W.A. Mozart

This is a huge tome. Some comments on its physical aspect are in order. For people who have only used their forearms for nothing more than holding their TV remotes or their spoon and fork, this book is absolutely not recommended, even dangerous to handle. They should only lift paperbacks. But for people interested in Mozart's music and life, and who have regularly used their dumbbells to develop good shoulders and arms, this book is highly recommended and, in spite of its massive aspect, very manageable. The format of 8" x 7.5" is well within the norms of standard books. However, this Abert book is definitely much thicker than your regular hardback novel, 3", for 1515 pages. And, at 6.6 lbs, heavier than most books, though not the heaviest. Any good dictionary, for instance, the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 1987 2d edition, is much larger and heavier (12 lbs). Still, for all its forbidding look, on the whole Abert's book is relatively handy -- although not enough to stick in your pocket going to your favorite coffee-shop, or even in your bag going to the park or the beach for summer reading. The major problem with this thickness is that, ploughing through this 1,500-page Mozart book, it proves very difficult to write your own notes in the margins once the mammoth book is open flat on a table (forget about reading this on your lap!) The wrist having no support, you must find it necessary to haul a thick dictionary to place alongside and give your hand an even support to scribble your own sagacious comments. The book being published by Yale, it was reasonable to expect it to be an American book. Far from it. This is a British book throughout. The translation is by Stewart Spencer, who used to be an academic at London University, and who must be lauded for what must have been a Herculean job. His translation style is formal, elevated, and very "proper" English -- to us sounding a bit dry and lacking in humour. Don't expect any Americanism or colloquial English in this book. The English text had to respect the dignified German language used by Hermann Abert. You'll never find an opportunity to laugh, giggle, or even repress a smile, reading this text. This is seriousness as heavy as it can come. The German book was published 90 years ago. Since then, research has continued and modified many of its original conclusions -- often reverting them. The constant updating comes in excellent and copious notes written by Cliff Eisen, another academic, at King's College in London who is also a most respected Mozart scholar. These notes, printed at the bottom of all pages, correct, amplify, or, most importantly, debunk some of Abert's assertions. One valid complaint is that the print of these immensely valuable notes is so small that they are extremely difficult to read, and even more difficult to underline when they make an important point, which is practically all the time. This beef is much more serious than any objection to the weight or thi

I am someone who considers Mozart to be our "greatest" composer, in fact probably a person surpassed by no other person in creative achievement and whose work comes closest to achieving perfection at the level that nature herself does. Across all the arts. So I was astonished when I learned of the existence of this book. It actually has existed for some time but is only now available in English translation. An excellent translation. Aided further by copious annotations by a contemporary Mozart scholar. I have not read the book in its entirety yet but every part that I have read has been fascinating to read. Never a dull page. A magnificent book!

This is a serious reference work that comprehensively details Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's life and works, together with the Kochel catalogue, a chronology, a bibliography of other authors' works, and a comprehensive index of significant people, places, and events in Mozart's life. This English-language edition has only been available for about 12 months, and I have found it to be one of the most valuable books in my collection of musical literature. Yes, it's a bit dry in its style, but this is not some fluffy novel. If you present classical music for radio, TV, the internet, or are a teacher, this is a work you should have on your bookshelf.

Great book, have only read a little so far since I am obliged to sit at the table to read it and not in my favorite armchair. It would have been so much simpler to have this published in two volumes. I am prepared to buy it again in order to read it in a more comfortable position. I think I would really enjoy it much more.

As the centenary of Mozart's birth loomed in 1856, German musicologist Otto Jahn published the first volume of his ground-breaking four volume biography of Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus (Gottlieb) Mozart. Theophilus, meaning 'beloved of God', was changed to its German equivalent, Gottlieb. The names Johann and Chrysostom commemorated the boy's birth on that saint's day. He was born on 27 January 1756 at eight o'clock in the evening. He was the last of seven children: only two of whom, Nannerl, the fourth, and Wolfgang, survived. No one at the time had the slightest foreknowledge of the epochal nature of that birth. Simultaneous to Jahn's massive undertaking was Ludwig Kochel's similarly path-breaking catalogue of Mozart's works. The two scholars created the historical landscape upon which all subsequent study and knowledge of Mozart's life and works would be based. Jahn's and Kochel's work were as comprehensive and dependable as the then current state of knowledge about Mozart's life and music permitted. In the process, the foundation of a Germanic cultural hero, a Romantic myth, of Mozart, the inestimable, miraculous child genius who created musical masterpieces Jove-like fully formed from his mind, was created. That myth is still with us in books, in concert notes, in recording liner notes, in essays and in films. Jahn's work was revised several times before Hermann Abert fully reworked it in the post-war years of 1919-1921, taking full advantage of an additional 70 years of research and discovery: in the process modifying Jahn's 19th Century Romantic tone to fit a more modern sensibility. Abert's massive work included everything then known, the most informed and substantial biography of Mozart in any language. It is unquestionably the most comprehensive account of the composer's life and a profound analysis of the composer's work. In Abert's 'book-within-a-book', he scrutinizes the music, with individual chapters on the operas, splendid accounts of the orchestral works, the symphonies and piano concertos, church music and compositions for solo instruments. It is a titanic work that has never been rendered in English until now. Brilliantly translated by Stewart Spencer, what makes this massive work so impressive is how even Abert's deeply considered words are brought up to date. Recent developments in Mozart scholarship since the last German edition are analyzed by Mozart scholar Cliff Eisen in his meticulous and informative annotations located on every single page. This whole massive undertaking is supported by a coterie of leading Mozart scholars. At the weight of a very healthy baby, this is not a book you will be carrying to your local Starbuck's unless you plan to use it as a portable table. It is, nevertheless, the single most important source on the life of a truly great composer. It is remarkable that it has been unavailable in English. That it now is, and in such a superlative edition, makes its publication the single m