[mechanical_fish]

I suspect Mozart would have been helped by the fact that he grew up in the heart of the classical era and the concert music of the day was quite formalized. There were certain things that always happened in a piece of concert music, and certain things that never happened.

It may go without saying, but part of the reason why such relatively strict musical forms were popular in the 18th century is that they made the music easier for amateurs to memorize and perform. There was a big boom in middle-class amateur musicianship at the time.

Modern musicians operate at a handicap relative to Mozart because modern music, even if we restrict ourselves to Western concert music, is stylistically and formally all over the place.

[ekianjo]

Well I was referring to Allegri' Miserere in particular which is not a classical piece of Music, yet Mozart was able to transcribe it from memory after hearing it only once. Its all a capella as well.