Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life

Book Description

"A wonderful collection that gives Mozart a voice as a son, husband, brother and friend."—New York Times Book Review

In Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life, Robert Spaethling presents "Mozart in all the rawness of his driving energies" (Spectator), preserved in the "zany, often angry effervescence" of his writing (Observer). Where other translators have ignored Mozart's atrocious spelling and tempered his foul language, "Robert Spaethling's new translations are lively and racy, and do justice to Mozart's restlessly inventive mind" (Daily Mail). Carefully selected and meticulously annotated, this collection of letters "should be on the shelves of every music lover" (BBC Music Magazine). Published for the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birthday. 16 pages of illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Mozart from the Heart.......2007-02-02

Almost since the moment of his death in December 1791, people have been writing about W.A. Mozart, some of it accurate, but a great deal misguided, and false. Although I have enjoyed reading various Mozart biographies (Maynard Solomon's is my favorite), I found it quite refreshing to finally to read a collection of Mozart's own words. While the composer was certainly a prankster in his younger days (a stereotype unfortunately perpetuated by the reknowned film "Amadeus"), his letters undeniably demonstrate that Mozart was also a very thoughtful and passionate human being who enjoyed the highs and endured the lows of life, just like the rest of us. In this book, readers will get to know a man who wanted to be loved and lead a full life, only to die at the young age of 35!
Mozart's correspondence show that he sought a coveted position as a kappellmeister or court composer somewhere in Europe, which would mean steady demand for compositions, as well as a handsome salary. In February 1778, he wrote to his father: "I am a composer, and I was born a Kapellmeister. I must not and cannot bury my Gift for Composing, that a benevolent God has bestowed upon me in such rich a measure." Despite his relentless determination and marvelous talent as a performer and composer, Mozart never received the court post he so desperately desired, and this lack of a steady income pushed him deeper into debt during his last few years. Considering his financial problems and the other demands in his life, the quantity and quality of the work he produced in his final days is mind-boggling. Mozart's life was also marred by other tragic events; the gut-wrenching letters describing his mother's death in Paris in 1778 are particulary moving, as are his emotional attempts to mend the strained relationship with his father after Mozart left Salzburg and moved to Vienna in the early 1780s. Perhaps most interesting of course, are Mozart's discussions of his art. My favorite quote of all, perhaps, comes from a letter of December 27, 1777, in which Mozart told his father as he sat at the organ, "The playing just flowed from my heart." To me, that one line captures why this remarkable man and his incredible music still captivate us today. This book does not seek to provide a completely rounded view of Mozart's life and times, but it is still a wonderful collection of Mozart's correspondence that will inspire and inform.

"Piano, piano, si va lontano".......2006-05-06

These letters are pleasing to read, a dignified but casual translation. Spaethling's commentary is never intrusive, always enlightening. It's fascinating to trace Mozart's maturity, his move away from his father, his flirtatiousness, sometimes erotic writing, with his wife. The preening and posturing show the genuis's very human side.

Average customer rating:

Mozart's Life: Lite yet Substantial
Bravo Peter Gay
A good short life
Mozart lives!!
Superb introduction to Mozart's life

Mozart (A Penguin Life)
Peter Gay
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0143037730

Amazon.com

In his lifetime, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart didn't have the best of luck with his patrons. One of them, Archbishop Colloredo of Salzburg, actually had his chamberlain kick the composer in the ass to signal the end of his employment. Mozart has been luckier, however, with his biographers. In the last 20 years alone, he has been the subject of two fine books: Maynard Solomon's meticulous study, which slides Mozart's rather mystifying psyche under the analytic microscope, and Wolfgang Hildesheimer's more sardonic effort, in which the author seems determined to strip every last bit of romantic varnish from the traditional portrait.

Now Peter Gay joins the party with his own brief life. Weighing in at 177 pages, Mozart will never displace its deep-focus predecessors. But it's a delightful introduction to the composer, whose entire existence was, as Gay puts it, a "triumph of genius over precociousness." It's one thing, after all, to knock 'em dead at age five--at which point the waist-high Mozart was already a keyboard virtuoso. It's quite another to keep developing at the same prodigious pace. "A child prodigy is, by its nature, a self-destroying artifact: what seems literally marvelous in a boy will seem merely talented and perfectly natural in a young man. But by 1772, at sixteen, Mozart no longer needed to display himself as a little wizard; he had matured in the sonata and the symphony, the first kind of music he composed, and now showed his gifts in new domains: opera, the oratorio, and the earliest in a string of superb piano concertos."

