Mozart: The Reign of Love

by Jan Swafford, Tim Campbell (Narrator)

From the acclaimed composer and biographer Jan Swafford comes the definitive biography of one of the most lauded musical geniuses in history, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

At the earliest ages it was apparent that Wolfgang Mozart’s singular imagination was at work in every direction. He hated to be bored and hated to be idle, and through his life he responded to these threats with a repertoire of antidotes mental and physical. Whether in his rabidly obscene mode or not, Mozart was always hilarious. He went at every piece of his life, and perhaps most notably his social life, with tremendous gusto. His circle of friends and patrons was wide, encompassing anyone who appealed to his boundless appetites for music and all things pleasurable and fun.

Mozart was known to be an inexplicable force of nature who could rise from a luminous improvisation at the keyboard to a leap over the furniture. He was forever drumming on things, tapping his feet, jabbering away, but who could grasp your hand and look at you with a profound, searching, and melancholy look in his blue eyes. Even in company there was often an air about Mozart of being not quite there. It was as if he lived onstage and off simultaneously, a character in life’s tragicomedy but also outside of it watching, studying, gathering material for the fabric of his art.

Like Jan Swafford’s biographies Beethoven and Johannes Brahmes, Mozart is the complete exhumation of a genius in his life and ours: a man who would enrich the world with his talent for centuries to come and who would immeasurably shape classical music. As Swafford reveals, it’s nearly impossible to understand classical music’s origins and indeed its evolutions, as well as the Baroque period, without studying the man himself.

Genres: Biography, Music, Nonfiction, History, Biography Memoir, Classical Music, European History

Audiobook

First published December 8, 2020

About the author

Jan Swafford is a composer and writer. His musical works range from orchestral and chamber to film and theater music, including four pieces for orchestra, Midsummer Variations for piano quintet, They That Mourn for piano trio, They Who Hunger for piano quartet, From the Shadow of the Mountain for string orchestra and the theatrical work, Iphigenia, for choir, instruments and a narrator.

Swafford's music has been played around the country and abroad by ensembles including the symphonies of Indianapolis, St. Louis, Harrisburg, Springfield, Jacksonville, Chattanooga and the Dutch Radio. Among his honors are a National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) Composers Grant and two Massachusetts Artists Council Fellowships. His work appears on CRI recordings and is published by Peer Southern. From 1999-2002, he was Composer-in-Residence of Market Square Concerts in Harrisburg.

Swafford holds degrees in music from Harvard and Yale. His teachers have included Jacob Druckman, Earl Kim and, at Tanglewood, Betsy Jolas. From 1988-1989 he was a Mellon Faculty Fellow at Harvard. Swafford currently teaches music history, theory and composition at The Boston Conservatory.

As a musical journalist and scholar, Swafford has appeared in Slate, Guardian International, Gramophone, Symphony and 19th-Century Music. He has written program notes for the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), the Chicago and San Francisco Symphonies, Chamber Music at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall programs and Naxos and Sony Classical Recordings. Since 1998, he has participated in musical features on Nation Public Radio (NPR's) Performance Today and Morning Edition, and he is a regular preconcert lecturer for the BSO. His books include The Vintage Guide to Classical Music and the biographies, Charles Ives: A Life with Music from Norton (nominated for a National Book Critics Circle award, winner of the PEN/Winship prize) and Johannes Brahms: A Biography from Knopf. Currently, Swafford is writing a biography of Beethoven for Houghton Mifflin.

Reviews

[Jonathan O'Neill]

Just did an Amazon search for this book - 'Mozart: The Reign of Love

Glancing down to the 'Products related to this item' section, I was more than a little amused to see the title, 'Semen Retention Benefits: A Transmutation of Your Life Energy'.

We're gonna need to do some work on those algorithms, Amazon!

