"Mozart's Symphonies: Context, Performance Practice, Reception." By Neal Zaslaw

Abstract

"Mozart's symphonies have received rather less critical attention than his operas and piano concertos, and this book is the first serious attempt in any language to survey the entire panorama of his symphonic works. Accounting for every symphony associated with Mozart involves the identification and evaluation of nearly 100 symphonies. Professor Zaslaw places each symphony in its mu-sical and cultural context, and addresses such questions as how and why the symphonies were written, how they were disseminated, who paid for them, who played them, who listened to them, and what those involved thought of them. The role of the symphony in Mozart's creative life and his contribution to the genre are also examined. An important element of the book is the consideration given to what is known about how Mozart's symphonies and those of his contemporaries were per-formed. An entire chapter is devoted to the whole question of orchestral perform-ance practice in the eighteenth century, and information that might clarify the nature of the performances documented is given throughout the book. Although Mozart's Symphonies is neither a biography as conventionally understood nor a study in musical analysis or criticism, those interested in Mozart's life and the music itself will find here much that is new in the way of fact and interpretation."--Publisher's description. Salzburg (I): origins (1756-1764) -- The grand tour (I): London (1764-1765) -- The grand tour (II): Holland--France--Switzerland--Bavaria (1765-1766) -- The Sinfonia da Chiesa, and Salzburg (1766-1767) -- Vienna (I): orchestra land (1767-1768) -- Lambach and Salzburg (1769) -- Italy: Fons et Origo (1769-1773) -- Salzburg (II): limbo (1770-1777) -- Mannheim and Paris: frustration (1777-1778) -- Salzburg (III): serfdom (1779-1780) -- Vienna (II): independence (1780-1791) -- Performance practice -- Meanings for Mozart's symphonies -- Appendices. A. The status of 98 symphonies ; B. Concordance ; C. Leopold Mozart's 'Report' ; D.A brief history of the Köchel catalogue ; E. Czerny's Tempos for Twelve Early Symphonies ; F. The 'missing' bassoon parts for the 'Paris' symphony.