Gay gets in all the essentials: Mozart's mind-blowing maturation, his family life, his weakness for billiards, and (of course) his seriously scatological style as a correspondent. Like Solomon, he takes an Oedipal approach to Wolfgang's perpetual head-banging with his overbearing father. And like Hildesheimer, he's at pains to scotch certain cherished myths--the mysterious figure who commissioned the Requiem, for example, turns out to be no otherworldly harbinger of death but a chiseling wannabe who hoped to pass off the finished product as his own work. Perhaps best of all, Gay never goes sublime on us. His portrait is attractively level-headed, and at one point he's even modest enough to knock his own metaphors for their puerility. Here, surely, the author is being hard on himself. But he's right about one thing: as far as artistry goes, this former child prodigy does make children of us all. --James Marcus

Book Description

A biography of the greatest musical mind in Western history

Mozart's unshakable hold on the public's consciousness can only be strengthened by historian and biographer Peter Gay's concise and deft look at the genius's life. Mozart traces the development of the man whose life was a whirlwind of achievement, and the composer who pushed every instrument to its limit and every genre of classical music into new realms.

Customer Reviews:

Mozart's Life: Lite yet Substantial.......2007-02-23

Peter Gay's `Mozart' is the sort of book a heavy-hitting historian like Gay writes while on holiday at the beach. Lite, witty and short, but still substantial enough to satisfy. (The same could be said for many of the excellent volumes of the Penguin Lives series--alas, now defunct.)

As nearly every other reviewer has pointed out, this slim volume treats Mozart's correspondingly brief life with Gay's celebrated prose style. No new details are introduced, at least nothing destined to alter Mozart scholarship (for all the details, you'll want the much longer `Mozart: A Life' by Maynard Solomon). What Gay brings to Mozart's life is readability, historical context (this is PETER GAY, after all) and a nice quick summary for those readers who have an interest in Mozart but may not care to spend more than a few hours studying him.

One nice advantage of the book, especially for those looking to gain a better understanding of Mozart's music, is that Gay connects the events of Mozart's life to the production of some of his musical masterpieces. With Gay's book and iTunes, you can quickly build a "best of" Mozart library as you read along.

Bravo Peter Gay.......2006-12-21

It takes one genius to write about another genius.
Peter Gay is so very well respected for his insites and work for many years. He tackles the complex life and mind of Mozart with eloquence and with a prose that is engaging and fluid.
I think I am off to listen to my old records of Mozart.
Exceptional read, that captivates the reader.
Love The Written Word

A good short life .......2006-12-19

Commissioned by James Atlas as part of the 'Penguin Biography ' series this short biography of Mozart by historian Peter Gay is balanced, transparent and clear. In other words it partakes of some of the Classical qualities which so distinguished Mozart's work. And this when one of Gay's major points is to stress that Mozart's dark side was a very great part of his music. Gay traces the story of the child prodigy who unlike most child prodigies continued his complex development throughout his working life, creating in the course of this a vast body of work at the highest level in all the musical genres of the time. Two of his friends Johann Christian Bach and the great Haydn helped him on his way. Haydn told Mozart's proud, overbearing, pushy father,"Before God and as an honest man I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name: He has taste, and, furthermore, the most profound knowledge of composition."
Gay dispels a number of popular myths including the one which is the basis of the film 'Amadeus' that Salieri poisoned Mozart. He makes use of his psychoanalytic training to explain the relationship between Mozart father and Mozart son. He dispels the myth of Mozart's abject poverty and rejection. He provides a very readable narrative of the lives of one of mankind's great God - gifted geniuses.
A pleasure to read.

Mozart lives!!.......2006-11-06

Professor Gay is a superb author. His opus on the genius Mozart is eloquent, brings new elements to my understanding of the musician, and keeps the reader completely centered in Mozart's world and era. His prose is tremendously engaging and his book is hard to put down. I had read many of Prof. Gay's work while studying for my Ph.D exams 35 years ago in his area of speciality, the Englightenment. Then he brought me a great understanding of that era and he continues in that manner on Mozart. I am most impressed with his characterization of this life and his thorough understanding of Wolfgang's music related to his life. We spent a week in Salzburg this year (our second journey to this Episcopal Imperial on the Salzach, and then ordered this biography as we longed for more information. Prof. Gay's work was the perfect suplement to this trip and the great music we hear and a most welcome addition to our library. May he write even more entertaining and enlightening works.

