"There is no feeling - human or cosmic - no depth, no height the human spirit can reach that is not contained in Mozart's music."
Lili Kraus, New York Times, August 1, 1976 as quoted in Shapiro, Nat. An
Encyclopedia of Quotations about Music. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. 1978.
Located at the Music Library Reference Area and at Davis Reference ML 66.E6.
This pathfinder is intended to aid any researcher brave enough to begin the study of Mozart and/or captivated enough to continue learning about a fascinating individual. While all adults are welcome to the musings listed herein, the lay music aficionado, the college and/or graduate student, the librarian and the scholar are the intended audience. Although Mozart has been written about in many languages - including German, Italian, French and Japanese - the focus is on available English language publications.
If ever a man could be a wilderness unto himself, Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart qualifies. Mozart was a child prodigy, a son, a husband, a father, a traveler, a teacher, a performer, and of course a composer who wrote almost 700 pieces of music. The complexity of Mozart arises in part because of his prolific career but also because of the mysteries surrounding his brief life. The direction of study may be artistic with the consideration of Mozart as an icon; biographic with a concentration on the man, his family, his pupils, his patrons and/or his contemporaries; musicological with a focus on his piano works, his operas, his expression and/or his technique; historical with a reflection on his part in a musical period; and/or aesthetic with a focus on the pleasure of his music. This pathfinder is in no way exhaustive on the facets of Mozart's life. No matter. The resources cited merely scratch the surface of the study of Mozart, which suggest the main purpose of this pathfinder - a place to begin.
With the exception of the sources cited in the Internet links section, the majority of works listed can be found on the campus of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in the Music Library, the House Undergraduate Library and/or the Davis Library.
If you are new to Mozart - welcome and if you are already a connoisseur - enjoy!