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On Mozart
The author uses an imaginary conversation to pay tribute to Mozart on the bicentennial of his death, describing his contributions to the Enlightenment, discussing the phenomenon of a prodigy, and speculating as to future works Mozart might have written
- GenresMusic
160 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
About the author
Anthony Burgess
360 books4,328 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Seriocomic novels of noted British writer and critic Anthony Burgess, pen name of John Burgess Wilson, include the futuristic classic A Clockwork Orange (1962).
He composed also a librettos, poems, plays, screens, and essays and traveled, broadcast, translated, linguist and educationalist. He lived for long periods in southeastern Asia, the United States of America, and Europe along Mediterranean Sea as well as England. His fiction embraces the Malayan trilogy ( The Long Day Wanes ) on the dying days of empire in the east. The Enderby quartet concerns a poet and his muse. Nothing like the Sun re-creates love life of William Shakespeare. He explores the nature of evil with Earthly Powers , a panoramic saga of the 20th century. He published studies of James Joyce, Ernest Miller Hemingway, Shakespeare, and David Herbert Lawrence. He produced the treatises Language Made Plain and A Mouthful of Air . His journalism proliferated in several languages. He translated and adapted Cyrano de Bergerac , Oedipus the King , and Carmen for the stage. He scripted Jesus of Nazareth and Moses the Lawgiver for the screen. He invented the prehistoric language, spoken in Quest for Fire . He composed the Sinfoni Melayu , the Symphony (No. 3) in C , and the opera Blooms of Dublin .
Seriocomic novels of noted British writer and critic Anthony Burgess, pen name of John Burgess Wilson, include the futuristic classic A Clockwork Orange (1962).
He composed also a librettos, poems, plays, screens, and essays and traveled, broadcast, translated, linguist and educationalist. He lived for long periods in southeastern Asia, the United States of America, and Europe along Mediterranean Sea as well as England. His fiction embraces the Malayan trilogy ( The Long Day Wanes ) on the dying days of empire in the east. The Enderby quartet concerns a poet and his muse. Nothing like the Sun re-creates love life of William Shakespeare. He explores the nature of evil with Earthly Powers , a panoramic saga of the 20th century. He published studies of James Joyce, Ernest Miller Hemingway, Shakespeare, and David Herbert Lawrence. He produced the treatises Language Made Plain and A Mouthful of Air . His journalism proliferated in several languages. He translated and adapted Cyrano de Bergerac , Oedipus the King , and Carmen for the stage. He scripted Jesus of Nazareth and Moses the Lawgiver for the screen. He invented the prehistoric language, spoken in Quest for Fire . He composed the Sinfoni Melayu , the Symphony (No. 3) in C , and the opera Blooms of Dublin .
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 7, 2017
Finally read this again after 25 years. I thought it was brilliant then; living in München and taking every visitor around Salzburg, I appreciated how the rhythm and cadence of Burgess' writing echoed Mozart's style. This time around, with more personal time and space and all the education life's offered me, the resonance of every act and movement of this verbal symphony allows me to close the cover with standing ovation and copious applause.
December 21, 2021
The complete title reveals everything you need to know: "On Mozart: A Paean for Wolfgang being a celestial colloquy, an opera libretto, a film script, a schizophrenic dialogue, a bewildered rumination, a Stendhalian transcription, and a heartfelt homage upon the bicentenary of the death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart."
It's like something from Dexter's Lab! A literary experiment, something put in words by a fan who wanted to offer tribute, but one whose vanity only permitted him to write a mishmash of pages, with a very small target audience: musicians. (Specifically, those who prefer tonal to atonal music, hehe.)
It's quite novel, of course. I do not deny Burgess' brilliance as a writer. But being a teacher, I wish Burgess had written this in a more simple style, so the book could find a wider audience. (Then again... Burgess and simplicity?! Never the twain shall meet!)
But for those with the requisite music history and theory background, this slim book offers very interesting views on Mozart's greatness, the changing role of music and the artist from Mozart's time to present day, and the importance of Music itself.