Superb introduction to Mozart's life.......2004-03-09

In this book, Peter Gay offers an excellent, concise summary of Mozart's life and greatness. This is not a balanced recounting; Gay compresses the Mozart's active childhood of tours and performances into a single chapter, while his frustrating years at Salzburg are similarly condensed to a few pages. Yet such an approach is more than justified given the purpose of the "Penguin Lives" series, which is to offer brief introductions to their selected subjects.

A distinguished intellectual and cultural historian, Gay brings considerable knowledge of Mozart's world to bear in examining the details of his life, connecting it to the broader historical developments of his time. Chapters 6 and 7 break away from the biographical narrative to focus on Mozart's achievements as a writer of symphonies and operas, which allows Gay to turn his finely honed analytical abilities to evaluating Mozart the artist. While there is nothing new in his analysis, it nonetheless provides an excellent introduction to the life of this brilliant musician and composer.

Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life: Selected Letters

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I love it.........
Great book
This lively book will deepen your appreciation of Mozart
A whole new view of Mozart
Bravo!

Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life: Selected Letters
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , and Robert Spaethling
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0393047199

Book Description

Letters by Mozart in sparkling new translations that capture the flavor of the writing, transmit every nuance, and render every thought faithfully and accurately. What was Mozart really like--wild? sublime? responsible? fun-loving? bright? foul-mouthed? Reading these letters, we learn in his own words that he was all of these and much more. Here is the composer at his most intimate and unguarded, expressing his feelings about life, love, music, and the world around him. For this collection, Robert Spaethling has carefully chosen letters written by Mozart over a span of almost twenty-two years--from his first journey to Italy as a shy teenager to the final months of his life in Vienna. The letters, together with the accompanying introductions, chronicle the composer's life, personal development, and artistic growth. These new translations into English, the first in more than sixty years, are faithful to the original German even to the point of misspellings, which abound in the early correspondence. No effort has been spared to find language as closely equivalent to Mozart's as any translation can be and to clear up references in the letters to people, places, and events. Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life makes wonderful reading for anyone who has ever loved a work by the composer, from the deceptively simple Eine kleine Nachtmusik to the towering, magnificent Requiem.

Customer Reviews:

I love it................2007-04-18

Mozart's full and final dedication to his work was exemplary; no doubt, his music spoke for the conscience of the world and his audience felt an almost religious faith in it. But the young man had frivolous and fun-loving personality, and his closeness to infantile notions was apparent with friends, relatives and pupils.
Mozart was possessor of the least inhibited tongue even in his contacts with serious foundations like Archbishopric or Freemasonry that mismatched the depth of notes he wrote.
This composer genius was filled with spontaneous strong-willed passion for music if weak-witted for romance and throughout the wide spectrum of his works involving every conceivable style of symphonies, operas, and orchestral pieces - some of the finest ever written - Mozart produced something truer than love.

Great book.......2005-08-03

If you are interested in everyday lives and struggles of geniuses, this is a book for you. Most of us know Mozart as a great composer, but he also wrote passionate letters to his friends and loved ones. His writing style and personality allow us to understand his times more and to have a closer look at the person that he was.

This lively book will deepen your appreciation of Mozart.......2004-03-19

What a fine accomplishment! According to the introduction, this book contains about 2/3 of Mozart's surviving correspondence. It has letters from and to Mozart and the translations are very lively and bring the personality of the composer to life. In older translations it seems that care was taken to make him sound like the monumental cultural force that he has become. But in this book, Mozart is a boy, a young man, a young husband, a fiery genius, and at times lost, grieving, and even confused.

The book is organized chronologically and provides biographical information that gives each letter some context. There are many useful footnotes as well as a couple of maps and list of Mozart's travels. The author has even included some notes about the various currencies in order to help the reader understand the discussions of money in the letters.

I can't emphasize enough what a lively read this book is. I found that I simply didn't get bogged down and enjoyed reading it. Yes, there are some portions of some letters I skipped, but that is one of the beauties of the book. You don't get lost simply because you skipped some mundane portions of one letter or another.

