Mozart in fiction

The celebrated composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) led a life that was dramatic in many respects, including his extraordinary career as a child prodigy, his struggles to achieve personal independence and establish a career, his brushes with financial disaster, and his somewhat mysterious death in the course of attempting to complete his Requiem. Authors of fictional works have found his life a compelling source of raw material. Such works have included novels, plays, operas, and films.

Fiction

The first major works of literature inspired by Mozart were by the German writers E. T. A. Hoffmann and Eduard Mörike. Hoffmann published his "Don Juan" in 1812, Mörike his "Mozart's Journey to Prague" in 1856. Mozart also appears in Hermann Hesse's novel "Der Steppenwolf."

In modern fiction, the mystery surrounding the composer's death is explored within a popular thriller context in the 2008 novel "The Mozart Conspiracy" by British writer Scott Mariani, who departs from the established Salieri-poisoning theory to suggest a deeper political motive behind his death.

In the science fiction novel "Time for Patriots", ISBN 978-1-60693-224-7, Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte create an opera, "Franklin, Ein Mensch", in 1793, two years after Mozart's actual death. In this novel he survives until October 1805, "during Napoleon's second siege of Vienna".

Drama

Aleksandr Pushkin's play "Mozart and Salieri" is based on the supposed rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri, particularly the idea that it was poison received from the latter that caused Mozart's death. This idea is not supported by modern scholarship [See Solomon 1995, 587] .

Peter Shaffer's play "Amadeus" focuses on the difference between true and sublime genius (Mozart) and mere high-quality craftsmanship. Shaffer seems to have been especially taken by the contrast between Mozart's enjoyment of vulgarity (for which historical evidence exists, in the form of his letters to his cousin) and the sublime character of his music. The scene in Shaffer's work in which Mozart dictates music to Salieri on his deathbed is entirely an author's fancy; for the question of whether Mozart did any dictation on his deathbed at all see: "Death of Mozart".

In 2007, he was portrayed by John Sessions in the "Doctor Who" audio adventure "100" in a story that explored the ramifications of Mozart being granted immortality.

Film

Shaffer's play was subsequently made into a film version; see Amadeus (film).

Opera

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "Mozart and Salieri", based on Pushkin's play, treats the Salieri poisoning legend.

Children's literature

Children's author Daniel Pinkwater has Mozart appear as a character in several of his books, including "The Muffin Fiend", in which Mozart helps solve a crime involving an extra-terrestrial creature who steals muffins from Vienna's bakeries.

Notes

References

*Solomon, Maynard (1996) "Mozart: A Life", Harper Perennial, ISBN 0060926929.
*Mariani, Scott (2008) "The Mozart Conspiracy", Avon / HarperCollins, ISBN 9781847560803.