Mozart in Vienna
Subtitle: the final decade
By: Simon P. Keefe
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 689
ISBN-13: 9781107116719
Subjects: Composers; Criticism and interpretation; Biography
Description: "Mozart's greatest works were written in Vienna in the decade before his death (1781-1791). This biography focuses on Mozart's dual roles as a performer and composer and reveals how his compositional processes were affected by performace-related concerns. It traces consistencies and changes in Mozart's professional persona and his modus operandi, and sheds light on other prominent musicians, audience expectations, publishing, and concert and dramatic practices and traditions. Giving particular prominence to primary sources, Simon P. Keefe offers new biographical and critical perspectives on the man and his music, highlighting his extraordinary ability to engage with the competing demands of singers and instrumentalists, publishing and public performance, and concerts and dramatic productions in the course of a hectic, diverse and financially uncertain freelance career. This comprehensive and accessible volume is essential for Mozart lovers and scholars alike, exploring his Viennese masterpieces and the people and environments that shaped them." -- Backcover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 637-667) and index.
Table of contents: title: Settling in Vienna : exploiting opportunities for instrumental performance and composition, 1781-1782; title: Singers and effects : seeking operatic success in Die Entführung aus dem Serail; title: Consolidating experiences and expanding horizons : the instrumental music, 1782-1783; title: "You can easily imagine that I must inevitably play some new things" : Mozart's piano concertos and other instrumental works for concerts, 1784-1786; title: Composing, performing and publishing : the "Haydn" string quartets and other chamber music for publication, 1784-1785; title: Opera, arias, ensembles, songs and a Mass : vocal and dramatic music, 1782-1786; title: Le nozze di Figaro; title: In Prague and Vienna : Don Giovanni, 1787-1788; title: The Figaro revival and Così fan tutte; title: For publication and performance : solo and chamber music; title: Orchestral music and concert activities; title: New beginnings, continuations and endings : Mozart's last year; title: Appendices.