The life of Mozart - John Rosselli

Mozart was not only an extraordinary musical genius but a man who lived through the great change from the old society to the modern one in which we still live, when people began to move from accepting the Christian scheme of things to standing alone, from letting themselves be ruled by parents and superiors to rebelling against them. He was himself one of the 'new men' of the age; his music gives voice to anxieties and consolations that are still ours. This book, first published in 1998, sets Mozart's life within the history of an age plunging into revolution and European war. It probes his crucial relationships with his father and his wife but avoids guesswork. It studies - in depth though in non-technical language - characteristic examples of his music and asks what they can tell us about their author and ourselves.

'I'm impressed. Rosselli has something to say and the skill to write fluently and clearly ... the author writes sensibly about Mozart's life and in amazingly few words reminds us of what the music can mean.' Early Music Review

'No-one is better qualified to set the material in proper perspective than John Rosselli. As in his previous books he brings to his subject all the skills of a professional historian, adept at sifting and weighing evidence ... the book is a triumph, and one which leaves its successors in the series much to live up to.' Julian Budden, Opera

'The seven crisp, lucid and learned chapters of this wonderful book dispel the clouds and put the man in perspective for us; Mozart, his time and his music seen together, and as arising from each other.' Jill Paton Walsh, The Tablet

' ... an extremely useful and, for its pages, remarkably thorough introduction to Mozart's life and work.' Sophie Fuller, The Times Literary Supplement