Alma Deutscher, an 8-Year-Old Music Prodigy
by stevkoc
After watching Greg DeTurck perform the compositions of Erica Ball and Daniel Shapiro on Tuesday, I thought it would be a great idea to share the story of a remarkable composer named Alma Deutscher who is only eight years old. She is a music prodigy from England who composed her first sonata at the age of six! America was introduced to Alma on the Ellen Show, where she demonstrated her extraordinary ability to play the violin and the piano. She was also interviewed by Ellen about her experiences as a composer and musician. Alma explained to Ellen that music started to “come to her” when she was seven years old. She said that one night, she dreamed about a piece, and she initially assumed that it was one of Mozart’s compositions. It turned out that it was actually a piece that she had composed on her own! When she woke up, her father wrote down the characteristics of the composition, and she said that she was able to recall the melody because it was “particularly beautiful”. It seems that Alma has been gifted with the ability to craft melodies in her head and to bring them to life.
Alma also discussed how and when melodies arise in her mind. She explained on the Ellen Show that she has a purple skipping rope, and when she waves it around, she dreams along with it. As a result, melodies pour into her head. It is apparent that waving the skipping rope allows Alma to think freely and to expand her imagination. I think that it is amazing that Alma is actually able to pinpoint how she comes up with her melodies. Even some of the most accomplished composers have have trouble explaining how they come up with their musical ideas, but Alma was confident in explaining the source of her creativity.
What is even more extraordinary about Alma is that she has already completed her first major composition, an opera called The Sweeper of Dreams. This opera has been praised by the English National Opera. Alma explained that she wrote parts for each instrument in the orchestra. It is impressive that Alma was able to compose pieces of such a complex genre.
When she was on the Ellen Show, Alma performed two pieces of music. In her first performance, she played “The Bee” by Schubert on the violin. If I had closed my eyes while I listened to her performance, I would have never believed that she was only eight years old. The quality and characteristics of her performance reminded me of Paganini’s “Caprice No. 24 in A Minor”. Paganini’s piece is considered to be one of the most difficult pieces ever written for the solo violin. It is incredible that an eight-year-old’s performance reminded me of such a difficult composition. The members of the audience definitely would have described Alma’s performance as “perfect.” It seemed as if she played the piece effortlessly and refused to be daunted by the challenging phrasing and fast tempo.
In her second performance, Alma performed a piece that she composed herself on the piano. She centered the melody of the piece around the tune of Ellen’s theme song. Of course, she received a standing ovation from the audience and amazed everyone who was listening.
An article about Alma can be found on the Classicalite website. Her quotations throughout the article demonstrated her self-confidence and her desire to be unique. She even declared that she does not want to be referred to as “Little Miss Mozart” because she wants her music to be distinguished from that of Mozart. I admire Alma for her incredible talent and for her ability to move audiences. I cannot imagine the progress that she will make as she continues to compose and gain experience.
Here is the link to the article about Alma on the Classicalite website. On the webpage, there is a link to the YouTube recording of her performing her rendition of Ellen’s theme song on the piano.
Here is the link to the video recording of Alma Deutscher’s appearance on the Ellen Show (which includes an interview of her along with her performance of Schubert’s “The Bee”.) It is definitely worth watching.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmo4Ksg2yJk
If you visit Alma’s YouTube account page, you can find more of her performances of pieces she has composed (along with well-known pieces on the piano and violin).
The Thousand-Year Ears 
She is like Mozart! Because Mozart composed his first piece when he was five and played piano naturally. For people like Mozart and alma, they are obviously talented. I wonder other famous composers such as haydn and Beethoven were able to compose beautiful pieces when they were really young
Wow, that’s very impressive! When you take into account that she is 8 years old…even more impressive. If she works hard and keeps sharpening her skills, I have no doubt that we will be hearing more about her in the years to come. Who knows, maybe she will come up with her own techniques like Schoenberg did.
It always amazes me when I see talent and skill such as that. I began playing the piano when I was 12. Piano was by no means natural to me; I struggled to read the notes, keep on time, and occasionally add in some emotion. When I see prodigies such as Alma, I am simply stunned. I wonder how it is at all possible to perform like that at such an age.
Incredible! It’s so neat to see such a young girl with such obvious talent. I love the bit about the purple skipping rope – it reminds you that as talented as she is, part of her is still a regular little girl.
She is impressively talented! I was looking for more information about Alma, and found out that her mom is an organist and her dad a flautist. That reminds me of the debate about whether musical prodigies are born or made. I always think they are made, since it requires practice to be able to play this well. However, the fact that she is so young implies that she has a natural talent and it’s not just practice.
This reaffirms my ideas of musical talent. Some people are just born with the ability to make music. It’s amazing that she has realized her talent at such a young age.
This video features Sungha Jung, a guitar prodigy, at a little older age. On his youtube channel you can see him playing at a younger age. The piece is playing called Rylynn is one of my favorites
The videos of Alma playing the violin and piano on The Ellen Show was simply amazing. Having this much talent at such a young age is hard for me to even comprehend. She definitely has a bright future ahead of her. I thought it was very interesting that she thought of an opera from a dream she had.
When I think about these musical prodigies, I always think back to the times when Mozart was composing. However, it’s amazing to see that our world is still producing these musical geniuses. Additionally, I believe nowadays that for people with such talents, the opportunities (e.g. musical shows, American Idol, etc.) are much more available than back during Mozart’s times. Does that make Mozart even more impressive? Or should we count both as equally gifted? Either way, I am looking forward to hearing her works in the near future.
I was curious about her parent’s professions – as we all know, Mozart’s father was a musician himself, so he definitely had a great influence on Mozart’s composition. Perhaps Alma has been influenced by her parents as well. If not, she is even more ingenious than Mozart!
wow, that is awesome. I love seeing children as these musical prodigies but I also resent it just a little. I wish it came that easy to me too!
This is incredible! I wonder if she will face a musical block at any point in time because genius did come to her at such a young age. I can’t imagine what her parents must feel.
This girl is simply brilliant. Her talents deserve to be shared with the rest of the world. I wonder if other musical prodigies were also drawn to music in the same way that she was.
Wow. She definitely has a special talent. I wish her the best of luck and hope that she will be like a “future mozart” (or at least a reincarnation).
I think it is safe to say that Alma is a Virtuoso. She sounds like a modern day Mozart. It is fascinating that she doesn’t need to think that much about the music, rather the music just comes to her. She has an incredible gift. Like you mentioned, while listening to Alma play, I would have never guessed she was only 8 years old.