[Phillip Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an exhaustive biography of Mozart (832 pages) that covers his life in intricate detail and examines the brilliance of his music as well as the complexities of his character and family life. The book also dispels the many historical inaccuries and myths that been ingrained into the public consciousness over the years through liberties taken in film and theatrical depictions as well as gossip. Fortunately for biographers, Mozart's life was well-documented through letters. Indeed, his father, realizing his son's talents and the importance of his legacy, made a concerted effort to record the minute details of their travels, performances and the public's reaction to them. The author does a remarkable job at describing life during this time. The first half of the book, which details the many “concert tours” that Mozart and his sister Nannerl made beginning when Mozart was only five years old, is particularly vivid. The book is as much a biography of Mozart's father (Leopold) as it is him, detailing his drives and desires to immortalize his son. Mozart's relationships with his sister, mother and wife are also closely examined. The descriptions of life during the time is also quite fascinating. The only part of the book I didn't enjoy were the lengthy and technical descriptions of Mozart's work. Readers who have a knowledge of music will no doubt find these analyses worthwhile (the author is a musician himself) but non-musicians like myself, will probably begin skimming. An appendix of musical forms in Mozart's time, bibliography, works cited and an index of musical compositions is included.

[Robert Sheard · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's only ever been one criticism of Mozart's music (and it's wrong, of course): "too many notes."

That's actually the criticism I have of Swafford's biography. At 740 densely-packed pages, it's at least 250 pages too long because Swafford is really doing two things here where only one was necessary. The first is the actual biography of Mozart's all-too-brief life and miraculous career, starting when he was five years old and a prodigy through to his death at age 35, while racing to finish his greatest sacred work, his Requiem.

But within each chapter, many of which are devoted to the periods of individual tours of Europe or devoted to the periods surrounding the composition of major works, Swafford includes detailed, complicated, and frankly tedious analyses of the musical forms, keys, and the development of individual works, even to the level of individual phrases. It's just "too many notes." A lay reader without an extensive musical theory background is going to get little out of those sections and they completely distract from the wonderful biographical flow of Mozart's life and career. Had he left those sections at a bare minimum, I'd be praising this book much more highly.

A real joy to come from reading this biography, however, was the excuse to re-explore much of Mozart's body of work. Just imagine if he had lived another five decades, as his wife did.

[Will White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is now the third of Jan Swafford's composer biographies that I have read, and I have loved every one of them. Brahms, Beethoven, and now Mozart. (I don't care one whit about Ives, but I have every confidence that Swafford would gave him a superb treatment as well.)

Anyway, the Mozart biography was fantastic. Swafford admits up front that Mozart is not going to follow our pre-ordained romanticized vision of what a composer is supposed to be. He was a child prodigy who was happy to live within the confines of a society dominated by aristocrats and the Catholic church. As an adult, after a somewhat difficult break with his father, he mainly wrote what he wanted and lived in domestic bliss with his wife whom he adored.

But of course, it's not as simple as that, and Swafford is great at teasing out the fascinating details of Mozart's life and context. Not only that, he proves once and for all that when Mozart died, he was on the cusp of a whole new level of productivity and depth in his compositions, and professional success in his life.

Above all, what makes Swafford such a great writer about musicians is that he is a composer himself. He writes about music in a way that makes it come alive and makes the reader rush to their sound system to listen — even to pieces that one has known one's whole life.

I hope that Swafford will continue going backwards through music history and give us biographies of Haydn, the Bach sons, JS himself, Handel and even Purcell.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you’ve ever wanted to read a book about Mozart, to learn about the man and his music, this is the book. No original research: the author builds his narrative from all the most recent and highest quality secondary sources. The author’s unique contribution is the sensitivity, born of his own compositional work, that he brings to music analysis.

Despite everything I’ve read about Mozart (and I’ve read a lot), I still learned so much from this book: about what different keys meant to Mozart and how he used them; the wonderful music he wrote to play with his friends; and his marvelous late chamber works. Excellent book that I cannot recommend highly enough!

[Kristianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew, I finally made it through this 800-page book! I feel like I could be an expert on Mozart now! XD Really though, this was a fascinating read and I learned so much not only about Mozart and his process, but also about musical forms of that time. The author does include extensive analysis on most of Mozart's major works, so if you're looking for just a straightforward biography, this might not be the book for you, especially if you're not a huge classical music person. ;)

Content: The author does reference many of Mozart's letters that include his crude jokes and humor. Also, he is rather candid at times about the portrayal of sexual themes in Mozart's operas. It's not explicit, but just wanted to mention that.

Overall, this was a fairly easy to read biography and I enjoyed that the author included his own commentary and thoughts to the book, giving it more depth!