Mr. Spaethling is to be congratulated on this fine achievement. If you are interested in Mozart in any way, this book will deepen your appreciation of the living breathing person who wrote all that music. It didn't come from some alien dimension. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, this wonderful and complex human being did it all and we are much richer for it.

A whole new view of Mozart.......2002-12-26

Those of us who know a little about Mozart believe that he was perfection incarnate, part angel, fluttering down to endow the world with heavenly music. (There probably is some truth to that.) This book, however, reveals a whole new side of Mozart, a very human side. As beautiful as Mozart's music is, the more beautiful it becomes after reading this book. Understanding his big heart, hard work and, yes, even imperfections, increases one's appreciation of his music.

Bravo!.......2002-10-12

This book enabled Mozart come to life for me. The translation was very good. It showed, (in english), how Mozart worked on his grammar and spelling as he got older. Since he was "home educated", he had to work at this.

I could not put this book down, reading a few letters every day, I saw how Mozart grew from a boy into a man with a family. He was a really good guy, it's a shame he had to die so young.

I would say, to anyone who wants to know more about Mozart, buy this book. You can form your own opinion of him, then you can buy the "expert's" books.

Amazon.com

Perhaps the most important Mozart biography ever written, this book is subtle, rich-textured, endlessly stimulating and provocative -- just like the man's music.

Book Description

In this first full-scale biography since the 1950s, esteemed biographer Maynard Solomon draws on a half-century of new information to provide an in-depth account of Mozart's family life, his passions, and his personality.

Customer Reviews:

Serious and thoughtful.......2007-09-18

Although I give this book five stars, I recommend it only to certain readers. If you

--already love Mozart's music
--have read a certain amount of Mozart biography before (like liner notes on CDs)
--yearn to know more, and
--are willing to read patiently

then this is the book for you.

Solomon is a true scholar who has studied all of the old letters and documents with care. When he addresses aspects of Mozart's life that are encrusted with mythology (Did Mozart think he was writing his Requiem for himself? Was he vulgar? Did he almost starve?), he gives you a solid answer by including quotations from the original sources. In cases where the sources conflict, he lets you know this and doesn't try to pretend that the facts are known. Solomon is also quite unsentimental and doesn't let what we'd *like* to believe influence his presentation.

More controversially, Solomon thoroughly explores Mozart's thoughts, motivations, and relationships, along with those of his close relatives. This can be gripping. I am particularly taken with Solomon's portrayal of Mozart's father Leopold, a complex and difficult personality.

Occasionally, the psychologizing becomes too much for me. For instance, I'm not very enthusiastic about Solomon's idea that the substitution of "Adam" for "Amadé" on Mozart's marriage certificate was deliberate. But following Solomon out on these too-long limbs is a small price to pay when the book as a whole is so insightful.

A masterpiece.......2007-05-20

This is a very detailed account of the life of this great composer. At times with some insight into the psyche of Mozart. The timeline of his life is analysed and this is all in the context of his music. The letters of Mozarts have a prominant role in this book. This book even surpasses the author's wonderful biography of Beethoven.

Enjoyable to read...........2006-10-22

Mozart's financials were now up now down, and this also reflects the vicissitudes attendant on the way this great musician genius was living.
Indeed Constanze was the inadvertent witness of his financial engagements and, being so keen on money, she brought about a gloomy catalogues of his Balance Sheet (so to speak) so that his heirs would not have greedy `appetite' after him.

Mozart's personal letters to his cousin (before he married Constanze) are full of frivolity, vivacity, and written in unorthodox language, in their contents, using `flagrant' terms and words befitting a merry teenager full of gaiety and high spirits. Mozart's soulful personality, for instance, didn't know the pressures of antagonisms from anyone, including Saliere.
Mozart always had a personal touch of sincere friendliness to clear away any lingering misunderstanding with the Royal court (The marriage of Figaro)

There have been awful lot of exaggerations in the movies and in the literatures written about Mozart, which made us wonder what was true vs. dramatized.

