Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia, The

Description:
Mozart's enduring popularity, among music lovers as a composer and among music historians as a subject for continued study, lies at the heart of The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia. This reference book functions both as a starting point for information on specific works, people, places and concepts as well as a summation of current thinking about Mozart. The extended articles on genres reflect the latest in scholarship and new ways of thinking about the works while the articles on people and places provide historical framework, as well as interpretation. It also includes a series of thematic articles that cast a wide net over the eighteenth century and Mozart's relationship to it: these include Austria, Germany, aesthetics, travel, Enlightenment, Mozart as a reader and contemporaneous medicine, among others. The worklist provides the most up-to-date account in English of the authenticity and chronology of Mozart's compositions.

Review:
'All of the entries are written in clear, accessible prose and are well-organized, usually with multiple subheadings and capitalized cross references. ... This first resource to cover both Mozart's life and oeuvre is a browser's delight ... An indispensable addition to all collections.' Library Journal '... a goldmine of insights and sidelights ...' Times Literary Supplement '... rounded in-depth reference tool for all interested in Mozart ... an invaluable and fascinating resource.' Opera Now '... concise and well written articles are provided by a who's who of modern Mozart scholars. ... a tremendously useful quick reference tool.' The Gramophone 'Like all good single volume encyclopedias, this one is also a delight for the casual browser who is not looking for anything in particular. Opening the book to read in an idle moment invariably provides both pleasure and instruction.' Opera News '... a superior production ... seems destined to take its place on the shelves as an indispensable reference for Mozartians ...' Goldberg '... contains some of the finest writing on Mozart I have read.' New York Review of Books '... a handsome, lavishly produced volume which offers easy access to all the information most music lovers will need about a favourite composer.' Sunday Times '... with this work Mozart the man ... reads as real as we're going to get him, outside of his own letters. ... you're also not likely to avoid reaching for the book again and again ... This large assembly of writers/critics/scholars gets into it and gets at it, and thoughts long considered, reworked, and finally spun out on these pages come across with nothing less than true force ...' Fanfare '... heavyweight and comprehensive book ... Most of what ... I have seen is unreservedly recommendable. ... The book's shorter pieces are also excellent, being informative and succinct. ... Unimprovable! A group of substantial appendices occupies the last 100 pages. Four of them cover films, DVDs and videos, Mozart organizations, and websites. Three others are of special interest: a detailed worklist, annotated, dated as far as is possible, and with the keys and Kochel numbers indicated; an index of works ordered by Kochel number; and an index of works by genre. ... The first two of these constitute the last word on updating Kochel - an important addition to Mozart studies and yet another reason for buying the book.' Opera '... Much of the book makes for compulsive reading, one article leading straight into another, or indeed to several others, most of which themselves open up a whole new clutch of horizons to explore. ...the quality of the writing and its overall substance make this one of those books which you can open to almost any page and find yourself almost instantly engaged. Not by any mean is limited to the scholarly, the weighty and the deeply significant. ... The truth is you can find out more about Mozart, his life and his times in this one remarkable volume than in a whole slew of biographies...it should be on the shelf and in the hands of every serious student of Mozart. No more valuable, certainly no more useful, book on Mozart has been published in years. Nor is any so musicologically and referentially well-stocked and up to date. ' Piano 'Few of the many scholarly volumes dedicated to Mozart that will appear this year are likely to be as enjoyable to read as this one. The volume is easy to use ... Wherever one starts reading, the eye is constantly led to new articles, many of which give a fresh slant on what is by now for the most part familiar material. As a result, the Encyclopaedia is very difficult to put down. ... One of the volume's strengths is that the editors have chosen to emphasise context, with the result that the encyclopaedia tells us a great deal more than is usually available about the background to Mozart's life and work habits.' The Consort 'This is a very comprehensive account of his life and work.' Reference Reviews

Table of Contents:
List of contributors; Preface; Headword list; A-Z general entries; Appendix 1. Worklist; Appendix 2. Mozart movies (theatrical releases); Appendix 3. Mozart institutions; Appendix 4. Mozart organizations; Appendix 5. Mozart websites.

Author Biography:
Cliff Eisen is Reader in Music at King's College London. Simon P. Keefe is Senior Lecturer in Music at City University London.