[Betty · Rating 2 out of 5]

First of all ..... this was WAY too long. The audiobook was over 32 HOURS and it sure dragged. If you are looking for a book about the person Mozart I recommend you find another book, because each chapter had only minute details about his life, personality, etc. mainly focusing on the fact that the adult W.A. Mozart never learnt how to handle money!
If you are looking for a book with the most detailed descriptions of ALL his works (which are obviously many!) than this book is definitely for you.
I am not a Music major, just a person interested in the life and times of people like Mozart.... I managed to get through this book by sheer willpower. I think that the title of the book should be "The complete Descriptions of all of Mozart's works (with a short look at his life and the times he lived in)".

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally finished this very long bio, and it was a revelation in many ways, dispelling so many cultural myths. It was easy to read, but might be problematic for non-musicians, as it deals with details of many of his works chronologically with his life events.

[Mara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me THREE WEEKS to read this book, so my review will be a long one. I read it on my computer (where it clocked in at over a thousand pages) because I wanted to look up specific pieces of music as I was reading about them, which made this an immersive reading experience. (Highly recommend if you decide to tackle this thing.)

This biography is incredibly detailed and thorough. We get a good sense of Mozart’s childhood fame and tumultuous relationship with his father, Leopold, who saw his two children as miracles from God—and also as his own personal piggy banks. Leopold was controlling, and it appears that his daughter, Nannerl, suffered the most from it. Her talents were shelved after they could no longer be exploited, and she died somewhat bitter and very much estranged from her famous younger brother.

The book examines not only Mozart’s life, but the politics and culture he lived in. “Artists of the future would write from inside out. Mozart and artists of his time and earlier wrote from outside in.” There were specific “rules” he was expected to conform to: “The point of art was not to express yourself but to express everybody and to express art itself.” He did so much within the limitations of those rules—you wonder what he would have accomplished with absolutely no restraints.

Mozart is described as optimistic, self-protective, “a man geared for happiness.” He loved to play billiards daily. He was also severely ill for much of his life and suffered from recurring bouts of rheumatic fever. He was terrible with money and constantly asked friends for loans. He was an active Freemason with progressive inclinations. He often talked in rhyme and had a dirty sense of humor. He was constantly “gathering material from the world around him for the fabric of his art.” Always busy, Mozart “enjoyed the successes, absorbed the failures, and went on about his business.”

The book includes detailed descriptions of the music of each opera, as well as a plot summary. These sections lagged for me—I wanted to jump back into his life. The Marriage of Figaro was considered scandalous at the time. Napoleon Bonaparte would go on to say that the opera was, “the first shot of the French Revolution.” The author declares that, “Figaro is as close to perfect as Mozart ever came, which is to say as close as opera ever came.” (But he later says that The Magic Flute was, in fact, the most perfect: “the furthest reach of his art.”) Mozart felt that his operas were his most important works. (As opposed to his symphonies.)

Many historical figures drift in and out of the book. Weirdly, Casanova appears throughout. Mozart shared a mutual admiration with Haydn, a mentor and colleague. (His death hit Haydn hard.)

We know so much about his life because Mozart’s family saved nearly every letter he wrote. After his death, Nannerl gave a biographer over 400 family letters. Constanze (his wife) also saved correspondence, but there is evidence she destroyed anything that might contain his political leanings, as Austria was developing into a police state.

There are some great details in here. We know that he hummed as he worked. He loved to play piano, then viola, but was not a fan of trumpet. “He did not create for art’s sake.” He rarely said no to a project and was often overworked, which probably hastened his death.

Although Mozart originally saw Salieri as an obstacle in Vienna, by the last year of his life, he and Salieri had a “mutually respecting friendship” and attended operas together. Salieri even tutored Mozart’s youngest son and was “anguished” by the rumor that he had poisoned Mozart.

I thought the title didn’t fit. It feels uninspired. At one point, the author mentions the Enlightenment concept of the sublime and defines it as “something deeper than beauty.” I would have incorporated this idea into the title.

As long as this was, I wanted to know a bit more about what happened after Mozart’s death. We get a brief recap of the people closest to him (and a great story about Constanze’s second husband’s grave). But I wanted more. I think I would have cut 100 pages about the operas and replaced it with Mozart’s legacy.

Glad I read this and am now fairly certain I could beat most people at Mozart trivia.

[David Holoman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars because I cannot think of a single thing I would change about it. Well maybe one thing.

This book has the annoying characteristic of being so good that the audio version alone won't suffice, you need the hardcopy to refer back to, to check the assertions about how ethereal and moving a particular passage might be, and to occupy a place of honor on a real, not virtual, bookshelf. (This is not the one thing I would change.)

I learned a lot reading this book, things you could argue I should have known, about matters like sonata form and where Mozart sits in relation to peers. I marvel at the freshness that a biography here 250ish years later. Swafford appears to bring unbiased eyes to the record. Also, I do not see any sign of a collaborating translator, so the rendering in English of rhyming tomfoolery, which Mozart wrote a lot of, I guess is some handy wordsmithing by the author, because the source material was not English.

The one thing I would change is NOT the blow by blow (by blow) account Die Zauberflote, although I am sorely tempted. It takes about as much time to read it as it takes to watch the opera.

The one thing I would change is the title, and the closing tie-up-with-a-bow-relating-to-the-title. I think it refers to facts not in evidence. I think the genius just wanted to ply his craft; I think the Greater Motivating Principle is just an imagined reverse construction.

[Joshua Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up. So excellently written and made me go back and listen to many of the works mentioned with fresh ears!

[Cole Norum · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterful journey. Thoughtful, remarkably researched and expertly detailed. At times hilarious, other times deeply gripping. Sad, sweet, even sensual. I’m grateful for this as a documenting of a titan and also a foray into a genre I was almost completely ignorant to.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exhaustive yet exciting biography of my favorite composer. This book could be used as a source for a semester-long course on Mozart, it's that dense and that packed with information. It contains history, biography, culture, and a large amount of musicology and composing. This is a huge book and it could have been split into 3 individual ones, but as it stands, it's a great reference book to have if you're interested in the mechanics of one of his concertos, who was his patron when he wrote some sonatas, what his father and sister were like, etc.

I learned a great deal. Some of the cool things were the people whose lives intersected with Mozart, including Joseph & Michael Haydn, Beethoven, Hummel, Johann Christian Bach, and even Goethe. Can you imagine stopping by Mozart's home and seeing Wolfgang, his father Leopold, and Joseph Haydn just sitting around playing violin and viola together, passing the evening away?

A great quote from the book came near the end:

In the end, much of what sets Mozart apart from Beethoven and those who followed was the amity of his music, the art of a sociable man intended for a circle of friends and for small groups of listeners. That inflected even his monumental last two symphonies, which would become central to how Beethoven conceived the genre. Lonely, deaf, and misanthropic, Beethoven came to address his music to the world at large, to concert halls, to posterity. Beethoven wrote for Humanity, Mozart for people. What we hear in Mozart, even in the last symphonies, is a gift given to us intimately as friend to friend, lover to lover" (p. 732-733)

[Ansgar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook. 3.5
Very good in the grand scheme of things. But an irritatingly large amount of music theory.

[Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75. I only wish the audio had included excerpts of the music.

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oof, this was a tough listen. I like Mozart's music well enough and have read another biography of him many years ago because I knew that, as much as I love the film, Amadeus, it's quite far from the truth when it comes to the man. It was a passable biography, but not great. This, to my understanding, is one of the best available to the average reader these days, and before I even start, I want to be clear that this is indeed a very exhaustive and well researched biography on possibly the greatest composer to ever grace the Earth.

That said, I grabbed the audiobook because I knew that this would be a book that took me several months to read through otherwise. It's dense. Very dense, and the main reason for this is the amount of time dedicated to trying to describe and explain Mozart's music. This is also the major downfall of the audiobook, for me at least. I was fully onboard for learning about Mozart and the people around him. There is so much great information on his family, friends and acquaintances to the point that I have learned a great more than I ever expected to about Emperor Joseph II, to say nothing of the history of Austria, and all of this was great. I love history.

When it came time to talk about the music though, the book just slows down to a crawl. I know these sections need to be here. It's important to talk about the music behind the man, but it gets to be so boring. If you don't know a little music theory, these sections are especially tedious because it's all a bunch of jargon and vague descriptions of intangible things that mean well, but that just don't work unless you know the pieces well, and even as much as I listen to Mozart, I don't know them all that well (and listening to this while at work, I didn't always have the luxury to pop over to listen to the pieces on the fly). This was extra painful because he explains early on in the book about how composers at the time weren't typically writing with deeper meaning to their pieces, and then spends good chunks of time explaining meaning in Mozart's pieces.