It is a documented fact, though, that Mozart (and his friend Haydn) found great personal diversion in the Masonic Lodges of Vienna.
Mozart's first complete musical contribution honouring the `Lodge' with Masonic themes and allegory was his `Die Zauberflote'- The magic Flute, music and libretto of devoted love and unique delight.
At the Lodge, some of the lectures also spoke of the meaning of `death'. Should it be feared? Should it be regarded `friendly' as the secession of all mundane excessive endurance to quietness, self-relief and freedom of the soul? Mozart composed the `Requiem' of music combining `happiness' and `acceptance' of the inevitable as `duty' and `obligation', not of fear.

"An Accountant's Dream" or "Mozart on the Couch".......2006-04-06

I read up to chapter twenty (about 300 pages) and stopped reading the book, realizing I had more important things to read. My major complaints are (1) that there is too much discussion of the Mozart family finances, which I'm sure would be fascinating to economists and accountants, however tedious to someone concerned about music; and (2) too much retroactive Freudian analysis of the subject, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Think about this: Solomon uses an obsolete, and now debunked, system of psychoanalysis to describe a subject that cannot be interviewed. The best discussion of music is concerning the Salzburg serenade style in chapter eight. Other than that brief section (pp. 125-133), I was not impressed. Short of reading Mozart's letters and making your own analysis, I recommend Stanley Sadie's "Mozart: The Early Years, 1756-1781" for starters.

A Must Read!.......2005-11-21

A bit on the dry side but so well written and researched that this is the best book on Mozart at present.

Loving Mozart: A Past Life Memory of the Composer's Final Years

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A Book of Haunting Beauty
We hear only from the most courageous
A "must read"

Loving Mozart: A Past Life Memory of the Composer's Final Years
Mary Montano
Manufacturer: Cantus Verus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Connecting Link, July, 1995

It may be a while before hypnotic regression achieves mainstream acceptance, but Montano's own work in that area and the resultant Loving Mozart will certainly assist in its doing so. Loving Mozart adds an important dimension to the musical genius we know as Mozart and his devoted friend Franz Sussmayr. Captivating reading.

Customer Reviews:

A Book of Haunting Beauty.......2002-11-15

When I read this book four years ago it haunted me for a long time. The beauty of its prose and the lucidity of the author's memories lingered in the back of mind and in the recesses of my heart, adding a dimension to the character of a young man few people can say they understand. There are no portraits of Franz Süssmayr, no eye-witness accounts of what kind of person he was, or what his relationship with Mozart was really like. This book fills in those spaces to reveal a gifted, generous, tender-hearted man, who was a loyal friend to the end-and beyond.

Books that claim to have their basis in past-life recall are always met with ridicule because people who don't believe in reincarnation are not educated in the field and thus cannot comprehend all the profound implications of it, or the myriad beautiful possibilities that go along with it. Immature souls see life as black and white. Mature souls see life as an ocean of limitless color, light and shadow, tone and texture. This book is a creation of all these qualities.

I recently re-read Loving Mozart and I received more from it than I did after my first reading. Only when something contains the truth can it affect us this way-it touches our hearts again and again, regardless of how many times we pick it up, dust it off and allow it to take us into its private world. When truth is that palpable, we know it deep in our subconscious whether we recognize it or not, and assumed historical details lose their grasp. Ask any police detective if any ten people will remember an event the same way and the answer will be no. Mozart knew a great many people, some of whom were never allowed into his private life. Many of those people went on to write about him, and even they do not always agree on just what happened at the end of Mozart's life. We remember events from our own experience and inner reality, and history is written by the winners anyway. Franz Süssmayr was not one of the winners. The winners went on to create a Mozart that would appeal to charitable organizations and individuals-an eternal manchild, a composer who never struggled over a piece of music, but composed as easily as writing out a grocery list, an apollonian god.

Some critics of this book don't recognize that Loving Mozart is not a book about Mozart, but a book about the spiritual path of someone who simply loved, and acted out that love in a beautiful, selfless way. If that's not Truth I don't know what is.

We hear only from the most courageous.......2002-08-29

There are two kinds of people who claim famous past lives: total phonies, who are simply out to make themselves seem more important, and the rare genuine articles, who really do have some connection, direct or archetypical, with a historical figure.

How to tell which is which? Just ask the person this: "When you found out you were or knew so-and-so... how did you deal with the shock and the fear?" If they don't know what you're talking about, you have a genuine, garden-variety phony.

Real ones do what most of us would do in their situation: look in the mirror, think 'how could I have been THAT?', feel surreal and worry that maybe they are just crazy. When considering telling anyone, they worry about their reputations, their jobs, their relationships. They know about the phonies, the weekend Cleopatras, and they know what they will be called. They sometimes wish their memories would just go away.

