ADREUS MOCEL

Adreus Mocel was a prolific and influential human composer of the High Era, considered to be one of the most talented musicians who ever lived.

Birth and Family
Adreus Mocel was born in 6566 to Arcazzo and Madenna Mocel. His father was a successful composer from the Einhart Empire and his mother was a student of law from the Kingdom of Donrim.

Arcazzo, born in 6529, began writing music for operas to support his single mother who had emigrated from Gradia; his proficient talent enabled him to ascend as one of Gottland’s most respected composers. In 6551, he met Madenna, whom he courted and married within the year. They moved to southern Donrim in a town just alongside its border with Gradia called Athirium. Madenna was also musically talented and the two fostered the enjoyment of music in their household. In 6566, she gave birth to their fourth-born, Adreus.

Prodigious and Troubled Childhood
Four years later, little Adreus Mocel, for his own amusement, began playing his parents’ harpsichord. Despite his youth, he was able to come up with little tunes and perform them over again, embellishing them with triads and even variations. Astonished at his son’s prodigious ability, Arcazzo began tutoring him intensely in the art of music. He wrote minuets and other simple pieces for Adreus to learn, who played them inerrantly with the sweetest delicacy and in perfect time. Only weeks later, Adreus began composing music of his own, childish as it was, which Arcazzo wrote down and shared with the world. Before long, Adreus was invited to display his gifts to monarchs and clergy, making a name for himself across all of Caradon.

At the age of seven, Adreus composed his first symphony, a remarkable form of music that no child had ever written. However, his childhood was characterized by abusive treatment from his father. When Adreus failed to play to his father’s standard, he was beaten and insulted. In his later years, he would recall, “My father saw me as a performing monkey and treated me as such.” Adding to his misery, Adreus’ older brothers were increasingly jealous of the attention he received and, out of spite, treated him horribly. Seeking escape, a young Adreus spent a lot of time alone writing stories about an imaginary world filled with splendid music. He also formed a very close bond with his older sister, Rita, who loved her little brother dearly and often found herself taking care of him.

Unfortunately, his relationship with his father only worsened, and at the age of 14, he ran away from home. Three days later, Arcazzo found his brilliant son entertaining taverns and clubs with his skills at the harpsichord. Unamused, he took Adreus home and did not let him leave the house for six months. During this time, an increasingly bored Adreus spent his dull afternoon composing pieces; it was estimated that during this half-year span, he composed an astounding 153 works, many of them written for keyboard or voice, as his sister, Rita, was a trained vocalist.

Career in Kinzfort
Two-and-a-half years later, Arcazzo took his family on another musical tour throughout Caradon, as the family’s financial situation was stagnant. Now 17 years old, Adreus’ musical capabilities had increased and his genius shined, particularly in his symphonic works. While touring Kinzfort, Gottland, he met Axel of Tillman, the world’s most renowned composer. Tillman was astonished at the young Mocel’s abilities and the two became close friends; Tillman was 17 years his senior. Mocel felt so beloved in Kinzfort, as his music was the talk of town, and refused to return home with his family. Arcazzo, enraged, could do nothing to convince his son otherwise and left bitterly.

Although he successfully secured his freedom, Adreus had never experienced the world apart from his tours, where he was a celebrity, and was thus a very self-centered and immature individual. He spent his nights as the life of wild parties, entertaining swooning women with his musical talents, often drunk while doing so. Aside from Tillman, Mocel hardly ever paid heed to other composers, let alone their works, and thus found it difficult to establish any professional relationships to support himself financially. Rather than save his earnings, he spent foolishly on exotic pets; he was particularly fond of birds and loved teaching them to mimic his tunes. Many historians would later blame his poor behavior resulting from his awful childhood, or lack thereof.

Despite bewildering the town with his bizarre behavior, Adreus continued to progress as a composer, refining his skills through countless hours of composing. In 6586, at the age of 20, he composed his 30th symphony, which was remarked by many as the single greatest symphony yet written. Tillman was in attendance for its premier and the last to cease clapping. Mocel followed up this performance with a showing of his newly-finished 13th piano concerto, which was deemed equally as brilliant. However, despite his newfound success, Adreus missed his family dearly, his father especially. Though he had never been loved by his father, he always felt the need to prove himself to him. Desperate, he invited his family to attend one of his concerts, but Arcazzo refused to come. Saddened, Adreus would write hundreds of letters to his father and dear sister, hoping that one day they would visit him to hear his music. His writings to Rita were notable for their clever puns and scatological humor. Even his letters to his father were littered with immature jokes and quips.

Genoveva Tiepolo
Needing money, as his hometown of Kinzfort had lost interest in his work, Adreus Mocel toured the southern town of Vanfort in 6587. He debuted his 34th symphony there, along with a number of string quartets, piano sonatas, and a beautiful 14th piano concerto. In the audience for many of these performances was an attractive young soprano named Genoveva, daughter of Stefan Tiepolo, an esteemed composer from Gradia. Mocel immediately fell in love with Genoveva and wrote a piano sonata to express his admiration for her. At the end of his final concert in Vanfort, he played the sonata and then asked her to marry him. Her father, Stefan, scoffed at the notion and demanded Adreus remain in Vanfort so that he might court Genoveva and work towards marriage. Determined, Adreus obeyed Stefan’s order and made his home in Vanfort. Whilst there, he wrote a number of operas and choral works for Genoveva to sing.

