Mozart’s birthday (etc)

27th January 2025 | Books | 4 comments

Today, January 27, is Mozart’s birthday. 269 years since he was born! His is the only ‘composer birthday’ I regularly remember, I suppose because he is still my favourite composer despite stiff competition from about 25 others.

I remember his birthday for its own sake and also because, when my daughter was due to be born, 27 January was my ‘due date’. I was excited when I realised my due date was the same as Mozart’s birthday. In fact, what happened was that although my daughter started to make her appearance right on schedule on 27 January, the process was not complete until the following day. In retrospect we felt that it was nice for her to have her own birthdate, one that didn’t have to be shared with Mozart. So for me 27 and 28 January are always a special pair of days.

Another nice thing that happened today was that my Presto Music award for Women and the Piano – a Book of the Year – arrived in the post (landing on the tiled floor with a satisfying thud). It’s now on the mantelpiece along with the one I won in 2021 for my previous book (see photo). The two awards are interestingly different in style: in 2021 the award was made of some kind of heavyweight resin, but the 2024 one is made of wood. On the back of the award it says ‘sustainably made’. I’m proud to have these two awards side by side, summing up several years of work.

4 Comments

  1. Mary Cohen

    Brilliant to see those two awards side by side – having arrived on an auspicious date!

    Reply
  2. Eric Bridgstock

    Splendid news – you surely need a trophy cabinet?
    Two days earlier, and Robert Burns would have had a claim!

    Reply
  3. Alison Joyce

    Congratulations! (And all the best people have birthdays in January … including me, of course!)

    Reply
  4. James Dixon

    Congratulations – good to have that to make the day extra special. I think Mozart is my favourite composer too. I am currently enjoying Jan Swafford’s book ‘Mozart – The Reign of Love’. It’s wonderful, though it seems to be there is a greater disjunction between the life and the music than with some other composers, Beethoven for example. Perhaps I’m wrong, but it could be otherworldly perfection of Mozart’s work…

    Reply

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