Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life

by Robert Spaethling

Overview

"A wonderful collection that gives Mozart a voice as a son, husband, brother and friend." —New York Times Book Review

"Mozart's honesty, his awareness of his own genius and his contempt for authority all shine out from these letters."—Sunday Times  (London). " In Mozart's Letters, Mozart's Life, Robert Spaethling presents "Mozart in all the rawness of his driving energies" (Spectator), preserved in the "zany, often angry effervescence" of his writing (Observer). Where other translators have ignored Mozart's atrocious spelling and tempered his foul language, "Robert Spaethling's new translations are lively and racy, and do justice to Mozart's restlessly inventive mind" (Daily Mail). Carefully selected and meticulously annotated, this collection of letters "should be on the shelves of every music lover" (BBC Music Magazine).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393328301
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	12/01/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	494
Sales rank:	898,250
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Robert Spaethling was raised in the Bavarian town of Weissenstadt. He attended the Universities of Regensburg and Würzburg and has a Ph.D. in German from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Larkspur, California.

Robert Spaethling was raised in the Bavarian town of Weissenstadt. He attended the Universities of Regensburg and Würzburg and has a Ph.D. in German from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Larkspur, California.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	A Note about the Translation	xii
	Eighteenth-Century Currencies	xiii
Part 1	The Early Years 1769-1776
	First Italian Journey	3
	Second Italian Journey	27
	Third Italian Journey	35
	Interludes in Vienna and Munich	43
Part 2	In Search of Independence 1777-1781
	The Journey to Mannheim	55
	Paris et Retour	142
	Idomeneo or the Making of an Opera	206
Part 3	Mozart in Vienna 1781-1791
	Breaking with the Archbishop	231
	Mozart and Constanze	265
	Success, at Last!	322
	Final Journeys	381
	Epilogue	445
	A Chronology of Mozart's Life	447
	Selected Bibliography	453
	Index of Names and Places	457

Editorial Reviews

In these new translations<-->the first in some 60 years<-->of 275- plus letters written over two decades, Spaethling (emeritus, German, U. of Massachusetts) retains his idiosyncratic spelling and offers Mozart lovers insights into the composer's artistic and personal journeys (1756-91). Includes an introduction, annotations, a map of Mozart's Europe, a chronology, travel itinerary, and illustrations of Salzburg, Mozart, his family, and letters. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

[A] wonderful collection that gives Mozart a voice as a son, husband, brother and friend...Spaethling writes in the introduction that his goal was to ''provide a complete portrait and continuous account of Mozart the musician, Mozart the individual and Mozart the writer,'' and he has succeeded most admirably.
—The New York Times Book Review

Peggy Constantine

...for the first time in English we are able to encounter his many "authentic" personalities, and abandon the monochrome genius of previous translations.
—Times Literary Supplement

Anthony Pryer