywhere... even in the feathers of a little starling!