Their courtship continued for a little over a year and although Adreus remained faithful to his promise, he was still deemed unworthy in Tiepolo’s eyes. Growing increasingly impatient, Adreus finally acted and eloped with Genoveva to his hometown of Athirium. They were greeted coldly by Arcazzo, who was ridden with illness. Rita and Adreus’ older brothers took a fondness to Genoveva, however, and attended their wedding shortly after their arrival. Stefan, meanwhile, was enraged upon discovering what had happened but knew not where they had gone.

Only months later, she gave birth to a son, whom they named Wolfheim. Adreus was a loving father to his new son, hoping to provide him a wonderful childhood that he himself had always longed for. Wolfheim was incredibly sharp as a toddler, much like his father was before him.

Discovering Godfrey
In 6589, Mocel traveled to Hengel, a small town in the northern provinces of the Einhart Empire, to conduct a concert of his 10th violin concerto. Upon arriving, he spent an afternoon in Hengel’s local chapel and overheard an organist playing what seemed to be a simple piece, which then burst forth into a beautiful harmony of complex textures and colors. In awe, Mocel exclaimed, “Now here is music that can be appreciated! Who wrote this, may I ask?” The organist, who knew of Mocel and his arrogance, withheld an answer but instead invited him to attend a performance of Reinholf van Godfrey, the composer of the music he was playing. Mocel, who had never even heard of Godfrey, laughed and started to leave, but the organist insisted. Such persistence sparked curiosity in the young composer’s mind, and he decided to attend.

The performance itself was well-executed, but it was the music that moved the very soul of Adreus Mocel, who wondered how such heavenly melodies and harmonies could have even been written. When the concert ended, Mocel inquired of Godfrey, “Where is this man? I must meet him.” When the organist informed him that Godfrey had died many years ago, Mocel replied, “Dead, you say? O what a pity!” He was, however, able to acquire copies of Godfrey’s surviving music, his cantatas and concertos in particular. Upon returning home, he wrote to his sister, “I do not know if I am worthy to go on composing after being acquainted with music such as this.” This caused what many historians would later call a musical crisis; for the first time since he was a youth, Mocel went an entire week without composing, as he was so overwhelmed by the sheer weight of Reinholf van Godfrey’s brilliance, possibly to the point of nearly giving up composing entirely.

However, when Adreus returned to composing, his works were greater than ever, as he employed many of the techniques of Godfrey’s day, such as counterpoint and embellished harmonies.

The Death of Arcazzo
Though Adreus’ musical career was thriving and charting new territory, his entire world fell apart in 6590, when his father died suddenly from a stroke. Adreus was devastated and gradually became reclusive over the next five years. Often, his wife and little son would endure days without seeing him, not knowing where he had gone. When he did emerge, he was depressed and prone to violent outbursts. Tragically, it was not uncommon for him to take out his anger on his own son, abusing him verbally and losing patience often. On one occasion, a young Wolfheim said a joke to cheer his father up and giggled, but Adreus harshly replied, “I cannot stand the way you laugh! Never let me hear your terrible laugh again.” Poor Wolfheim did not understand his father’s situation, nor why he had turned from a gleeful man of cheer to a brooding man of angst. To console himself, Wolfheim spent time alone in his room writing music, much like Adreus had done when oppressed by his father.

Adreus’ musical style was affected also, growing increasingly dark in tone and profound in depth. His symphonies during this time were remarkably dramatic and filled with grief. In letters to his sister, Rita, he even questioned his love for music, wondering if he was only a composer because his father had forced him to become one. A heavy depression weighed upon him, so that in the harsh winter of 6595, he spiraled into alcoholism and stopped composing altogether.

Final Composition and Death
By 6597, Adreus Mocel was 31 but in terrible health. He hardly ever ate but downed bottle after bottle of wine and whiskey. When visited by friends, they would often comment on his frail figure; eventually, they stopped coming, leaving Adreus alone and contemplating suicide. For nearly two years, he composed not a single piece of music, despairingly convinced that he had only done so to please his demanding father. In the latter months of 6597, he was visited by a doctor upon his wife’s request, and was informed he had only six months to live from a kidney disease. His life put into perspective, the stunned Adreus ordered his wife and son to leave him and seek a better life.

During his last days, however, a sudden spark of creative brilliance returned to him, and an epiphany came upon him: he had absolutely cherished composing and missed it dearly, not to please anyone or achieve status among other magnificent composers, such as Reinholf van Godfrey, but to write music for the sake of music itself. Overcome with intense inspiration, he then set to work on his greatest composition, a funeral symphony. For two weeks, he wrote an hour-long symphony with absolutely no correction in its original drafts; many would later claim he received the music from heaven itself. Upon finishing the work, he contracted a fever and died four days later; he was only 31 years old. His masterpiece requiem was first performed at his funeral, which was attended by a multitude of composers, including a young Adreich Vonhelm.