Titles in the Listener's Companion Series provide readers with a deeper
understanding of key musical genres and the work of major artists and
composers. Aimed at nonspecialists, each volume clearly explains how to
listen to works from particular artists, composers, and genres.
Examining both the context in which the music appeared and its form,
authors provide the environments in which key musical works were written
and performed--from a 1950s bebop concert at the Village Vanguard to a
performance of Handel's Messiah in eighteenth-century Dublin. Wolfgang
Amadé Mozart (1756-1791) remains as popular today as ever. His
recordings fill iTunes playlists, and annual Mozart festivals are
performed worldwide. His eminence as a musician has supported overseas
guided tours, served as the subject of a cartoon series (Little Amadeus:
twenty-nine episodes from 2006 to 2008), inspired movies and
documentaries, and launched a French rock opera. In Experiencing Mozart:
A Listener's Companion, music historian David Schroeder illustrates how
the issues Mozart cared about so deeply remain important to modern
listeners. His views on politics, women, authority, and religion are
provided, along with compelling analysis of selected great symphonies
and sonatas, moving concertos and innovative keyboard works, and
groundbreaking operas. Schroeder merges his vast knowledge of the great
artist's personal and professional life, late eighteenth-century
European culture and society, and remarkable musicianship to guide
listeners in the art of listening to Mozart. This work is an ideal
introduction to readers and listeners at any level.
