Mozart, the Salzburg Years, 1756-1781, Insights and Images encompasses the composer’s early years of travel throughout Europe as a child prodigy, his so-called ’years of servitude’ in Salzburg
as court composer, his subsequent search for a suitable position, and his return to his native city. Though there is no shortage of books about the life and work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
this volume offers the reader new details and insights into the composer, accompanied by new and startling images never before seen in the Mozart literature. The authors’ research, spanning an
eight-year period, was done in city archives across Europe and in other hitherto unknown repositories. The 400 images, of which 100 are newly discovered, directly relate to the composer’s life
and his activities. Included are his friends and patrons, numerous performance sites, musicians and composers who interfaced with Mozart, and new maps and diagrams. A chronology combines the
life events of the composer with his compositions, year by year, employing the most current discoveries in this important area of Mozart studies. Several essays covering the second half of the
eighteenth century help the reader place the book’s discoveries and content in its historical context. The authors are Catherine Sprague, pianist and independent researcher, and Dr. William
Cowdery of Cornell University, (spurred on by Neal Zaslaw, author of Mozart books and countless publications in musicology).
