Also on his funeral he declares the mythmaking around the anonymous pauper’s grave without substance, as Mozart died at a time when lavish and conspicuous funerals were severely discouraged and so a sober ritual not so uncommon. He also puts a number of current myths about the composer's life and death into perspective, for instance on the myth of non-revising showing that meticulous examination of Mozart’s autograph scores has disclosed that frequently the final drafts of this compositions were not the first ones and that he would discard abortive openings or revise his texts with a critical eye. He speaks enthusiastically about the creation and reception of Mozart's oeuvre and sheds a light on the changing relationship between artist and patron in the 18th century. He sees Mozart’s lifelong contest with his father as the principal source of Mozart’s bouts of depression, and refers copiously to the correspondence between Leopold and Wolfgang in the footnotes. Gay has a penchant for the psychoanalytic approach and looks at Mozart's personality (and opera’s) in the light of the conflict between father and son. He makes clear that portraying Mozart as an invariably gloomy person is just as much a caricature as that of the always childishly cheerful composer.

He illustrates that however ‘these tenacious caricatures by and large are distortions rather than fabrications, most of them contain a kernel of truth’ and states that Mozart’s life in music is fascinating enough without embroidery – extraordinary talent doesn’t necessary imply living an extraordinary life but tempts music lovers to romanticising events.

In this concise biography, the historian Peter Gay sketches a lively and nuanced portrait of Mozart. Nor have the scholarly efforts of modern biographers dislodged the images that fond music lovers like to summon up when they hear his name: Mozart the wilful child unable to outgrow his infantile ways the wizard so captivating that no one dared to question his credentials for a moment, the miracle worker who never needed to revise a single note in his lightning-quick impromptu inspirations the exhausted volcano who took the mysterious commission to compose a requiem as a supernatural hint at his own impending demise the derelict who was buried in a pauper’s grave.Įveryone familiar with the Amadeus film of Milos Forman will recognize some of these images. From his childhood on, ardent admirers turned Mozart into a celebrity whose life was obscured by legends.

Mozart by peter gay