Wolfgang Amadý Mozart

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Who was Mozart--the pure artist some have thought him, or the grotesque idiot savant, obsessed by the scatological but still capable of writing music as if channeling God? In this 1991 biography (newly translated into English by J. Bradford Robinson), author Georg Knepler demolishes both notions. In their place he presents a thinking man, a true son of the Enlightenment, a man unimpressed by inherited position--at home in all segments of society--and profoundly affected by events and ideas around him. Knepler traces Mozart's intellectual and musical development to make a compelling case for the composer as a complex and multifaceted individual. This is one of the best, most thoughtful biographies of Mozart to appear in recent years.


Review
"Could the composer, who lived to see the French Revolution, have been immune to revolutionary thought? Emphatically not, Knepler says. Evidence appears through careful reading of Mozart's letters and from impressive analysis of several musical works, particularly parts of the operas. The book, translated brilliantly from the German by Robinson, includes notes, index, illustrations, musical examples, and a large bibliography; an appendix offers several texts that 'played a role in Mozart's intellectual development.'...This provocative, original book is highly recommended to students of Mozart and to anyone interested in the cultural life of the alte 18th century." Choice

"Among the innumerable books triggered in 1991 by the bicentenary of Mozart's death, that of Georg Knepler shone with exceptional distinction; we are duly grateful that it reaches us, three years after the event, in a translation by J. Bradford Robinson worthy of Knepler's dense yet gracious prose. The book, neither a chronological survey nor a comprehensive Life and Works, is something much rarer: a sequence of insights into matters biographical, historical, psychological, and mythical, and into the musical techniques wherein they are incarnate....Especially moving is Knepler's final chapter....he still believes in Mozart's vision and so, surely, must we. This great book tells us why." Wilfrid Mellers, Times Literary Supplement


Book Description
Georg Knepler's biographical study explores Mozart's life and works from many new perspectives. It sheds light on Mozart's creative psyche, his political leanings and the underlying basis of his musical expression. The author not only shows the complexity of Mozart's music but also helps explain, in readily accessible language, its immediacy and appeal. This is a book about Mozart the man, Mozart the towering genius, and the universal validity of his creations.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German


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Described in Germany as the 'most thought-provoking' book of the bicentennial year, Georg Knepler's critical study explores Mozart's life and works from many new perspectives, providing fresh insights into his music and the tempestuous times through which he lived. In what is more than just a biography, Professor Knepler takes a semiotic approach, explaining in readily accessible language, the immediacy and universal appeal of Mozart's music. Based on a close reading of the family correspondence and a detailed look at Mozart's entire musical output, the book sheds new light on Mozart's creative psyche, his political leanings, his relation to the thoughts and currents of the Enlightenment, and the underlying basis of his musical expression. This is a book which raises important questions about Mozart the man, Mozart the towering genius, and the universal validity of his creations.


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