Mozart: A Musical Biography

by Konrad Küster, Mary Whittall (Translator)

Although there are many accounts of Mozart's life, and countless descriptions and analyses of his music, this is the first attempt to portray Mozart's creative life as a composer. Küster selects forty works or groups of works covering virtually every important stage in Mozart's career, from the first keyboard works of the young Wunderkind to Mozart's final days and the composition of the Requiem . Each chapter deals with the developments and events in the lives of the Mozarts as associated with or highlighted by a particular work or constellation of works. The bulk of the book--the is concerned with Mozart's life and compositions from his arrival in Vienna in 1781 to his death there some ten years later.

Drawing on the tremendous advances in Mozart research over the last thirty years, and the publication of the New Mozart Edition, Küster's book makes a major contribution to our understanding of the creative development of the composer who represents for most musicians and music lovers the highest pinnacle of musical achievement.

428 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[M Arteaga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up this book at Book-Off, part of the haul I collected thanks to a generous gift card I received from an admirer. Wanted to know more about Mozart from a technical stand point, and had never read a "musical biography", which turns out to document the types of music a person makes and then relates it to the time period of the life, rather than the inverse which is more typical. Of course, the fact this book deals with music lends itself to shape the soundtrack by which I governed myself during this time period and I am pleased to have many of my prior music tastes validated.