Life of Mozart, Volume III of III

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book Life of Mozart, Volume III of III by Otto Jahn, Library of Alexandria
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Otto Jahn ISBN: 9781465582287
Publisher: Library of Alexandria Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Otto Jahn
ISBN: 9781465582287
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English
I HAVE been asked to say a few words by way of welcome to the translation of Jahn's Life of Mozart, and I do so with pleasure. The book has been long familiar to me, and I regard its appearance in an English dress as an event in our musical history. It will be a great boon to students and lovers of music, and it shows how much the study of music has advanced among us when so large and serious a work is sufficiently appreciated to repay the heavy expense attendant on its translation and publication. The book itself is what the Germans call an "epoch-making work." The old biographies of musicians, such as Forkel's Life of Bach (1802) and Dies's of Haydn (1810), are pleasant gossipy accounts of the outward life of the composers; but they concern themselves mainly with the exterior both of the man and his productions, and there is a sort of tacit understanding throughout that if the reader is a professional musician he will know all about the music, if he is an amateur it is altogether out of his reach. Characteristic traits and anecdotes there are in plenty, but as to how the music was made or came into being, what connection existed between it and the circumstances or surroundings of the composer, what relation it had to that of his predecessors or contemporaries, how far the art was advanced by the labours of this particular composer or player—all that is outside the province of the book. Schindler's Life of Beethoven (Münster, 1840—a much smaller book than it afterwards became) was hardly more than this, and in addition is so deformed by want of method and by faults of style as to be very uninviting to the reader. A step in the right direction was taken in Moscheles' English translation (or rather adaptation) of Schindler (1841). Moscheles' residence in London had shown him that there was even then a public outside the professional musician to whom such works would be interesting, and he accordingly took pains, by inserting musical examples and other means, to make his edition attractive to this class. But the inherent defects of the original work prevented more than a moderate success.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
I HAVE been asked to say a few words by way of welcome to the translation of Jahn's Life of Mozart, and I do so with pleasure. The book has been long familiar to me, and I regard its appearance in an English dress as an event in our musical history. It will be a great boon to students and lovers of music, and it shows how much the study of music has advanced among us when so large and serious a work is sufficiently appreciated to repay the heavy expense attendant on its translation and publication. The book itself is what the Germans call an "epoch-making work." The old biographies of musicians, such as Forkel's Life of Bach (1802) and Dies's of Haydn (1810), are pleasant gossipy accounts of the outward life of the composers; but they concern themselves mainly with the exterior both of the man and his productions, and there is a sort of tacit understanding throughout that if the reader is a professional musician he will know all about the music, if he is an amateur it is altogether out of his reach. Characteristic traits and anecdotes there are in plenty, but as to how the music was made or came into being, what connection existed between it and the circumstances or surroundings of the composer, what relation it had to that of his predecessors or contemporaries, how far the art was advanced by the labours of this particular composer or player—all that is outside the province of the book. Schindler's Life of Beethoven (Münster, 1840—a much smaller book than it afterwards became) was hardly more than this, and in addition is so deformed by want of method and by faults of style as to be very uninviting to the reader. A step in the right direction was taken in Moscheles' English translation (or rather adaptation) of Schindler (1841). Moscheles' residence in London had shown him that there was even then a public outside the professional musician to whom such works would be interesting, and he accordingly took pains, by inserting musical examples and other means, to make his edition attractive to this class. But the inherent defects of the original work prevented more than a moderate success.

More books from Library of Alexandria

Cover of the book The Sufi Message of Hazrat Murshid Inayat Khan: The Vision of God and Man, Confessions, Four Plays by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book Chattanooga and Chickamauga: Reprint of Gen. H. V. Boynton's letters to the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, August, 1888 by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book Dusty Star by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book An Old Man's Love by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book Devil's Dice by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book Malcolm by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book A Cruise in the Sky: The Legend of the Great Pink Pearl by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book In Convent Walls: The Story of the Despensers by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book Jewish Literature and Other Essays by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book The Animal Story Book by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book Les Pardaillan: L'épopée d'Amour, La Fausta, Fausta Vaincue, Pardaillan et Fausta, Les Amours du Chico (Complete) by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book The Jewish State by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book Memoirs of the Court of St. Cloud: Being Secret Letters from a Gentleman at Paris to a Nobleman in London (Complete) by Otto Jahn
Cover of the book Aw-Aw-Tam Indian Nights Being the Myths and Legends of the Pimas of Arizona by Otto Jahn
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy