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1791: Mozart's Last Year
Offers a detailed examination of Mozart's final months, discusses the cause of his death, and looks at his final compositions
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1988
11 people are currently reading
718 people want to read
About the author
H.C. Robbins Landon
86 books8 followersHoward Chandler Robbins Landon was an American musicologist, journalist, historian and broadcaster, best known for his work in rediscovering the huge body of neglected music by Haydn and in correcting misunderstandings about Mozart.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
January 3, 2026
Just a few days after Mozart's 260th birthday, I revisited H.C. Robbins Landon's book detailing 1791: Mozart's Last Year and continue to enjoy reading the author's treatment of the controversies surrounding Mozart's death, including Salieri's role in the composer's life, especially the last year.
Landon's book is quite thorough and it serves as a rebuttal to two aspects in particular--the suggestion that Salieri was a culprit in Mozart's demise as portrayed in the Milos Forman film Amadeus and also the rather negative treatment of Mozart's wife, Constanze, in that film & in biographies published following the composer's death.
Landon had a gift for musical expression and his biographies of Haydn, Mozart & others are not full of complex musical terminology, making them a pleasure to read for those who love classical music but who do not have a serious grounding in the mechanics of musical notation, etc. In fact, 1791: Mozart's Last Year in part resembles a detective story, with an elaborate tracing of Mozart's life in 1791, including an exacting examination of his final days.
Given the time & circumstances of Mozart's death, no formal autopsy was performed, though there were conflicting accounts of the cause of his death. Rather, Mr. Landon reconstructs various scenarios from a wealth of documents & eye-witness accounts by medical personnel & others, eventually eliminating the extraneous if occasionally popular views of Mozart's terminal illness and the ultimate cause of his death. The report as rendered by a Dr. Peter Davies is as follows:
Thus, the suggestion that Salieri may have poisoned Mozart has been substantially discounted, though it made for an interesting fantasy & a rather entertaining 1984 film, based on Peter Shaffer's 1979 play, gaining numerous awards, among them 8 Academy Awards, including one for Best Picture of 1984.
Landon also includes material on the discovery of the original score of the Mozart Requiem in 1838, with the mass left incomplete at the time of Mozart's death but with the first two movements in the composer's own handwriting.
There was considerable mystery in the commissioning of this work as well, with Mozart sensing that while the commission was via an unknown wealthy benefactor who apparently wanted to commemorate a loved one, he was in fact writing his own extended musical epitaph. Again, there is an aspect of the author sifting through all manner of clues to bring the Mozart Requiem to a greater public awareness that is rather at odds with the popular film account.
Lastly, I enjoyed H.C. Robbins Landon's delving into the character of Mozart's beloved wife Constanze, demonstrating that she was much more than a flighty, spoiled, immature woman but instead the source of so much that Mozart valued in life.
According to Landon, much of the prejudice against Constanze originated with Mozart's father, Leopold who disliked Constanze and attempted to prevent his son's marriage to her. However, evidence suggests that Amadeus & Constanze were in today's parlance, soul-mates.
What an amazing musical force Mozart was throughout his brief life. It is said that except in his music, Mozart remained a child. Mozart had many detractors and according to one this apparent immaturity constituted the...
All of Mozart's music is worth listening to but when one allows The Magic Flute to really hold sway, it quickly becomes clear that it is the 3 children who convey the wisdom, not Sarastro, the high priest of the Masonic temple & not the Queen of the Night or any of the other adult presences within the opera. That said, it may be a grand gift that Herr Mozart retained the sensibility of a child throughout his fleeting lifespan.
How can one listen to Mozart's music & not feel uplifted? Yes, I know it is quite possible for some/many not to be moved by his music but for countless others, the gift of Mozart's brief presence on earth constitutes an ever-present elixir and the late H.C. Robbins Landon's 1791: Mozart's Last Year is a wonderful literary coda on the composer's final year.
*Within my review, the 1st image is of the author, H.C. Robbins Landon; the 2nd a painted image of Mozart; lastly, an quote from a Mozart admirer, Albert Einstein.
Landon's book is quite thorough and it serves as a rebuttal to two aspects in particular--the suggestion that Salieri was a culprit in Mozart's demise as portrayed in the Milos Forman film Amadeus and also the rather negative treatment of Mozart's wife, Constanze, in that film & in biographies published following the composer's death.
Landon had a gift for musical expression and his biographies of Haydn, Mozart & others are not full of complex musical terminology, making them a pleasure to read for those who love classical music but who do not have a serious grounding in the mechanics of musical notation, etc. In fact, 1791: Mozart's Last Year in part resembles a detective story, with an elaborate tracing of Mozart's life in 1791, including an exacting examination of his final days.
