Remembering Patrick Stewart’s Lifelong Love of Classical Music and the Mozart Masterpiece That Inspired Him to Learn Piano
Sir Patrick Stewart’s long-standing love of classical music began in childhood, when he heard an orchestra perform Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King”. The actor, best known for Star Trek and X-Men, spoke about that passion in a 2023 interview and recalled how a Mozart concerto inspired him to learn a little piano.
Although Stewart often portrayed musicians, including a concert pianist in the 2019 film Coda, he said he could not play an instrument. After hearing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21, he taught himself the first few bars of its second movement. Stewart died aged 86 at his Los Angeles home on 28 October, following what his spokesperson described as a brief journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
In short
- Stewart’s love of classical music began in childhood.
- Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 inspired him to learn a few bars.
- He died aged 86 after living with dementia.
Explained simply
Sir Patrick Stewart was a British actor whose career spanned theatre, film and television. He became widely known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men films. Classical music was a lasting interest for him, rooted in music he heard as a child.
Grieg’s “In the Hall of the Mountain King” is a well-known orchestral piece, while Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 is a work for piano and orchestra. Its slow second movement inspired Stewart to teach himself a few opening bars, although he did not consider himself a piano player. His interest in music also connected with roles such as a concert pianist in the film Coda.