Mozart in Context

Brings into focus the vibrant musical, cultural and historical currents of eighteenth-century Europe and how they shaped Mozart's career.

Simon P. Keefe (Edited by)

9781107181052, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 20 December 2018

350 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.1 cm, 0.71 kg

'This is an essential vade mecum that no Mozartian should be without.' David Threasher, Gramophone

The vibrant intellectual, social and political climate of mid eighteenth-century Europe presented opportunities and challenges for artists and musicians alike. This book focuses on Mozart the man and musician as he responds to different aspects of that world. It reveals his views on music, aesthetics and other matters; on places in Austria and across Europe that shaped his life; on career contexts and environments, including patronage, activities as an impresario, publishing, theatrical culture and financial matters; on engagement with performers and performance, focusing on Mozart's experiences as a practicing musician; and on reception and legacy from his own time through to the present day. Probing diverse Mozartian contexts in a variety of ways, the contributors reflect the vitality of existing scholarship and point towards areas primed for further study. This volume is essential reading for students and scholars of late eighteenth-century music and for Mozart aficionados and music lovers in general.

Part I. Personality, Work, Worldview: 1. Personal relationships Simon P. Keefe
2. Learning and teaching Adeline Mueller
3. Compositional methods Ulrich Leisinger
4. Religious views David Wyn Jones
5. Aesthetic views Edmund J. Goehring
6. Mozart and contemporary composers Bertil van Boer
7. Mozart and freemasonry Jessica Waldoff
8. Mozart iconography Christoph Großpietsch
Part II. Towns, Cities, Countries: 9. Salzburg Viktor Töpelmann
10. Vienna David Wyn Jones
11. Germany Paul Corneilson
12. Italy Sergio Durante
13. France Jean-Paul Montagnier
14. Prague Kathryn L. Libin
15. London Hannah M. Templeton
Part III. Career Contexts and Environments: 16. Patronage Paul Corneilson
17. Mozart as impresario Martin Harlow
18. Publishing Rupert Ridgewell
19. Theatrical life in Mozart's Vienna Lisa de Alwis
20. Mozart and finances Jessica Waldoff
Part IV. Performers and Performance: 21. Instrumentalists in Salzburg and abroad Ulrich Leisinger
22. Instruments and instrumentalists in Vienna Martin Harlow
23. The opera singers in Vienna Dorothea Link
24. Mozart's Italian and German singers Paul Corneilson
25. Mozart the performer-composer Simon P. Keefe
26. Instrumental performance practice John Irving
27. Vocal performance practice Sarah Potter
Part V. Reception and Legacy: 28. Reactions to Mozart in his lifetime Ian Woodfield
29. Biographical and critical traditions Simon P. Keefe
30. Mozart in theory and analysis Stephen Rumph
31. The Köchel catalogue Ulrich Leisinger
32. Mozart's influence on nineteenth-century composers Edward Klorman
33. Mythmaking Adeline Mueller
34. Editing Mozart Rupert Ridgewell
35. Mozart on record John Irving
Further reading
Index of Mozart's works by Köchel number
Index of Mozart's works by genre
General index.

Subject Areas: Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups [AVH], Classical music [c 1750 to c 1830 AVGC4], Western "classical" music [AVGC], Music [AV], The arts: general issues [AB]