Given the time & circumstances of Mozart's death, no formal autopsy was performed, though there were conflicting accounts of the cause of his death. Rather, Mr. Landon reconstructs various scenarios from a wealth of documents & eye-witness accounts by medical personnel & others, eventually eliminating the extraneous if occasionally popular views of Mozart's terminal illness and the ultimate cause of his death. The report as rendered by a Dr. Peter Davies is as follows:
Mozart died of a streptococcal infection, Schonlein-Henoch Syndrome, renal failure, venesection (medically induced bleeding), cerebral hemorrhage, terminal bronco-pneumonia.There is little question that Mozart's weakened condition and personal habits contributed to his demise but lacking penicillin and today's diagnostic tools, his death was hardly a surprise to those who treated him in his last days. Since Landon's book was published in 1988, there have been numerous other medical determinations that have collaborated that of Dr. Davies.
Mozart contracted yet another streptococcal infection while attending a Masonic lodge meeting on 18 November 1791 in the midst of an epidemic, causing a further exacerbation of an existing Schonlein-Henoch Syndrome & renal failure, followed by facial-nerve palsy, consistent with a massive cerebral hemorrhage. Bronchopneumonia is frequently the cause of death in patients with uremia & usually develops in patients who are already moribund.
Thus, the suggestion that Salieri may have poisoned Mozart has been substantially discounted, though it made for an interesting fantasy & a rather entertaining 1984 film, based on Peter Shaffer's 1979 play, gaining numerous awards, among them 8 Academy Awards, including one for Best Picture of 1984.
Landon also includes material on the discovery of the original score of the Mozart Requiem in 1838, with the mass left incomplete at the time of Mozart's death but with the first two movements in the composer's own handwriting.
There was considerable mystery in the commissioning of this work as well, with Mozart sensing that while the commission was via an unknown wealthy benefactor who apparently wanted to commemorate a loved one, he was in fact writing his own extended musical epitaph. Again, there is an aspect of the author sifting through all manner of clues to bring the Mozart Requiem to a greater public awareness that is rather at odds with the popular film account.
Lastly, I enjoyed H.C. Robbins Landon's delving into the character of Mozart's beloved wife Constanze, demonstrating that she was much more than a flighty, spoiled, immature woman but instead the source of so much that Mozart valued in life.
According to Landon, much of the prejudice against Constanze originated with Mozart's father, Leopold who disliked Constanze and attempted to prevent his son's marriage to her. However, evidence suggests that Amadeus & Constanze were in today's parlance, soul-mates.
What an amazing musical force Mozart was throughout his brief life. It is said that except in his music, Mozart remained a child. Mozart had many detractors and according to one this apparent immaturity constituted the...
dark side of Mozart's character: he always required a father, a mother or some attendant; he could not manage money, married against his father's will a girl not at all suitable for him & hence the disorder in his household during & after his death.But, this is to apply conventional standards to a musical genius who (perhaps) needed to move according to a pattern of his own devising and by all accounts Amadeus Mozart and his wife Constanze were exceedingly happy together.
All of Mozart's music is worth listening to but when one allows The Magic Flute to really hold sway, it quickly becomes clear that it is the 3 children who convey the wisdom, not Sarastro, the high priest of the Masonic temple & not the Queen of the Night or any of the other adult presences within the opera. That said, it may be a grand gift that Herr Mozart retained the sensibility of a child throughout his fleeting lifespan.
How can one listen to Mozart's music & not feel uplifted? Yes, I know it is quite possible for some/many not to be moved by his music but for countless others, the gift of Mozart's brief presence on earth constitutes an ever-present elixir and the late H.C. Robbins Landon's 1791: Mozart's Last Year is a wonderful literary coda on the composer's final year.
*Within my review, the 1st image is of the author, H.C. Robbins Landon; the 2nd a painted image of Mozart; lastly, an quote from a Mozart admirer, Albert Einstein.
May 27, 2021
Very detailed and well-researched monograph. (rating 2.5 stars)
July 20, 2022
Muito, muito interessante. Talvez seja demasiado detalhado, mas é o único "defeito" que posso apontar.
