Review of Mozartian Historian 1978 H&T.pdf

Wolfgang Amadè Mozart is arguably the most gifted composer the world has ever known. The Romantics of the nineteenth century revered Mozart so highly that he took on almost a godlike status in their eyes. Some more recent biographers have attempted to demythologize Mozart to the point of emphasizing his so-called personality failings. Some of these more modern biographers have tried their hand at an amateur psychoanalysis of Mozart at the remove of two hundred years. This type of analysis often has been undertaken without a due consideration of social and historical realities, and without consulting the most reliable biographical source information. The misunderstanding of Mozart has been exacerbated by the popular fictional play Amadeus and the movie of the same name, which essentially portrays Mozart as a talented idiot. The present paper will attempt to shed new light on Mozart’s life and genius from an esoteric perspective, emphasizing his soul development. Methods employed will include esoteric astrology and rayology, as well as the use of insights from the work of the Tibetan master of the Ageless Wisdom, Djwhal Khul, hereafter referred to as D.K.

The overarching theme of the present dissertation is the documentation of the cultural and intellectual environment of the Mozart family in Salzburg from 1750 until 1790. A particular focus lies on the cultural transfer between the Protestant North and the Catholic South of the German-speaking lands. Enlightenment and Empfindsamkeit as a social and aesthetic ideal are traditionally associated with the northern parts of Germany, yet a new evaluation of sources and documents in Salzburg demonstrates the currency of these ideas in the archbishopric. The dissertation assembles a wide range of information regarding the erudition and interests of Salzburg citizens in general and more specifically of friends and acquaintances in the direct environment of the Mozart family, demonstrating their active participation in a cultural modernity at large. Detailed accounts on the book and sheet music trade in the archbishopric demonstrate the ubiquity of the newest cultural products from North Germany, France and England. At the centre of this dissertation stands a reconstruction of the Mozarts’ Salzburg library and their literary knowledge, which displays their wide interests and their participation in the vibrant cultural life of their hometown. The currency of and the high value attached to Empfindsamkeit within Salzburg culture is demonstrated in locally printed educational books, portrait collections, a ‘hill of friendship’ in Aigen near Salzburg, the theatre repertoire and the books and music for sale in town. It is hoped that this vibrant cultural life, as documented in the present dissertation, will help to challenge several traditional concepts in historiography and Mozart biography about Enlightenment and modernity in Salzburg.

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2021

Editorial In Wild Ideas #8, I published an essay about the many questions around Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's music and life that immediately pop out even if you only scratch on the surface of the story, but that everybody seems to ignore. For this issue, I had the pleasure and privilege of interviewing Luca Bianchini and Anna Trombetta, Italian musicians and musicologists, who have investigated the Mozart family for over twenty years. Here they give much more information on the investigation of the music itself, as well as on the manuscripts of the composer, that I didn't address in my essay.

Notes, 2010