We hear only from the most courageous of them.

_Loving Mozart_ was ten years in the making; ten years for the author to gather the information and the courage to publish. Wishful thinking simply doesn't take that long, and lusts after perfect experiences, not the painful, ambiguous, messy ones portrayed. Besides, if the author had the total freedom of fantasy, why not go the whole hog and claim to have been Mozart himself?

This book isn't about fame and glory anyway; it is about music, and about love. It is about loyalty, joy and a passion for creating beauty that transcend poverty, rejection and death. It is about the nature of souls and their multi-life connections and missions, and about how inspiration is drawn from the Divine.

If you firmly disbelieve in reincarnation you don't want to read it; it will just seem like airy-fairy nonsense, and the details that differ from history (as is inevitable, since people often remember the same events differently) will peck at you. If you can accept reincarnation as fantasy, you will be both moved and uplifted. If you accept reincarnation as reality, you will find much that is confirmatory -- and still be moved and uplifted. If you are undecided but open-minded, there is a lot to learn, and this deeply beautiful book will stay in your mind and heart for a long time after reading.

A "must read".......1999-12-18

for anyone who has ever stopped to wonder WHY one has these memories that just do not fit in one's current life. Also, this book gives some insight into Mozart as a person with talent, not the "man touched by God" as a recent A&E commentator claimed.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Life and Works (Naxos))

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A FASCINATING GLIMPSE AT THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF MOZART . . .

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Life and Works (Naxos))

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: 1843790513
Release Date: 2002-01-01

Customer Reviews:

A FASCINATING GLIMPSE AT THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF MOZART . . ........2004-02-28

_____________________________________________________________________________

This is a very well done audio book, written and narrated by Jeremy Siepmann who has done similar work on the lives of other famous composers. The book includes character readers who all do an excellent job of audio-acting Mozart and the people who played an important part in his life. Intermingled with the narrative are some fine examples of music from different stages of Mozart's life.

While listening, I did note a strange contradiction. Siepmann makes an observation at the beginning of CD 2 that Mozart's character has been 'mistakenly' maligned as that of an eternal child, someone likened to a buffoon of low moral continence - giddy and somewhat mindless. He then seemingly attempts to quash this notion, which he says has been promoted in stories handed down since Mozart's time and amplified more recently in depictions of the composer in various plays and movies. After methodically debunking these 'rumors' he then proceeds to give one account after another, including excerpts from Mozart's letters, that would seem, if anything, to support the view that Mozart did indeed go through episodes of extremely childish nonsensical behavior throughout his adult years. In retrospect, I think I see what Siepmann was trying to say, though it didn't come off quite right. He was pointing out that although these behaviors were present in Mozart's life, they shouldn't be taken to mean that the man was mentally lacking somehow in regards other than music and that it should never be considered that his music is not 'deeply thought out.' I would think all this could go without saying.

Siepmann also mentions early in the book, looking ahead to Mozart's marriage, that his wife was not considered as having been sympathetic toward his needs. When we do finally get to that point in the book, nothing more is mentioned of it - creating a deadend of sorts.

(These are actually very minor issues - I've given them more attention than necessary, but I wanted to give you some of my personal thoughts while reading. I found the book as a whole very informative and quite entertaining.)

The booklet provided with this audio book is among the very best I've ever seen. It's a small treasure trove of information including: 1) a CD table of contents; 2) a cast of its readers; 3) an in-depth historical background of the 18th century; 4) Mozart in his time; 5) His major works and their significance (including Kochel numbers); 6) a graded listening plan for his music; 7) recommended reading; 8) short biographies from major personalities in Mozart's life; 9) A Mozartian chronology - showing the year, Mozart's age, events in arts and culture, historical events and specific events from Mozart's life; and 10) a glossary. Need I say more?