In the end, I'm still glad I read it, if only to get all the great information on the man (and really understand just how much the film, Amadeus, got wrong). I'm also glad I did this with the audiobook rather than a physical book (though I do own a copy because I had intended to read it over a year ago) because I finished it far quicker than I would otherwise have done. The music description bits were rough though, hence why I'm giving this a 3 out of 5. It's a great book. Just a tough read unless you really like commentary on centuries old music that might be digging a bit deeper than it needs to at times.

[Andrew Dockrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good book!

There is no argument that Jan Swafford is an extremely talented writer and knows his musicology. I have yet to read his other two books on Brahms and Beethoven, but having just finished Mozart I cannot wait. This book is so in depth taking us from Wolfgang's birth all the way to his death and the journey was like drinking a glass of wine - or whatever your favorite beverage might be. The only parts of the book that I had to slog through a little bit is when he breaks down the meter on which Mozart wrote his operas and piano concherto's in, this was largely meant for those who are well versed in music notation and bars. I found myself after the first few instances of Swafford explaining it, simply skimming it. But this is no fault of Swafford's of course, what else does someone expect when reading about a musical prodigy.

Another thing that was quite nice was that Swafford takes a very nuanced debunking approach to Mozart in that he tries to dispel some of the myths that have come to be attached to his legend since his death. He really makes you stop and think just how unstable trying to make a career for yourself as a musician was in the 18th century. There were no record labels and you had to depend on the relationships you built within the court and hope that you exhibited enough flair when you played that someone might wish to become your patron. But even having found a patron was not necessarily enough as there were many talented musicians within a given city who quite often had their knives out and would be only to eager to sabotage your career. Mozart was certainly a force of nature and really gave me a new respect for his ability and all he had to overcome, and some of the child prodigies of our lifetime - arguably an Elton John for example.

All in all I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Mozart even if you don't possess a strong understanding of musical structure, it doesn't take away from the experience at all, but the rest of the story is very rewarding and Swafford really succeeds in bringing Wolfgang to life. I cannot wait to dive into more of Swafford's work as he has gained himself a new loyal reader.

[Bookslut · Rating 5 out of 5]

My heart ❤️ I have too much tied up in this book now for it to be just a book or just a review, but the book absolutely would stand on its own. It was an outstanding, comprehensive look at Mozart and his time.

I started this because my classical choir announced it would sing the Requiem. Ahh, the Requiem and I go way back. Or do we? I can't even be completely sure. I have a very vivid memory of waiting with the women's chorus while the top Concert Choir rehearsed their portion of the Christmas concert. I was a college freshman and it was the most beautiful piece of music I'd ever heard. I asked "What is this?" and someone whispered (I think) "Mozart's Requiem". Honestly, I could've gotten the composer wrong. There's a lot of requiems. I don't know if it was the same piece I heard as an 18 year old girl, but the Requiem has held a mystique for me this whole time. I was thrilled to be performing it! This was further enhanced by the small forward at the front of my sheet music, which said Mozart died during its composition, and there is a swirl of tragic and romantic rumor around it. I decided to find a book about the Requiem to learn more, and landed on a big fat biography of Mozart.

And as life sometimes has it, Bubby, the love of my life, wove into this narrative in an unforgettable way. He'd become ill over the summer, and I'd spent the past six months of my life trying to do everything I could to return him to good health. I thought it was impossible that I would lose him, but he passed away during the rehearsal season for the Requiem. Like Mozart, he was unsurpassed and died in his prime. My preparations for those concerts were inextricably entwined with my mourning for him. The performances were a surreal and emotional Requiem where I both lived the musical moment I'd been envisioning for two decades and also felt my soul cry out for his soul. My one true love. Et lux perpetua.

It took me over six months to finish it, most often just reading a little of it before bed each night. It was a phenomenal reading experience and I am so grateful to have picked up this particular book among the many that have been written about Mozart. I would read anything he wrote, and recommend it to anyone remotely open to reading a biography of a classical composer.

