Mozart: A Life in Letters

by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Cliff Eisen (Editor), Stewart Spencer (Translator)

A selection of Mozart's letters, translated into English, complete with notes, linking commentary and chronology.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Classics, History, 18th Century, Art

648 pages, Paperback

First published October 26, 2006

About the author

Johann Georg Leopold Mozart, the Austrian composer, toured Europe with his son, child prodigy, noted Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who gracefully and imaginatively refined the classical style with symphonies, concertos, operas, Masses, sonatas, and chambers among his 626 numbered works.

The comic plays of French writer Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais inspired Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to operas.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart prolifically influenced the era. Many persons acknowledged this pinnacle of piano and choral music. His popularity most endures.

Mozart showed earliest ability. From the age of five years in 1761 already competently on keyboard and violin performed before royalty. At seventeen years in 1773, a court musician in Salzburg engaged him, who restlessly traveled always abundantly in search of a better position.

Mozard visited Vienna in 1781; Salzburg dismissed his position, and he chose to stay in the capital and achieved fame but little financial security over the rest of life. The final years in Vienna yielded his many best-known Requiem . People much mythologized the circumstances of his early death. Constanze Mozart, his wife, two sons survived him.

Mozart always learned voraciously and developed a brilliance and maturity that encompassed the light alongside the dark and passionate; a vision of humanity, "redeemed through art, forgiven, and reconciled with nature and the absolute," informed the whole. He profoundly influenced all subsequent western art music. Ludwig van Beethoven wrote on his own early in the shadow of Mozart, of whom Franz Joseph Haydn wrote that "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years."

Reviews

[Jackson Cyril · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Mozart biography that I have yet read has satisfied me. Most are panegyrics or so musically dense that they make for tedious reading. But learning about Mozart's life through his own words reveals the sort of playful and sincere guy who is exactly the opposite of the sort of person who emerges from the the letters of a self-absorbed prick like Wagner.

[Rozonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Mozart these letters reveal is way different from the image we have seen in films and novels. Clever and playful, but also serious, sensible and philosophical, his letters (and those of his parents) talk about a life of struggle and hard work and filled wth tragedy and losses. A very revealing document.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

deleted tiktok coz it force fed me 15 y/o content, yet here i am reading 15y/o mozart content.. the algo knows me better than myself. smh

[Nazila · Rating 4 out of 5]

through the letters, I found another Mozart, it's an unknown one. He talks about his feelings and routine life.There was always a child inside him, the child who was repressed and couldn't grow up.

[Jim Townsend · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billy Joel once sang, "Only the Good Die Young". In this 2006 Penguin Classics compilation of letters, edited by one Cliff Eisen and translated from the original German by one Stewart Spencer, we get an intimate portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (born 27 January, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria; died, probably of rheumatic inflammatory fever and not, as is commonly thought, of poisoning by the composer Antonio Salieri, 5 December 1791 in Vienna, Austria), arguably the greatest composer of all time. The letters, written in an informal style, provide a fascinating look at the man, his loves, and his methods of composing some of the greatest music ever written. Mozart's complicated relationship with his father Leopold (born 14 November 1719 in Augsburg, Germany [Bavaria]; died 28 May 1787 in Salzburg, Austria), for example, has been written about and is likely exaggerated, for Wolfgang loved his family very much. Though the movie "Amadeus" portrays him as arrogant and conceited, these letters paint a different W.A. Mozart, one who was supremely confident but a devout Christian (and Freemason) and overall a pretty nice guy.

Jim

[Dimos Kaniouras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αυτό που μου έκανε ιδιαίτερη εντύπωση είναι η πολύ στενή σχέση του Αμαντέους με τον μουσικό κι αυτόν πατέρα του που επηρέασε καταλυτικά τον νεαρό κι από παιδάκι ακόμα Μότσαρτ για να γίνει αυτό που έγινε.Επίσης το γεγονός ότι ο τεράστιος τώρα πιά Μότσαρτ την εποχή που ζούσε πάλευε μέχρι το θανατό του καθημερινά για το μεροκάματο χωρίς ποτέ να αισθανθεί « μεγάλος».
Διαφωτιστικό όπως όλα τα true to life αυτοβιογραφικά εποχής.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MASTERFUL BIOGRAPHY OF THE GENIUS COMPOSER

Maynard Solomon (born 1930) was a co-founder of Vanguard Records and music producer, but is also the author of Beethoven. This book was written in 1995.

