Unlike Beethoven, he worked within the formulas of harmonic development and motivic usage that he received. Through an inspired level of basic material, Mozart brought the received forms to their greatest level of perfection. Never trite or even predictable, he had originality without overstatement. But perhaps as much could have been said of Haydn. Mozart has something else, something close to ineffable that is nonetheless expressed in his music.
Every culture tells of a golden age from which man fell.
Almost every culture tells of some path to its restoration. Within Western culture, the story of Eden contains an account of man's preternatural powers, taken from him at the Fall. Mozart is our musical Eden. Somehow, in his musical ability, he escaped the stamp of original sin and sings with purity of the first days. But as a fallen man in every other way, Mozart also expresses the depth of loss.