Customer Reviews:

A very enjoyable introduction to Mozart.......1999-09-02

It seems the most popular budget classical music label, Naxos, not only makes most of the Western musical output available at very reasonable prices (no top stars who demand absurd fees make this possible), but it has also issued three very nice boxed sets of recordings on cassettes and CDs (I have the latter) that together give you a quick, fairly accurate, and quite enjoyable survey of three major topics. Perry Keenlyside's (NA 314412) is on three tapes or CDs and more or less delivers what the title promises in about 3 hours and 40 minutes. The text is considerately divided into sections--"Mozart, the child prodigy," "January 1762, the first journeys," "Paris and London, 1763-4," and so on--with tracking cues for each section. The narration and quotations from letters and journals of the time are accompanied by the appropriate music drawn from the bottomless Naxos catalogue. Nigel Anthony is the narrator, aided by Paul Rhys (Mozart), Edward de Souza (Leopold Mozart), with David Timson and Anna Patrick in "other parts." I have not seen the original books to see how much of an abridgment this is, if at all, but that is immaterial. The voices are personable, the information digestible, the whole project very worth while, especially at the price. My only objection to the Naxos recordings of books in the low recording level that makes it a bit difficult to hear on a walkman set up on (say) a noisy train. But this should offer no problem to home hearing or even in your car. These sets are really perfect listening for long trips.

A Mozart Diary: A Chronological Reconstruction of the Composer's Life, 1761-1791 (Music Reference Collection)

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re-publish a 'lost' inspiration
More errors than consistent data!

A Mozart Diary: A Chronological Reconstruction of the Composer's Life, 1761-1791 (Music Reference Collection)

Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 031330131X

Book Description

An account of the composer's day-to-day life as evidenced in various kinds of biographical sources, this work reveals the astonishing succession of meetings with the glitterati of Europe and the awe-inspiring effect Mozart had on other composers--and their envious responses. It also places him at home with his wife and family, battling against heart-rending financial failure while his operas were being performed across Europe. Musically, the work situates Mozart's compositions in their chronological context. This fascinating account will be of interest to scholars, students, and Mozart enthusiasts. By examining a variety of biographical sources, Dimond is able to reconstruct a fairly full account of Mozart's professional, domestic, and social life on a daily basis. The composer's letters, written while away from his family and friends, are especially helpful. Assumptions can be made from reading this daily account that, in his later career, Mozart deliberately set out to compose masterworks in each music genre. The famous dedication of six string quartets to Haydn, couched in a style quite unlike anything else that Mozart appears to have written, supports this contention.

Customer Reviews:

re-publish a 'lost' inspiration.......2004-03-02

Apologies first! Although I have not yet read Dimond's latest work I really would like to express my appreciation for his "Music made simple", now regrettably out of print. This book was an absolute inspiration to me when I first read it a while back. In it Dimond's excitement, thorough knowledge and -dare I say it - 'passion' for the composers he discusses is all too obvious. The book was evidently a labour of love and was a joy to read. Read it and be glued, avidly, to each page. Additionally, it includes concisely explained passages on music theory. With this book in your hands you will sail through G.C.S.E music. But just read it as a beautifully written book primarily on the lives and music of the great composers from the past. I wish I had Dimond's email to thank him myself!

More errors than consistent data!.......1997-09-28

There are errors appearing in this book from page 23 on (Va del furor portata instead of Va dal furor portata). Index of persons is very weak and inaccurate. I really wonder who did the recensy of this book? (Shame...)

Mozart-schaum, Book One: Based on Events and Episodes of Mozart's Life (Schaum Master Composer Series)

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Mozart-schaum, Book One: Based on Events and Episodes of Mozart's Life (Schaum Master Composer Series)

Manufacturer: Alfred Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0757906214

Product Description

The music of Mozart is now more popular than ever before! John W. Schaum's arrangements of symphonic works, concertos, and difficult piano solos make these timeless works easy to play. Based on events and episodes of Mozart's life, this collection may be used as supplementary literature with any piano method. Mozart wrote over six hundred pieces without titles and now Mr. Schaum has created descriptive titles, describing incidents from Mozart's life. His historically appropriate captions add color and life, the biographical sketches add musical appreciation, and Mr. Schaum's arrangements make teaching easier.

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A Life in Letters (Penguin Classics)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Letters & Correspondence | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0141441461

Book Description

The letters of one of the world's greatest composers

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—seen variously as a child prodigy, musical genius, tragic Romantic artist, and cultural icon—is among the most written-about of all composers. This fascinating set of his letters offers a new understanding of his life story—his marriage, compositions, performances, occasional money worries, opinions of fellow musicians, and complex relationship with his father—and a revealing portrait of both the man and the musician.

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