Described in Germany as the 'most thought-provoking' book of the bicentennial year, Georg Knepler's acclaimed study of Mozart is now available in paperback. The book explores Mozart's life and works from many new perspectives, providing fresh insights into his music and the tempestuous times through which he lived. Based on a close reading of the family correspondence and a careful consideration of Mozart's entire musical output, the book sheds new light on the composer's creative psyche, his political leanings, his relation to the thoughts and currents of the Enlightenment, and the underlying basis of his musical expression.

Table of Contents

1. Outline of a remarkable life; 2. From child prodigy to genius; 3. 'Expressing convictions and thoughts ... in notes'; 4. Mozart's reading habits; 5. Making things significant; 6. The major-minor opposition; 7. Mozart in the eyes of posterity; 8. A turning point; 9. Taking stock of Salzburg; 10. The move to Vienna; 11. Other remarkable lives; 12. 'Mozart of the Wohltatigkeit'; 13. Convictions and thoughts: a closer look; 14. A traditionalist?; 15. The question of imitation; 16. Zerlina and the three modes of music; 17. The 'genuine natural forms' of music; 18. Musical portraits; 19. How opera was dramatised by the symphony; 20. How instrumental music was semanticized by vocal music; 21. Conclusions from endings; 22. Building blocks and principles of construction; 23. 'A hostile fate - though only in Vienna'; 24. Mozart in his day and ours.