I am with you. You are with me ❤️

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the finest Mozart biography out there. Erudite masterpiece which provides social, political, psychological, and cultural context in great detail to set critical tone and motive for Mozart's professional and personal life. Nearly all of the traditional folklore regarding a mythic suffering persecuted-genius defining Mozart's life is debunked when facts are cogently laid bare herein. Mozart made a ton of money over his lifetime and was never poor. He expended more then he made by spending almost compulsively on elaborate wardrobes, likely gambling on billiards and cards, and many other frivolities & luxuries. He lived like a prince in the lap of luxury with near universal adulation. His father was an unforgiving controlling taskmaster who hid his true financial worth from his family and scornfully disinherited Mozart, even though almost all his money was made off his children's performances. He never recovered from being left behind by his son's adult success--where to his chagrin he had a naturally diminishing role compared to early years spent guiding an arrestingly talented pair of children. If hand and face washing with soap had been the norm, Mozart could have lived another decade or two--creeping bacterial infections seem to have finished him off.

[Jack Hayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Swafford does it again, and it is a monumental task. He dispels three myths of Mozart: the enlightened genius, the artist rebel in modern garb, and Amadeus folklore. Mozart is a little of all these but is ultimately a product of his time. A composer who innovated in the received forms of the day, catapulting some into new realms, particularly the concerto, a form brought from the private parlor to the public concert hall. One of the most surprising parts of the book was how pieces were written for specific parts and people. The Marriage of Figaro, for example, is written with particular people in mind, contrasting with the eternal mindset of how classical music is conceived today. Additionally, just the level of improv happening in classical music all the time is so absent from classical music today. In some ways, classical music is like biblical studies trying to capture the original performance of pieces.

Another surprising thing was how silly and scatological Mozart’s humor was, which Swafford captures well throughout the book. For the lover of biographies and music, this is a must.

93% Occasional

[Philip Koslow · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, let's get the biographical information corrected....Many years ago on the planet Krypton, Jorel and Lara placed their infant son on a spacecraft enabling it to escape the catastrophe about to consume their planet. Launching it into space without a GPS, it eventually landed in the small yet picture post card alpine village on Earth called Salzburg. Adopted by unsuspecting parents to be the child named Wolfgang at age 5 seemingly, without any musical training, jumped up on a piano bench and played yet unknown tunes which caused his father to exclaim..."He is a miracle." For the next 35 years and 11 months the lad continued to leap tall buildings at a single bound and enjoyed life like a speeding bullet. Really, could this all be true? Jan Swafford presents us with a different story however in 740 pages of action packed string quartets, operas, symphonies, piano concertos and other assorted musical bon bons all to prove a point that all of this has something to do with "Love." And he does so, convincingly. Building his story on the shoulders of such imminent music thinkers as Maynard Solomon, Alfred Einstein, Volkmar Braunbehrens, Edward Dent, H.C. Robbins Landon and a few others, much of the mythical anecdotes are dispelled. Yes, we know who commissioned the Requiem Mass as Mozart neared death (one Herr Franz von Walsegg), and that Mozart was not poisoned by Salieri and that Mozart's marriage to Constanze was truly a loving relationship. Copious end notes and resource reading citations back up Mr. Swafford's presentation and this tome will likely be the "go to" place when looking for details about Mozart and Da Ponte, Mozart and Schikaneder, Mozart and Opera, Mozart and letters to his father (Leopold) and his sister (Nannerl). And did I mention the piano concerti, wind music and string chamber music. All there and ably noted. A few quotes that may encourage you to explore this wonderful read....Mr Swafford opines on page 469..."To make a broad generalization: music needs both simplicity, for coherence and expression, and complexity, for depth and durability."...."Mozart's surface is often deceptively simple and direct. But often in his finest work...the material is richly varied in shape and rhythm and expression....managed by subtle and complex form." Wise words indeed. Or page 471...."No artist made more of pleasure-made it deeper, more liberated, more sensual-than Mozart." I agree. And in a conclusion on page 733...."From childhood, music was his (Mozart's) native language and his mode of living. He thought deeply but in tones, felt mainly in tones, loved in tones, and steeped himself in the world he was creating with tones. From a life made of music he wove his music into the fabric of our times. More and more toward the end, as he reached toward new territories, his art found a consecrated beauty that rose from love: love of music, love of his wife, love of humanity in all its gnarled splendor, love of the eternal yearning for God in the human heart. His work served all that. Whatever his image of God by the time he reached the Requiem, it was taken up in his humanity, and his humanity was for all time, and it was exalted in his art." Moving sentiments indeed. Thus the streaking comet that blazed the sky on January 27, 1756 and expired in December 1791 left us with the profound image of mankind as a better angel. BTW-the author does not explain the letter "K" appended to each of Mozart's cited compositions. In case you find yourself under assault at your Friday evening cocktail reception and this issue arrises: Just remind all those within earshot that Ludwig von Kochel attempted to organize Mozart's output chronologically in the late 19th century with some success. Since then the list has been revised twice and in its 6th edition. The "K" represents Herr Kochel's initial of his last name. With that one reservation this book is highly recommended.

