Richard Kramer
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226377896
- eISBN:
- 9780226384085
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226384085.003.0008
- Subject:
- Music, Philosophy of Music
This chapter considers the character Cherubino from Mozart's opera Le nozze di Figaro. A participant in what might be called a contrapuntal subplot, at once extraneous and yet essential to the ...
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This chapter considers the character Cherubino from Mozart's opera Le nozze di Figaro. A participant in what might be called a contrapuntal subplot, at once extraneous and yet essential to the ligaments of the drama, the ubiquitous Cherubino implicates himself in the action at every turn. There is something elusive, if not inscrutable, about this Cherubino. His sexuality, which seems the essence of his character, is veiled in ambivalence. An unwitting catalyst in his social interactions, there is also in Cherubino a touch of the divine, suggesting rather a timeless, mythic Eros, a Cupid (even a Peter Pan), than a partner in some reasoned conversation.Less
This chapter considers the character Cherubino from Mozart's opera Le nozze di Figaro. A participant in what might be called a contrapuntal subplot, at once extraneous and yet essential to the ligaments of the drama, the ubiquitous Cherubino implicates himself in the action at every turn. There is something elusive, if not inscrutable, about this Cherubino. His sexuality, which seems the essence of his character, is veiled in ambivalence. An unwitting catalyst in his social interactions, there is also in Cherubino a touch of the divine, suggesting rather a timeless, mythic Eros, a Cupid (even a Peter Pan), than a partner in some reasoned conversation.
Julian Rushton
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195182644
- eISBN:
- 9780199850624
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182644.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the great icons of Western music. An amazing prodigy — he toured the capitals of Europe while still a child, astonishing royalty and professional musicians with his ...
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the great icons of Western music. An amazing prodigy — he toured the capitals of Europe while still a child, astonishing royalty and professional musicians with his precocious skills — he wrote as an adult some of the finest music in the entire European tradition. This book is a biography of this musical genius, combining a well-researched life of the composer with an introduction to the works — symphonic, chamber, sacred, and theatrical — of one of the few musicians in history to have written undisputed masterpieces in every genre open to composers of his time. The book offers a portrait of the composer, ranging from Mozart the Wunderkind — travelling with his family from Salzburg to Vienna, Paris, London, Rome, and Milan — to the mature author of such classic works as “The Marriage of Figaro”, “Don Giovanni”, and “The Magic Flute”. During the past half-century, scholars have thoroughly explored Mozart's life and music, offering new interpretations of his compositions based on their historical context and providing a factual basis for confirming or, more often, debunking fanciful accounts of the man and his work. The book takes full advantage of these biographical and musical studies as well as the definitive New Mozart Edition to provide an accurate account of Mozart's life and, equally important, an insightful look at the music itself, complete with musical examples.Less
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the great icons of Western music. An amazing prodigy — he toured the capitals of Europe while still a child, astonishing royalty and professional musicians with his precocious skills — he wrote as an adult some of the finest music in the entire European tradition. This book is a biography of this musical genius, combining a well-researched life of the composer with an introduction to the works — symphonic, chamber, sacred, and theatrical — of one of the few musicians in history to have written undisputed masterpieces in every genre open to composers of his time. The book offers a portrait of the composer, ranging from Mozart the Wunderkind — travelling with his family from Salzburg to Vienna, Paris, London, Rome, and Milan — to the mature author of such classic works as “The Marriage of Figaro”, “Don Giovanni”, and “The Magic Flute”. During the past half-century, scholars have thoroughly explored Mozart's life and music, offering new interpretations of his compositions based on their historical context and providing a factual basis for confirming or, more often, debunking fanciful accounts of the man and his work. The book takes full advantage of these biographical and musical studies as well as the definitive New Mozart Edition to provide an accurate account of Mozart's life and, equally important, an insightful look at the music itself, complete with musical examples.
