Self-Portrait and Confession (Selected Letters of Mozart)

Author: Yangye
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-03-01
Features: If you regard him as a god, reading this selected collection of his letters might leave you astonished and disillusioned. It turns out that the "sun in the heart" of all musicians is not as pure or as divinely mysterious as one might imagine! The value of these letters lies precisely in this. Mozart painted his own true portrait: a genuine mortal, often with a touch of vulgarity, so vulgar it's almost grotesque. Is the man like the music? It seems this path is no longer applicable. This contradiction, this "Mozart mystery," let the scholars unravel. For Mozart enthusiasts, this can only serve to inspire us to savor his music—music that appears ordinary yet is endlessly savorable. The original letters span several volumes, but only a portion has been selected here, and even that is just excerpts. Accompanied by marginal notes and comments in the "Translator's Notes," they are both intended to enhance reading interest and to express the translator's heartfelt reflections that couldn't be restrained. Whether in music or foreign languages, the translator is merely an "enthusiast" at best.