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#26: Musical Genius

January 27th marks 264 years since the birth of one of western music’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

 

To celebrate Mozart’s birthday, this week we’re inviting you to explore different facets of both his life and his legacy. From little-known biographical details to the things he’s most remembered for, let the tune of his life inspire you to create your own entirely unique masterpiece.


P.S — Want to learn more about the lives and legacies of other greats? Check out this list of our 30 favorite biographies.

This week's prompts

Write about a character who was considered a prodigy when they were young.

Fiction – 63 stories

Write about a character who goes by many different names throughout their life.

Character – 51 stories

Write about a character who was raised in a musical family.

High School – 52 stories

Write a story about a musician struggling to find work during wartime.

Historical Fiction – 42 stories

Write a story about a character obsessed with one of the long-dead “greats” in their profession.

Adults – 25 stories

Stories

“A struggle for survival ” by Ola Hotchpotch

The girl's voice, haunting and mellifluous, reverberated in the hall of the club restaurant where she was performing as a guest artist for a charity function. She strummed the guitar in her hand creating magic with its strings. The charity function was arranged by Mr. Lords the chairperson of the charity club. The audience mostly comprised of members of the club who were distinguished who and who. Luckia, as she was called, was a singer in a local five star hotel.She sang popular old numbers at the request of the guests and patrons...

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“Here Lies Kateri Tanis Stuart” by Lily Kingston

When my parents first named me Kateri Tanis Stuart, I don’t think they would have ever imagined how little people actually used it. In fact, I’ve only ever been referred to by my full name once. But, that’s a long time from now.I was born in my ...

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“A Musician’s Place to Fight” by Keri Dyck

War. When it first started, all I heard was Beethoven’s 5th. Urgency. Terror. Climax after climax.But then it sunk in. It stayed and festered as families separated to march on alone. We were cursed to keep moving on while the air was saturated with Adagio for Strings. I watched my father leave in his uniform, his old gun clutched tightly in his calloused hands. My mother kept the house in the country, opening it for people to send their children to when the bombs came. I had a little sister and brother who stayed ...

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“What You Have To Work For” by Lily Kingston

I stamped out my cigarette in a cheap, plastic golden trophy. Slim rays of sunlight glinted through the closed blinds. I ruffled one hand through my uncombed while the other searched for a new cigarette. One of the rays hit me in my left eye. I grimaced and ducked from the light.Reaching for a fallen cigarette on the ground, I hit my head on my unstable night stand. “Fuck!” I cursed under my br...

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“Anonymous Donations” by Kat Gruszka

Dear Ms. Thumbern, we are holding this year’s gala in your honor. We would be thrilled to have you attend. Your considerable donations for the last 20 years have been extremely generous, and we would like to recognize you… She didn’t need to read the rest; she knew she couldn’t attend. Yet, she had worked hard for this. She could not imagine another place more deserving of her money. Actually, their money. “Ms. Bloom?” She hadn’t even heard the first grader walk up to her desk. She casually put the let...

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“Apollo's Unsung Love” by Aniruddh Pramod

Apollo’s chariot ride was coming to an end. As he slowed down for one long last look at the sky, he lit the sky up with lustrous shades of gold and red. It was a sight to witness, certainly. Yet, the throngs of people below in the town weren’t interested. Not a single soul looked at his magnificent chariot, although just one look could have calmed down the anxiety of their dying men, fighting a useless war on their insignificant battlefield. Insignificant, even for mortal standards. Nevertheless wartime it was, and all humans lose their p...

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“The Adventures of Malachi Norton: In Which the Mind Atrophies” by Lee Kull

After a sincere bout of marital troubles, the nature of which I am loath to disclose, eventually resulting in a writ of divorcement and a settlement signing over the house and property to my wife, I found myself without accommodations. Through the graciousness of my good friend Malachi Norton, I once more found myself sharing room and board in our old lodgings at 122 High Street, St. John’s Wood.To-day, Malachi seemed to be in a mood which his friends would call taciturn, and others morose. He smoked incessantly, played snatches on...

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“Fallen Prodigy” by Ariana Peal

She collapsed onto the bed, her body, almost instantly paralyzed by the feeling that began to spread through her body. The comforter hugged her body as she sank deeper. The warmth spread slowly all over her, taking over everything. It spread from her toes to her head causing a lazy smile to spread across her face. She felt like she was floating in the water, listening for the music that began to play with everything flowing...

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“The Patron Saint of Lost Things or Lost People ” by Emily Sperber

For the longest time, I didn’t know what my name was. That is the thing you should know when you don’t know anything else. But I didn’t mind it. I could tell when people were talking to me and when they weren’t. My mother called me Honey, Sugar, Pumpkin, Gum Drop, Caramelo when she slipped into her Spanish. I grew up thinking I was the derivatives of sugar. I was the ingredients that went into making a cake.  My father called me son. His voice the way I read italics in books. It made me believe I was the yello...

6 comments 6 SHORTLIST ⭐️
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“The Music Box” by Morgan Elbert

“Couldn’t we just hang out here?” Hugh pleaded. “No! We spend enough time here already!” Nella responded, gesturing around them.  They were sitting on a crumbling concrete stage in the amphitheater of a long abandoned park.  This is where the old circus used to set up when it was in town. Performers of all sorts would stand on this very stage and do their acts.&n...

7 comments 7
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“Tendu, Tombé, et Brisé: Bina's New Dance” by Tori Routsong

“Plié, and straight. Make a window, and shut. Feet together, and straight” Bina looked down at the remnants of her term paper, marked profusely in red. Biology hadn’t been this hard in high school, had it? She only had two days to fix this, and she was supposed to have Mommy and Me time with her daughter after class tomorrow, so now really was the best time to do any of the edits. To make matters worse, she couldn’t get her old warmup out of her head ...

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“The Talents of Alice” by Tim Law

“You are a waste and a disgrace to this family, Alice!”“Yes, a disappointment and a waste of talent!”Alice’s mum and dad would never understand. Their youngest daughter was not interested in the grand theatre, playing for a packed house at the Albert Hall. At fifteen Alice was far more interested in the flashing lights and base beats of a rave on the beaches of Ibiza.Like all dutiful daughters Alice had practiced her scales until they were faultless, mastered Mozart on violin and Beethoven on piano. Dux student of eve...

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“The Mind of a Master” by Chris Sharrock

Could you imagine living in a world without colors? It would be like eating food without any flavor: sure, you can get by on it, but why would you want to? It’s a bland, boring, purposeless existence, suitable for animals but not for humans. Humans need something more. Humans need spice in their lives.

13 comments 13
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“Little Mozart” by Matthew Turner

Mozart was buried in an unmarked grave. No pomp nor circumstance. The greatest musical mind thrown into a dirt hole. Jody thought about this as he sat in the windowless waiting room on the fourth floor of a government building. The hum of electricity was a B flat. The sharpness of the plain rooms details were perfectly lit in the dim light of fluorescent bulbs. He was there to apply for government housing. A fittingly low point in the life of someone who had once appeared on the cover of several nationwide publications under the title of...

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“Listening to Ghosts” by Joshua G. J. Insole

1Jed Blancher, now there was a good paranormal investigator. Rumour had it, he could talk with the deceased without need for a planchette or Ouija or anything. Now, of course, there are those that would poo-poo Jed’s abilities and skills, and say that he was naught but a conman, swindling heartbroken souls of their hard-earned cash.But I know better.Jed was a true medium, able to reach the other side...

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Ended on 23:59 - Jan 31, 2020 EST

Won by Hannah Carter 🏆

Title: Lara

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

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