October 17, 2022
This is not a biographical memoir but a series of scholarly essays on different subjects: Mozart as Freemason, Mozart's role at the coronation of Leopold II, Mozart's final illness, the character of his wife, Konstanze, etc. Robbins Landon is eager to correct the false impressions popularized by Amadeus, so he uses Mozart's letters and other primary sources to show us an overworked, driven, physically frail Mozart who was exclusively devoted to music, his wife, and billiards. Salieri was a jealous rival, but not a murderous one. The Requiem was commissioned by an eccentric count who enjoyed passing off as his own works written for him by real composers—hence all the mysteriousness and secrecy.
The essays are enjoyable but a little dry and pedantic. My favourite part of the book is an appendix which provides a map and description of Mozart's modest four-room apartment in Vienna, complete with its furnishings. It's fun to imagine paying him a visit, perhaps shooting some pool in his billiard room or grabbing a snack in his kitchen while gazing out into the building's courtyard below.
The essays are enjoyable but a little dry and pedantic. My favourite part of the book is an appendix which provides a map and description of Mozart's modest four-room apartment in Vienna, complete with its furnishings. It's fun to imagine paying him a visit, perhaps shooting some pool in his billiard room or grabbing a snack in his kitchen while gazing out into the building's courtyard below.
October 30, 2016
This review of the last year of Mozart's life wasn't quite the revelation that Maynard Solomon's biography of Mozart was, but on my current Mozart bender I'm glad to have read it. The author is passionately devoted to Mozart and no detail is too small as he examines Mozart's health, finances, movements, relationships in 1791. Some of the details were too small for me, but I enjoyed the author's devotion to Mozart and to Constanze.
At one point he reports that Beethoven refused to play before a certain lady because he thought she had been Mozart's mistress. Landon says: "(what a prude Beethoven was!)." One of the appendices is an article entitled "An Illustrated Student of Mozart's Apartment and Wardrobe," with photographs of typical clothing and furniture as well as floor plans of the Mozarts' apartment in Vienna.
Recommended if you want to time-travel to the late 18th Century in the company of Mozart.
At one point he reports that Beethoven refused to play before a certain lady because he thought she had been Mozart's mistress. Landon says: "(what a prude Beethoven was!)." One of the appendices is an article entitled "An Illustrated Student of Mozart's Apartment and Wardrobe," with photographs of typical clothing and furniture as well as floor plans of the Mozarts' apartment in Vienna.
Recommended if you want to time-travel to the late 18th Century in the company of Mozart.
March 2, 2021
Un libro con muchos detalles sobre las finanzas y mucha relevamiento se otros biografos. Para mi que no se de opera,los puntos mas interesantes podrian ser. Su personalidad, su masoneria, la relacion con salieri, como creo sus obras mas importantes y su relacion con constanze. La fluidez de esos temas es corta ya que a veces se pierde el relato cuando se va con tantos nombres ajenos y detalles. Igual es un excelente trabajo. Esta es mi review nada mas. Recomiendo igual
June 10, 2014
After the success of the movie Amadeus, H.C. Robbins Landon sought to "set the record straight" insofar as to what actually were the circumstances during the composer's final year. A must read for all music lovers, specially the devotees of Mozart!
January 11, 2016
Un exhaustivo estudio sobre el último año de vida del genio de Salzburgo. Plagado de datos y bibliografía, sí es cierto que el único problema es la falta de esa bibliografía traducida al español, algo que, obviamente, no es culpa del autor, un verdadero especialista en Mozart.
October 10, 2021
If anything, it's occasionally too detailed (no doubt that's just a lack of patience on my part), but otherwise a delight to read, and often very moving. Worth it for the vindication of Constanze alone.
January 10, 2025
Like much of Mozart's adult life, his final year was a torrent of musical commitments, keeping a variety of balls in the air. His musical output was tremendous. His opera La clemenza di Tito was written, rehearsed and given its first performance for the coronation of Count Leopold II in Prague within less than two months. Meanwhile, he was completing work on The Magic Flute and the Clarinet Concerto before turning his attention to the Requiem which was left unfinished at his untimely death. And around this is the constant creation of small-scale chamber music all of which helped keep the wolf from the door.
Robbins Landon's approach is forensic pulling together contemporary accounts and writings from the 19th and 20th centuries into a coherent whole. He is rightly dismissive of the rumours of poisoning in Mozart's death, fueled by Peter Schaeffer's play and film Amadeus. He also fills in a more rounded character for his wife Constanza than that provided by Schaeffer's work.
A valuable book for anyone interested in Mozart
Robbins Landon's approach is forensic pulling together contemporary accounts and writings from the 19th and 20th centuries into a coherent whole. He is rightly dismissive of the rumours of poisoning in Mozart's death, fueled by Peter Schaeffer's play and film Amadeus. He also fills in a more rounded character for his wife Constanza than that provided by Schaeffer's work.