Burgess says Mozart's supremacy arises from perfection of Form, the absence of vulgarity, and the absence of sentimentality. I found his analysis of tonality vs. atonality very insightful:
"(Sonata form is...) The composer's complete submission to a prescribed pattern. That pattern was the sonic equivalent of the society which music served... No matter how rigorous the fundamental structure of an atonal serial work, the ear and the brain have the impression that this is the music, of, yes, social breakdown."
Burgess' Mozart was a supreme artist who soared above petty workmanship from rehashed formulas. To those who would deny that Mozart's work was art, Burgess wrote: "Art is a trade that ennobles itself, and the consumer, by giving more than what is paid for. The market is served, but also God."
Yes, the man who seemed to take dictation from God wrote music to pay bills. But what he wrote transcended mere commerce.
At the end, Burgess himself acknowledges that "the symphonization of fiction is shown to be an implausible undertaking, but things have occasionally to be done to show that they cannot be done... The celebration of Mozart cannot be accomplished in words."
Why does Mozart continue speak to all of us today?
"It is not Mozart's function to soothe: he is not a tranquilizer to be taken out of the cupboard. He purveys an image of a possible future rather than of an irrecoverable past... Mozart reminds us of human possibilities. He presents the whole compass of life and intimates that noble visions exist only because they can be realized."
Burgess cries out, in short, for harmony and order in an increasingly dissonant world. And that is something we can all relate to.
It's like something from Dexter's Lab! A literary experiment, something put in words by a fan who wanted to offer tribute, but one whose vanity only permitted him to write a mishmash of pages, with a very small target audience: musicians. (Specifically, those who prefer tonal to atonal music, hehe.)
It's quite novel, of course. I do not deny Burgess' brilliance as a writer. But being a teacher, I wish Burgess had written this in a more simple style, so the book could find a wider audience. (Then again... Burgess and simplicity?! Never the twain shall meet!)
But for those with the requisite music history and theory background, this slim book offers very interesting views on Mozart's greatness, the changing role of music and the artist from Mozart's time to present day, and the importance of Music itself.
Burgess says Mozart's supremacy arises from perfection of Form, the absence of vulgarity, and the absence of sentimentality. I found his analysis of tonality vs. atonality very insightful:
"(Sonata form is...) The composer's complete submission to a prescribed pattern. That pattern was the sonic equivalent of the society which music served... No matter how rigorous the fundamental structure of an atonal serial work, the ear and the brain have the impression that this is the music, of, yes, social breakdown."
Burgess' Mozart was a supreme artist who soared above petty workmanship from rehashed formulas. To those who would deny that Mozart's work was art, Burgess wrote: "Art is a trade that ennobles itself, and the consumer, by giving more than what is paid for. The market is served, but also God."
Yes, the man who seemed to take dictation from God wrote music to pay bills. But what he wrote transcended mere commerce.
At the end, Burgess himself acknowledges that "the symphonization of fiction is shown to be an implausible undertaking, but things have occasionally to be done to show that they cannot be done... The celebration of Mozart cannot be accomplished in words."
Why does Mozart continue speak to all of us today?
"It is not Mozart's function to soothe: he is not a tranquilizer to be taken out of the cupboard. He purveys an image of a possible future rather than of an irrecoverable past... Mozart reminds us of human possibilities. He presents the whole compass of life and intimates that noble visions exist only because they can be realized."
Burgess cries out, in short, for harmony and order in an increasingly dissonant world. And that is something we can all relate to.
December 28, 2018
Brilliant. Not sure why this isn't more well known. The humor and essence of Mozart is there, and the play and dialogues, remind me of Lucian and are a fitting tribute.
July 3, 2023
This book now ranks in my top favorites. The creativity. The vocabulary. Now I am interested in reading more of his work.
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August 9, 2016This is a neat multi-media celebration of Mozart, released 23 years ago on the bicentennial of Mozart's death. Composers in heaven talk about his influence in a poetic play. We see an opera libretto showing Mozart's life. We even get an attempt to accompany the 40th symphony with words. We also get a film about Mozart, plus commentary on all the parts above. It adds up to an excellent look at the man, his life, and his music.
April 18, 2012
A highly intellectual, witty, sarcastic book that combines history with farce in the most education and ridiculous way possible.
April 8, 2014
Clockwork Orange author writes of musicians discussing Mozart in heaven. Good musical criticism.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews