COMPOSER BIOGRAPHY – PREPARATION 1

(F-08)

For 17 Sept

Please read:

Franz Niemetschek, Life of Mozart (1798; Eng. trans. 1956), all;

Stanley Sadie, The New Grove Mozart (1980/1982), table of contents, pages 78-107.

These readings are posted in the website, and you can also find them in a binder in the library. You can skim a bit on the Niemetschek – it’s a quick read in any case – and you can read more of the Sadie if you like. The book is on reserve, and it’s the same as the article in Groves Dictionary, which is online.

Please prepare answers to the following questions

1. Where does Niemetschek cover the material in the Grove’s excerpt (which pages)? How is his treatment similar? How is it different?

2. Compare how these two biographies deal with the question of relating Mozart’s life to his works.

3. Do either or both biographies try to evaluate Mozart’s works? Do either or both try to evaluate Mozart’s character?

4. What is the most striking difference between Niemetschek’s biography and the New Grove biography?

By “prepare” I don’t mean a “paper” or even very lengthy answers. Just write down your ideas in outline or bullet form so that you can present them in class and then hand them in so I can respond.