Absolutely amazing.

His name is Jay Greenberg, a 12-year-old living in New York City who has been described as the greatest composing talent of the past 200 years.

He has already written five full-length symphonies, an incredibly complex feat when you consider all the instruments in an orchestra. Good composers may do five symphonies in a whole lifetime.

And the kid did each one in only a few hours.

"We are talking about a prodigy of the level of the greatest prodigies in history when it comes to composition," composer Sam Zyman told "60 Minutes. "I am talking about the likes of Mozart, and Mendelssohn, and Saint-Sans."

Zyman teaches music theory to the pre-teen at the famous Juilliard School.

"This is an absolute fact. This is objective. This is not a subjective opinion," Zyman said. "Jay could be sitting here, and he could be composing right now. He could finish a piano sonata before our eyes in probably 25 minutes. And it would be a great piece."

Most people watching "60 Minutes" were probably as agog as I was, but there was something about the program that I haven’t been able to get out of my mind.

They showed the Greenberg kid’s family, not one of whom is a professional musician. His father is a linguist and a scholar in Slavic language who lost his sight at 36 to retinitis pigmentosa. His mother is an Israeli-born painter.

Then they showed Jay’s little brother, who has none of his sibling’s musical ability.

No apparent genius.

No once-in-200-years talent.

But you never saw such a happy, smiling little boy in your life.

I used to know this opera singer who would complain that her talent had taken over her life, and that she seemed to exist just for the benefit of "the voice."

Jay Greenberg’s mom told the TV interviewer: "This child told me, he said, ’I’m gonna be dead if I am not composing. I have to compose. This is all I want to do.’ And when a child that young tells you where their vision is, or where they’re going, you don’t have a choice."

But Jay’s little brother has a choice. He can be whatever he wants.

So often, society treats less-talented siblings like they are Danny DeVito’s character in the movie "Twins." His brother, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, received all the prime genetic material, leaving poor DeVito trying to get by on what was left.

Want to win a bet sometime in a sports bar? Ask who are the two brothers who combined to hit the most home runs in the major leagues. It’s kind of a trick question.

The answer is Hank Aaron and Tommie Aaron.

Everybody knows about Hank, of course. He hit 755 home runs, most in the game’s history. His brother Tommie played seven years in the major leagues ... and hit a total of only 13 homers.

People deride Tommie Aaron’s career because of his brother’s prodigious feats, but geez, how many guys actually are good enough to reach the major leagues, not to mention having a seven-year career?

Edwin Booth was the finest actor of his generation. His "Hamlet" was known for his grace, beauty and eloquence. He had a wonderful career and was known for his generosity and devotion to the stage.

Still, think of actors named "Booth," and chances are you’re going to remember Edwin’s brother more. That’s because John Wilkes Booth bumped off a fellow named Abraham Lincoln in a theater.

Ira Gershwin wrote some of the best lyrics ever produced for the movies and Broadway. He was a first-class talent whose words are still sung hundreds, if not thousands, of times every day.

But his brother was George Gershwin, and if you hear someone talking about "the genius of Gershwin," you pretty much know they’re going to be talking about George, who, of course, was an astoundingly wonderful composer.

George and Ira were very close, and it never seemed to bother Ira that his brother was regarded as more talented.

I’ve got one of those more-talented brothers, too. My big brother, Michael, was always smarter, better-looking, and for all intents and purposes better at everything than I was while we were growing up.

Far from resenting him, I idolized him. He was a great guy then, and he’s a great guy now. But perhaps like so many other lesser-gifted brothers and sisters, I’ve had it a little easier because expectations might not have been as high for me.

The Greenberg genius’ happy little brother seemed to innately know that living in his brother’s shadow just might be conducive to happiness and a life not devoid of its own achievements.

If that’s the case, only time will tell which Greenberg kid has been born with the greater gift.

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Sam Pollak is editor of The Daily Star. He can be reached at spollak@thedailystar.com or at (607) 432-1000, ext. 208.