A valuable book for anyone interested in Mozart
February 12, 2021
I skimmed. There's a lot of granular detail about individual works. But accessible style and interesting. Interesting how much of the movie (1986?) was true. Mozart really did worry that he was writing the Requiem (commissioned by a mysterious patron) for his own death. Salieri did admit to poisoning Mozart on his deathbed, but probably didn't. Interesting details, like rich people had their own orchestras to perform at home. A more economical option was chamber music. Full of details like that and many excerpts from Mozart's own charming letters to Constanze.
December 27, 2017
Dull (in D major)
June 2, 2020
A really informative book.
October 28, 2020
Music man as slave to the Rich! Many details of his works!
Want to read
May 11, 2021All of my music major friends may drag me for wanting to read about probably the most over-researched musicians in history... but listen ok this book sounds interesting
April 12, 2022
A classical study of Mozart's last year.
January 2, 2025
Wonderful account of Mozart's final year... unfathomable.
February 23, 2023
"After table we stayed a long time in the salon despite the bad smell from the audience."
Brilliant and terrifying book about the realities of art and life at the end of the 18th Century - and at the very beginning of the modern era of music as profession and mass artform.
This is Mozart, an artist we think we know - he's the chirpy one from that film, right? And an era that's supposed to be so close to us in terms of our evolving humanity - between the French revolution and the terror, the era of the Bill of Rights and the steam-powered loom - but so distant in terms of the daily experience of life, which is so harsh, even for a famous artist.
Don't expect much about the music, or about the loves of the dear boy, or his famously playful personality, or the joy of performance. We're right at the end of this young man's busy life. The book's essentially a catalogue of grim physical trials endured by poor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - who was only 34 and wouldn't get any older - in the final year of his life - of epic journeys (in collapsing horse-drawn carriages quite often bought specially for the trip), of intolerable living conditions and diabolical food provided by hateful grandees who never paid their bills, of mysterious debilitating illnesses and (of course) of a life cut short by service to art (and to those miserable patrons).
The book's full of enervating phrases like the one at the top (which is from an account of a dinner performance by Mozart). Accommodation is always dirty and verminous, the nobles we meet are always mean-spirited and unwelcoming. Journeys are all arduous, some more than others:
(a trip to Prague to perform at a coronation).
Musicians - even brilliant, sought-after ones - had a different status in the 18th Century. Here's a job ad from Vienna in the period:
And then, of course, there's the final, ghastly physicality of his early death:
(From a book based on Mozart's wife's recollections, quoted by Landon).
What I'm left with is an image of the musician as grafter, as under-appreciated, barely-recognised labourer in the fields of art. Sacrifice, privation, hunger, physical collapse - evidently the necessary preconditions for creation in that golden age.
Landon was an American musicologist and a historian who wrote four other books about Mozart but was best-known as a Haydn scholar. This book's out of print but there are tons of cheap second-hand copies to be had.
Brilliant and terrifying book about the realities of art and life at the end of the 18th Century - and at the very beginning of the modern era of music as profession and mass artform.
This is Mozart, an artist we think we know - he's the chirpy one from that film, right? And an era that's supposed to be so close to us in terms of our evolving humanity - between the French revolution and the terror, the era of the Bill of Rights and the steam-powered loom - but so distant in terms of the daily experience of life, which is so harsh, even for a famous artist.
Don't expect much about the music, or about the loves of the dear boy, or his famously playful personality, or the joy of performance. We're right at the end of this young man's busy life. The book's essentially a catalogue of grim physical trials endured by poor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - who was only 34 and wouldn't get any older - in the final year of his life - of epic journeys (in collapsing horse-drawn carriages quite often bought specially for the trip), of intolerable living conditions and diabolical food provided by hateful grandees who never paid their bills, of mysterious debilitating illnesses and (of course) of a life cut short by service to art (and to those miserable patrons).
The book's full of enervating phrases like the one at the top (which is from an account of a dinner performance by Mozart). Accommodation is always dirty and verminous, the nobles we meet are always mean-spirited and unwelcoming. Journeys are all arduous, some more than others:
The mail-coach with four horses left Vienna at eight o'clock in the morning and took three days, with twenty-one post stations, to arrive at Prague in the morning...
(a trip to Prague to perform at a coronation).
Musicians - even brilliant, sought-after ones - had a different status in the 18th Century. Here's a job ad from Vienna in the period:
A musician is wanted, who plays the piano well and can sing too, and is able to give lessons in both. The musician must also perform the duties of a valet-de-chambre...