[megean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, sad this is over.

I’ve been a huge Mozart fan since I discovered how much I love classical musical in 2nd grade. He inspired me to study the violin as a child and while I never took it beyond playing in school orchestras and private tutors, it’s a hobby I love so much and I’m very grateful for it.

This biography was simply amazing. Swafford definitely introduced me to some facts I did not know and I loved how deep he dove into music theory and his summaries of the operas made me feel like I was reading the actual librettos. I also truly enjoyed how much he added history of other musicians and famous figures at the time and brief historic moments of Austria, Germany, France and even some of the new colonies in America.

I will definitely miss picking up this book.

[Ocean G · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I always enjoy these long, dense biographical books, I often find they get bogged down in detail, or tend to ramble on about something or another. And, not knowing much about Mozart and not being particularly musically inclined, I fully expected the same from this.

But I must say I was happily surprised. This was a pleasure to read, from the surprisingly naughty messages and couplets of his youth (my daughter really enjoyed hearing about these parts) to his trial and travails later on in life. The description of certain operas got into more detail than I could really process, but I did appreciate the analysis of famous operas like the Marriage of Figaro, or how the arias of Queen of the night were written for his sister-in-law. And some of the other characters (yes, including Salieri, but also Lorenzo Da Ponte and others) were fascinating.

https://4201mass.blogspot.com/

[William Schram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an unprecedented prodigy, and his father knew it. "Mozart: The Reign of Love" discusses Mozart's life and work. Author Jan Swafford uses old correspondence and various other sources to piece together Mozart's life.

I first got into Classical Music at the age of 12. At this age, Mozart was already composing music. While Mozart did have the prodding of his father, Leopold, it does make me feel inadequate.

The book discusses Mozart's behaviors and attitudes. It takes into account his personality and ideas. Furthermore, the book describes Mozart as a tireless artist, a creative force of nature, unbound by the strict cultural mores surrounding him.

[Ryan Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent biography! This book calmed my nerves while the Trump debacle takes place currently in America.

I was transported to 17th century Europe! To a child prodigy, that remarkably kept improving his craft as he became an adult. Crescendoing to his final year when he pushed the music past convention. Most of the time he was only writing music for small gatherings and parties.

The author is also a master at his craft. The story moves briskly along while we are given context of the time. We have an excellent guide in the author as to why and how the music is legendary.

Best quote out of hundreds:
“Beethoven wrote for humanity, Mozart wrote for people.”

Highly recommended.

[Paul Bergeron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the most well-written narrative biography of a composer I have ever read. Swafford’s writing style is captivating and engaging. The book is sprawling in length, but it manages to maintain the momentum exemplified in Mozart’s short/prolific life. Effectively dispelling myths propagated by 19th/20th century historians and in pop culture (such as “Amadeus” 1984,) Swafford’s work underscores Mozart’s lesser-known compositions. Using these works as foundational and instructional, Swafford reveals a more compelling and accurate depiction of Mozart’s life.

[Michael Platt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read many bios of Mozart and other composers. Swafford's are the best! Great biographies to be sure but doesn't skimp on actual musicology and discussion of composition in detail!

[Jason Fisk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating. Well written. There is a lot of musical information which borders on esoteric. It made me wish I knew a lot more about classical music.

[Graham Walton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book and I have learned so much from it, albeit I do not have a great knowledge of classical music I found it a brilliant read and I have a tremendous empathy for the life that Mozart lead.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable & illuminating. I combined it with listening to many of the pieces mentioned, which added hugely to its enjoyment. Great book!