Mozart: A Life in Letters
This SDG will combine history, biography, travel, music and culture, studying the career of a musical genius, and has been designed for non-musicians and musicians alike.
An extensive collection of letters written by Mozart to his close circle of family and friends contains a unique portrait of the world of Vienna at the height of the Enlightenment. Mozart’s father, Leopold, wrote detailed letters describing Mozart's travels to perform for Louis XV at Versailles, George III and his family, and Empress Maria Teresa as well as the Mozart family tours of Paris, London and Germany. From Mozart’s teens until his early death, Mozart wrote lively correspondence to his parents and his friends tracking the extraordinary arc of his career and containing his candid opinions about society, music and life at the heart of classical music in Vienna.
Over our 10 weeks together, we’ll hear 10 different works Mozart composed while he was writing these letters, during every stage of his career and in every classical format—Sonata, Concerto, Symphony, Mozart’s operas, and various keyboard pieces. Reading: “Mozart: A Life in Letters,” edited by Cliff Eisen (“one of the most brilliant Mozart scholars of our time” and editor of the biography “W.A. Mozart.” New York Times Book Review), reading approximately 50 pages per week. Listening: one work weekly online. The schedule specifies one Mozart composition weekly for online listening before our meeting, based upon compositions discussed in the Mozart letters to be read for that week; Discussion leaders are free to substitute different or additional compositions related to the Mozart letters being studied that week or composed within the dates of those letters.
Weekly Schedule:
Week 1: Leopold’s letters describing young Mozart’s musical development, his visits with Empress Maria Teresa, Louis XV, and George III, and tours of Paris, London and Munich. Reading: Letters 1-18 (pp. 3-82). Early keyboard piece, K.26. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6gzrQ6IzspQ
Week 2: Mozart in Italy, performing and composing in Verona, Milan and Rome. Letters 19-40 (pp. 83-137). String Quartet No. 1 in G major, K.80.
Week 3: Mozart in Munich, Salzburg and Vienna: new celebrity and opportunity. Letters 41-61 (pp. 138-197). Piano Concerto No. 5 in D major, K.175.
Week 4: Mozart and his father Leopold Mozart. Letters 62-76 (pp. 197-266). Violin Concerto No 4, K.218, or Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major, K.313.
Week 5: Mozart and his mother Anna Maria Mozart in Paris: increasing reputation and experience. Letters 77-87 (pp. 266-318). “Paris” Symphony No. 31 in D major, K.297/300a.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3uj8P9G3OAU
Week 6: Mozart’s frustrations with Salzburg, his hopes and great expectations. Letters 88-98 (pp. 318-380). Violin Sonata No. 21 in E minor, K.304, second movement (written following his mother’s death) or Violin Sonata No. 18 in G major, K.301.
Week 7: Munich and Vienna: Mozart’s family, loves and opera.
Letters 99-125 (pp. 381-450). Idomeneo: “Zeffiretti lusinghieri” or ‘Andrò rammingo, e solo’; or The Abduction from the Seraglio: Overture, or any aria.
Week 8: Mozart in Vienna, new challenges: marital, monetary, creative.
Hour 1: Letters 126-137 (pp. 450-471). “Haffner” Symphony No. 35 in D major;
Hour 2: Letters 138-146 (pp. 471-492) “Haydn” quartets, K.387, K.421 or K.428.
Week 9: Mozart in Vienna, new triumphs.
Hour 1: Letters 147-153 (pp. 492-516). Marriage of Figaro: Overture, or “porgi amor” aria;
Hour 2: Letters 154-161 (pp. 517-531). Don Giovanni: Overture, or “La ci darem la mano.”
Week 10: Mozart’s Magic Flute to Requiem.
Hour 1: Letters 162-172 (pp. 531-550) “Jupiter” Symphony, K.551 or Cosi Fan Tutti: Overture, or “Soave sia il vento.”
Hour 2: Letters 173-184 (pp. 550-570) Magic Flute: Overture or “Queen of the Night” aria or Mozart’s Requiem.
Mozart: A Life in Letters (Penguin Classics 2006), Cliff Eisen, editor.