The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart was a faithful correspondent, and this full and expert collection of more than 100 letters covers his brief and tumultuous life, from the years when the child prodigy astonished the courts of Europe to his final days, when he wrote loving notes to his wife and long, money-seeking letters to friends and patrons. The letters abound in both trivial and important events: observations about the people he met; comments on the reactions to his music; satirical remarks about dilettantes and incompetent professionals; and thoughts on other composers, pianoforte and organ playing, singing, and his own methods of composition.

Mozart’s letters are interspersed in this edition with a generous selection of letters from his father. This two-sided, voluminous correspondence shows the close and sometimes conflicting relationship between father and son. Mozart’s letters to his sister are especially playful, exhibiting an impish, lighthearted wit reminiscent of his music, and the letters to his wife are equally revealing. Taken all together, this collection presents an informal and intimately detailed portrait of a genius.