And then, of course, there's the final, ghastly physicality of his early death:
Suddenly he began to vomit - it spat out of him in an arch - it was brown, and he was dead.
(From a book based on Mozart's wife's recollections, quoted by Landon).
What I'm left with is an image of the musician as grafter, as under-appreciated, barely-recognised labourer in the fields of art. Sacrifice, privation, hunger, physical collapse - evidently the necessary preconditions for creation in that golden age.
Landon was an American musicologist and a historian who wrote four other books about Mozart but was best-known as a Haydn scholar. This book's out of print but there are tons of cheap second-hand copies to be had.
June 1, 2016
Wow. After reading this book, I feel as if I can recount every single detail of every single day of Mozart's last year before he died. The author has proven that he is an expert on all things Mozart, that he understands the man, and that he understands the time period in which Mozart lived and died.
Unfortunately, all of that detail does not make a great reading experience. I would've liked a more narrative, story-telling experience and a greater focus on Mozart's music.
I'm not saying this is the go-to book for learning more about Mozart (it's the only Mozart book that I've read), but it is worth reading if you wish to know more about the man and how his relationship with music.
Unfortunately, all of that detail does not make a great reading experience. I would've liked a more narrative, story-telling experience and a greater focus on Mozart's music.
I'm not saying this is the go-to book for learning more about Mozart (it's the only Mozart book that I've read), but it is worth reading if you wish to know more about the man and how his relationship with music.
June 23, 2016
3.5 stars. This book leans more towards scholarly research than biographical narrative. Reading this book will give you a very well-informed, corrected understanding of the timeline, events, and finances of Mozart's last year. This book is a self-acknowleded response to the popular Amadeus play and movie.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is already an established fan of Mozart. This book will give you a more accurate sense of the man and his struggles (and the author also has a great chapter redeeming Constanze).
I would recommend this book to anyone who is already an established fan of Mozart. This book will give you a more accurate sense of the man and his struggles (and the author also has a great chapter redeeming Constanze).
May 22, 2016
This book, which chiefly concerns the tragic last year of Mozart’s life, was largely written as a response to the movie “Amadeus” in order to set the record straight. While it reads like a detective story, it is primarily a celebration of the life and music of Mozart. It also documents his struggles to make it as an independent musician…unheard of in his time. A pleasure to read, it is highly recommended for Mozart aficionados.
October 3, 2012
Interesting. Well-researched and eye-opening that most of what I've heard about Mozart is probably mostly fiction (okay, honestly, based on the movie Amadeus, which appears to be mostly not accurate). Pretty easy read for a non-fiction research book.
July 30, 2016
Such an interesting read... Every classical musician needs this book. Landon really does a great job of laying out all opinions on everything about Mozarts last year on earth... Juicy and yet informative!
September 13, 2024
This book offers the most detailed account I've ever encountered of Mozart's final year. While it may sound tedious to some, I found it fascinating to learn more about the circumstances of his death and his last works. A must-read for any Mozart enthusiast.
March 23, 2008
qdo os anjos tocam pra DEUS, eles tocam bach, mas qdo tocam para divertir-se, tocam mozart!!
leio o livro, recomendo.
leio o livro, recomendo.
Read
March 19, 2010Mozart's Last Year, 1791 by H.C. Robbins LANDON (1988)
June 19, 2016
A very scholarly work with many supporting documents. I learned much about Mozart's final year and some were contrary to ideas that I had previously believed to be true.
February 15, 2022
看得是中文翻译版（翻译的注释很尽责）。
所以这本书到底是给行家还是普通好奇群众写的？
在没有Google，Facebook和Amazon的年代，还原莫扎特最后一年生活如此详细，实乃不易！只不过，好几点本可以写得更深入（不是光围绕着莫扎特），比如，18世纪，音乐会由给皇家给贵族转到中产阶级这一主题（可以写一个博士论文了）。
所以这本书到底是给行家还是普通好奇群众写的？
在没有Google，Facebook和Amazon的年代，还原莫扎特最后一年生活如此详细，实乃不易！只不过，好几点本可以写得更深入（不是光围绕着莫扎特），比如，18世纪，音乐会由给皇家给贵族转到中产阶级这一主题（可以写一个博士论文了）。
May 1, 2023
On holiday in Penzance I picked this up as a bookcase read. Only read a few pages but decided to buy it. An extremely informative and poignant time capsule.
September 16, 2012
A musicologist's history of Mozart's last year of life. Not so interesting for the general reader.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews