Western society seems to be going in the wrong direction with respect to the development of children and adolescents. While puberty is occurring earlier than in previous generations, full adulthood is withheld until much later than before.
This page is intended only to point out this dangerous trend, and to suggest that there is sufficient evidence that it shouldn't be this way. By implication, of course, I am suggesting that the trend should be reversed and that children and adolescents should be given earlier preparation for their role as adults, more autonomy as they grow and earn it, and much more respect for their capabilities.
Examples of children and adolescents exhibiting very sophisticated behavior are everywhere in society. Many child actors are capable of inhabiting characters and moving audiences to laughter, tears and terror.
- Haley Joel Osment was nominated for an Oscar® as Best Supporting Actor of 1999 for his role as Cole Sear in The Sixth Sense. He was eleven years old at the time.
- Anna Paquin actually won the Oscar® as Best Supporting Actress in 1993 for her role as Flora McGrath in The Piano. She, too, was eleven that year.
Children in their teens, or even earlier, are sometimes admitted to college, and graduate into professions long before their peers. This is not a new phenomenon. The Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844) was accepted to the Royal Danish Academy of Art when he was eleven years old. Early professional recognition continues today. Sho Yano was accepted to the University of Chicago Medical School in 2003, when he was 12.
(I have to say, unfortunately, that while I've noticed a lot of media coverage of child prodigies who enter college at early ages, I rarely see or can find follow-up stories about their later careers. It makes me wonder whether they actually succeed in general, or whether their transition into actual adulthood becomes too difficult for them. The later, tragic careers and lives of many child actors in television and movies are well known, and more common than anyone would like. The point, however, is that the society blesses and celebrates early achievement in so many areas, yet still delays entry into full adulthood -- full "personhood" in effect -- for the vast majority of children.)
I've decided that my small contribution to the knowledge base of demonstrated competence in childhood will be to develop a list of musical compositions that famous composers produced before their 14th birthday.
Besides the incontrovertible evidence that children sometimes can be competent and creative at levels that rival any adult's work, this list begs the question of whether these composers would have succeeded in later life if they had been forced to wait until their 20s to begin their creative output. It also makes the case, I believe, that delayed recognition of children's competence as functioning human beings is a trend that needs seriously to be reconsidered.
- Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga [Juan Crisóstomo Jacobo Antonio de Arriaga y Balzola](1806-1826)
Los esclavos felices [The Happy Slaves] (1820)
Opera produced in Bilbao; only the Overture and fragments remain
recorded by the Algarve Orchestra, conducted by Alvaro Cassuto (among others) (Naxos - 8.8557207)
- Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
Beware!, 3 Songs for Voice and Piano: "O that I ne'er been married" (Burns),
"Beware" (Longfellow), "The Clerk" (Asquith)(1922-1926)
recorded by Benjamin Luxon, David Willison (1986) (Chandos CHAN 8514)
- Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)
Pange Lingua, Motet in C (1835-36; revised by the composer in 1891)
written while Bruckner was under the tutelage of the historian Johann Baptist von Weiß
recorded in 1973 by St John's College, Cambridge (original vinyl release on Argo ZRG 760)
CD re-releases on London 430 361-2 (1991) and Belart 461 317-2
1973 audio recording posted on YouTube
Bruckner also wrote another setting of the Pange Lingua (Phrygian Mode) in 1868
- Frédérick Chopin (1810-1849)
Polonaise in g, KK IIa No.1 (1817)
Polonaise in B-flat, KK IVa No.1 (1817)
Polonaise in A-flat, KK IVa No.2 (1818)
Polonaise in g-sharp, KK IVa No.3 (1822)
recorded by Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano (Decca 452 167-2)
- Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO (1857-1934)
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold, (1897-1957)
- Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Sinfonia No.1 in C for String Orchestra (String Symphony)(1821)
Sinfonia No.2 in D for String Orchestra (String Symphony)(1821)
Sinfonia No.3 in e for String Orchestra (String Symphony)(1821)
Sinfonia No.4 in c for String Orchestra (String Symphony)(1821)
Sinfonia No.5 in B-flat for String Orchestra (String Symphony)(1821)
Sinfonia No.6 in E-flat for String Orchestra (String Symphony)(1821)
all of the above recorded by Northern Chamber Orchestra,
led by Nicholas Ward, among many other recordings
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Andante in C, K.1a (1761)
Allegro in F, K.1c (1761)
Minuet in F, K.2 (1762)
Allegro in B-flat, K.3 (1762)
Minuet in F, K.4 (1762)
Minuet in F, K.5 (1762)
Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin, K.6-7 (1764),
published as "Opus 1"
Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin, K.8-9 (1764),
published as "Opus 2"
Symphony in E-flat, K.16 (1764), first symphony
Va, dal furor portata (aria for Tenor), K.21 (1765)
Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin, K.10-15 (1765),
published as "Opus 3"
Sonata in C for Keyboard, Four Hands, K.19d (1765)
Motet in g, God is Our Refuge, K.20 (1765)
Symphony in B-flat, K.22 (1765)
Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin, K.26-31 (1766),
published as "Opus 4"
Gallimathias Musicum, K.32 (1766)
Kyrie in F, K.33 (1766)
Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots, K.35 (1767)
Grabmusik, K.42 (1767)
Concerto in F for Piano, K.37 (1767), first piano concerto
Apollo et Hyacinthus, K.38 (1767)
Concerto in B-flat for Piano, K.39 (1767)
Concerto in D for Piano, K.40 (1767)
Concerto in G for Piano, K.41 (1767)
Symphony in F, K.43 (1767), first four-movement symphony
Symphony in D, K.45 (1768)
La finta semplice, K.51 (1768) first opera buffa
Bastien und Bastienne, K.50 (1768)
Sonata in C for Violin, K.46d (1768)
Sonata in F for Violin, K.46e (1768)
Veni Sancte Spiritus in C, K.47 (1768)
Missa Solemnis in c, "Waisenhausmesse", K.139 (1768)
Missa Brevis in G, K.49 (1768)
Symphony in D, K.48 (1768)
Many of the above works have been recorded, notably Bastien und Bastienne, the "Waisenhausmesse", and most (if not all) of the symphonies, Concerti and Sonatas.
- Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Se il vuol la molinara (1801)
Sei sonate a quattro [Six Sonatas for Four Stringed Instruments] (1804)
recorded by Virtuosi Italiani
- Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)
Postscript: I had an unexpected thought as I worked on this page, and realized that most of the composers included here as having begun their professional work before their teen years also had relatively short lives. Mozart died when he was 35, Chopin 39, Mendelssohn 38, and Schubert 31. Arriaga, often referred to as the "Spanish Mozart", was only 19. Of course these few examples don't make a statistically valid conclusion, but in light of my introductory comment that we rarely hear about the later careers of child prodigies, the coincidence is intriguing at least. Perhaps this observation could be taken by an enterprising Ph.D. student as her or his dissertation topic!