Mozart and His World

A collection of essays that reinvigorates our understanding of some of Mozart's best-loved works.

One of the world’s most revered composers, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) wrote works in almost every genre. His life and work continue to fascinate scholars, performers, and music lovers alike. Mozart and His World brings original perspectives to perennially popular topics in Mozart studies. Through wide-ranging essays that address interpretive, biographical, and contextual themes, the volume simultaneously widens and refines our view of Mozart’s oeuvre.

Mozart and His World moves from studies of instrumental music and musicians to the interpretation and reception of Mozart’s operas, and finally to primary sources from the decade or so after Mozart’s death. Across original chapters and several archival documents, Mozart and His World points new ways forward in key areas of Mozart scholarship, including the study of intellectual and stylistic ideas informing his works and of musicians and institutions within his orbit. While the volume reshapes our understanding of some of Mozart’s best-loved works, including The Magic Flute and his other operas, it also probes works that have received less attention, such as his early string quartets, an opera parody, and wind-music culture and arrangements.

Simon P. Keefe is the J. R. Hoyle Chair of Music at the University of Sheffield and president of the Royal Musical Association. He is the author of five books, including Mozart’s Requiem: Reception, Work, Completion; Mozart in Vienna: The Final Decade; and Haydn and Mozart in the Long Nineteenth Century: Parallel and Intersecting Patterns of Reception. In addition, he has edited ten volumes, including, most recently, Vienna: A Musical History.