BBC Music Magazine

[Rebecca Franks]

Which composer is the greatest child prodigy? Let us know what you think by voting in our poll: http://www.bbcmusicmagazine.com/polls

[Paddington]

Although it was a fascinating article, I wondered what constitutes the real genius of these composers. Is it that they have great compositional skill and emotional depth at a young age or is it merely that their skill is in writing pieces which allow people to reflect upon emotional experience? For instance, a child may understand the logic of chess but not the rivalry between players. These prodigies had outstanding compositional and performance skills. However, the emotional content is surely something we read back into their work.

[Murray Steele]

I would agree with Paddington here. Cretainly it is true that to write a symphony at the age of young Glazunov (I read somewhere that the audience were surprised to see a mere boy when he received their applause) is quite something, but it is a different matter when one considers their merit. None of the Mendelssohn String Symphonies come anywhere near the later symphonies for full orchestra in value: they are tuneful and well-structured, but are really no more than imitations of current works of other composers. The same applies to Mozart (whether helped by his father or not in his early works).

The question of how many of these child prodigies go on to mature into 'good' composers is another issue. Saint Saens produced two or three works of real quality (2nd Piano Concerto for instance) but the rest is very run-of-the-mill. Glazunov is an even more striking case: I've heard his eight symphonies several times, but cannot recall any of their themes (I suggest this is an important measure of a really great composer, the ability to write memorable, and not just 'pleasant', music).

[Daniel Jaffe]

Fair points, though surely Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream Overture (composed aged 17) and his Octet (16) are both truly enduring and great pieces of music, regardless of how old their composer was.

[ironopolis]

I loved this feature. I’d be interested to see something similar outlining great artists who composed their great works relatively late in life. Janacek springs to mind for starters…

[Rebecca Franks]

In which case you might want to read our feature looking at just that! http://www.bbcmusicmagazine.com/feature ... -composers

[ironopolis]

Ooops sorry, I should be more observant.
Look forward to reading the piece…

[Murray Steele]

Daniel Jaffe, Mendelssohn's 12 string symphonies were written before he was 15. The next symphony, 'No. 1', was written when he was 15, and is very different in quality. Shall we agree that it was in that year that Mendelssohn achieved his status as a mature composer?

[Daniel Jaffe]

Hi Murray. I've no disagreement with what you say, though perhaps we're at cross-purposes: I was thinking of the age set by the article in the magazine, which was any work composed before the age of 18 (not 15).

[Murray Steele]

Daniel, Yes, you are right - if 18 is the cut off date, then Mendelssohn produced works of originality well before this. I think that between us, we have pushed this date back to his 15th birthday!