行貨

Some of you may know I like Mozart.

Seriously, I do not know much about our giant in music or many of his work.

And, my humble piece of favorite is the allergo of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Yes, that popular piece of little night music.

You may think Mozart had many other good pieces of work; the Nachtmusik is earthly and not quite elegant enough. That's entirely true. In fact, no one know why this little piece was composed. (It was written in 1787, when Mozart was spending most of his time in the preparation of the opera Don Giovanni.) Like most of the Mozart's serenades, the Nachtmusik was written on commission. There were actually rumors that our great composer was heavily in debt at that time, and a billionaire approached him for a new song to be played in a house party. Out of a rush and an urgent need of petty cash, the Nachtmusik appeared.

Right, in traditional Cantonese sayings, we call that so so (行貨).

But, that's exactly why Mozart was admirable: His so so piece of work was better than the masterpiece of many others.