MOZART 40

Is Mozart inspiring me to write? I listen to him when I am writing. I have several cds of his music now, mostly given away with Sunday newspapers. Some of his music is extremely easy on the ear, and relaxes me enough for me to scribble a few weary lines. I cannot write when any speech radio is on, for that distracts me. Nor can I write when pop music of my era is being played, because I am always thinking of the lyrics, which invariably disturbs my train of thought. I end up writing: 'It was a warm day and Len Sprightly was perspiring freely. Helen Spinks said to him "Cheer up sleepy Jean, oh what can it mean, to a daydream believer and a homecoming queen." ' Too distracting, too many mistakes. Sometimes there is some singing on Mozart's CDs and I just fast forward those songs. They are a little dreary and in a language I can't understand, so they irritate me a little. The last piece of short fiction I wrote, which I finished today, took five hours but was accompanied by the same ten Mozart pieces played in a continuous loop. I hardly noticed them, concentrating instead on my writing. When I read my story back, it was the most insufferable drivel, but at least Mozart helped me finish it. I have written more so far this year than I did in the last quarter of 2010 and Mozart has played his part, the noble fellow. I must find out something more about him. I'm not sure whether he was deaf, or composed his first symphony at the age of eighteen months, or whether he lived in Cirencester and had a part-time job as a tyre-fitter. In any case, he now stands alongside the Beatles, Bob Dylan and George Formby as the tunesmiths to whom I most like listening.