Vogel Staar (Sturnus Vulgaris)

This essay is actually a chapter of an entire book, Animals Strike Curious Poses (2017), devoted to specific animals that have had important and remarkable functions in the cultural and political history of the world. In this chapter, Passerello recounts the story of the long and deep connection between Wolfgangus Amadeus Mozart and a certain starling, in a way that resonates with some of the questions that arise in Novick’s article about the possibility of writing the biography of an animal. Passerello combines musical analyses of several of Mozart’s main works with zoological and ethological studies of the brains and lives of starlings, offering a brief and fascinating interspecies history that begins with Mozart’s purchase of the starling in spring 1784 and ends with the pompous funerary ceremony the composer conducted in his home following the starling’s death in June 1787, just a week after the death of Mozart’s father, which did not merit a parting gesture of any kind from Mozart junior.