|
Through the example of Mozart, this article studies the role played by music in biographies of composers. By focusing on three different works, all targeting a wide audience, but coming from different centuries and cultures ("Leben des K. K. Kapellmeisters Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart" by Franz Xaver Niemetschek, "Life of Mozart" by Edward Holmes, and "Mozart" by Jean-Victor Hocquard), it investigates both stylistic matters (how the music is described), and the concrete effect of cultural behaviors (the subordination of the work to the man, or the difficulty of talking about music). The study highlights some essential components of Mozartean mythology, as well as the close relationship between biographies, novels and the evolution of musicology as a discipline.
|