He notes, "When Mozart died, memorial gatherings and concerts were held in his honor in Vienna, Prague, Kassel, and Berlin, but not in Salzburg (his hometown)... The process of forgetting Mozart began in the aftermath of his rancorous quarrel with Archbishop Hieronymous Colloredo... The notorious kick in the rear by which the archbishop's chamberlain Count Arco sealed Mozart's resignation ... was a blunt way of saying, 'And don't come back!'... Voluntary migration had resulted in informal exclusion: Mozart had brought about his own exile. He was punished for leaving home, for preferring a different place, for dissatisfaction with a city that was good enough for everyone else." (Pg. xiv-xv)

He begins the first chapter by recording, "The child Mozart was examined by several eminent observers, who authenticated his gifts and issued glowing scientific reports describing his prodigious talents." (Pg. 3) He admits that "Mozart's father took a hand in the composition of some of his son'e early works, but the extent of his participation cannot be fully determined..." (Pg. 50)

He concludes, "Always viewing the world from novel perspectives, Mozart cannot help but reshape traditions, however comforting they may be; he cannot help probing beyond the gentle longings of the serenader, who keeps his darker passions at bay, hidden within the lulling rhythms of the simulated lute accompaniment." (Pg. 127)

Later, he admits, "We do not know whether Mozart spent his money in more dramatic ways---on gambling and women, for example... Mozart frequently played billiards and cards... gambling was prevalent in his society at every level..." (Pg. 298) He observes, "Though he remained a Mason even after the twilight of the Illuminist movement, the preponderance of the evidence suggests that Mozart belonged to the rationalist, Illuminati-dominated wing of Viennese Freemasonry. " (Pg. 324)

He notes, "Although stories of the colossal pace at which he was able to compose have passed into the realm of the legendary, there is no question but that he ordinarily worked at an extremely fast rate." (Pg. 309) At a private performance of the 'Haydn' String Quartets, Haydn told Mozart's father "what any father, and especially one who was himself a composer and court musician, would have longed to hear---that he regarded Mozart as 'the greatest composer' of the age." (Pg. 346)

This biography (though somewhat controversial in some of its opinions) is "must reading" for those interested in learning more about the man behind the music.

[Ellen Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books, and I revisit it often. It offers fascinating insights into Mozart as a son, husband, deep thinker, and incredibly prolific composer. He began touring as a child, growing up in inns and carriages. As his popularity grew, he took on constant work around Europe, writing all the while to family and his wife until his death. This book also includes poems he wrote for his pet bird, his crass, perverse sense of humor, his struggles as an artist, and otherwise holds some surprises for anyone expecting a stuffy, proper person.

[Isabelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The last thing he did was to try and mouth the sound of the timpani in his Requiem; I can still hear it now."

Wow! Such a master and dedicated person, yet also playful and humorous. Reading the letters was the best possible way to get to know who Mozart really was, yet it would have been slightly better if more was mentioned about his music towards the end of his life.

[Peter Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absorbing read. Much, much better than the (one) biography of Mozart I have read.

[Janice Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read on Mozart! I would highly recommend to anyone wanting a more in-depth understanding of the man behind the music.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most readable collection of letters from the Mozarts. IMHO the absolute best. Will be forever cherished on my shelf.

[覚 · Rating 4 out of 5]

高中时候看的，莫扎特很可爱。他作为一个存在过的人、一个虚构的形象曾给予我许多活着的动力与快乐。

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, it delivered a truthful and honest picture of Mozart, how he really was. I found it very interesting to get most of the information through his letters.

[Judith Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Mozart, to work so hard, and to struggle all his life to make ends meet, when for centuries to come his music would bring such joy to mankind and bring in such a lot of money! And yet, he seems to have taken death philosophically. I've just also completed Jennifer Worth's In The Midst Of Life, and his attitude to death seems to accord with her writing on the subject. Highly recommend both!

[Cris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'f you've seen the movie "Amadeus" before you've read a bio of Mozart, you will be very surprised. Mozart was a very serious man, a very thoughtful and dutiful man, not the buffoon making poo-jokes, though he did have a slightly more irreverent character with his acquaintances than his father.

[Sergej van Middendorp]

Beautiful to experience Mozart in first person perspective. And to feel the struggles he went through in periods of his life when he had time to write letters. ;-) And to see him grow and fall again. Real.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent selection of letters written by Mozart's father, some by his mother, and many by Mozart himself. It also includes his cousin's witnessing of Mozart's death.

[Uchenk Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

just write what you can't remember, what you can't tell

[Chana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary!! Mozart's life in his own & his father's words. You just can't make this stuff up!