New Illustrated Lives Of Great Composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The New Illustrated Lives of Great Composers: Ludwig van Beethoven brings to life the works, the key performances and the personal story of one of the world’s greatest composers with rich illustrations. One of the most celebrated and influential composers of all time, Ludwig van Beethoven was a child prodigy, who, At 21, moved to Vienna to study with Joseph Haydn. He would subsequently create a monumental body of work including 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, the Missa Solemnis and the opera Fidelio. Yet Beethoven was a troubled man, often intolerant of the intrusions of day-to-day life upon his work and a victim of both chronic abdominal pain and encroaching deafness. While his gradual loss of hearing did not affect his ability to compose, it did eventually caused him to abstain from performing and conducting. At his death in 1827 he was already a legendary figure. This illustrated biography is the best way to uncover the tragic life of one the most talented musicians to have ever walked the earth; see the man himself, the places where he lived and the people who swirled around him. This is an essential read for any classical music fan.

Welcome to The Independent's new ebook series The Great Composers, covering fourteen of the giants of Western classical music. Extracted from Michael Steen's book The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, these concise guides, selected by The Independent's editorial team, explore the lives of composers as diverse as Mozart and Puccini, reaching from Bach to Brahms, set against the social, historical and political forces which affected them, to give a rounded portrait of what it was like to be alive and working as a musician at that time. In this ebook Steen describes the packed life of one of the greatest composers who ever lived, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In his short life of almost 36 years, music poured from his pen. Symphonies, concertos, masses, chamber music tumbled out of him. By the age of fourteen he had already completed a staggering four operas, although it is for the later ones that he is revered as one of the greatest operatic composers ever. Yet the beauty of his instrumental music alone would have guaranteed his place in the pantheon of great composers. Born in 1756, in Salzburg, Austria, he was, famously, the infant prodigy whose cash flow potential had to be maximised before he grew up and ceased to be a novelty. The relentless touring he undertook as a small child – Munich and Vienna, a three-and-a-half-year trip to Paris and London, and trips to Italy – gave way to an adulthood where he was endlessly seeking a job and patronage in a perpetual struggle to make ends meet. Steen traces Mozart's poignant progression through an age of back-biting courtiers when a composer could not hope to make his own way without bowing and scraping to the political elite, and his genius, incomprehensible as it may seem to us now, too often went unremarked.

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.

As a little boy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart began writing musical compositions when most kids his age were still learning to read. By the time he was seven, Mozart was an accomplished musician who could play several instruments and also sing. Accompanied by his older sister, Nannerl, and his father, Leopold, young Wolfgang toured Europe. He performed before royalty and some of the richest members of society. By the time he was twelve, Wolfgang was famous. He first tasted failure as a teenager, as audiences ignored his operas, and he had trouble making money. He began to be known for his bad jokes and relentless pursuit of women. He eventually married the sister of the woman who broke his heart. In adulthood, Mozart s problems grew. He couldn't keep a job. He was usually broke. One of the greatest composers the world had ever known was forced to make a living giving piano lessons. Yet today, he is one of the most celebrated and respected composers of all time.?

Lavishly illustrated throughout, this fascinating new biography sets Mozart's musical revolution in the context of the times.