Early Mozart Biographies Project
The Mozart Society of America has edited and posted full texts of selected early biographies of Mozart in order to provide convenient access to some of the literature that has shaped our view of Mozart's life and work.
| Author | Title | Citation | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barrington, Daines | “Account of a Very Remarkable Young Musician” | Miscellanies. London: J. Nichols. | 1871 |
| Bingley, William | “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart” | Musical Biography: Memoirs of the Lives and Writings of the Most Eminent Musical Composers and Writers Who Have Flourished in the Different Countries of Europe during the Last Three Centuries. 2 vols. London: Henry Colburn. | 1834 |
| Burney, Charles | “Mozart, John Chrysostom Wolfgang Theophilus” | The Cyclopedia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature. S.v. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees. | 1819-20 |
| Burney, Charles | “Mozart, Leopold” | The Cyclopedia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature. by Abraham Rees. S.v. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees. | 1819-20 |
| Busby, Thomas | “Life of Mozart” | Walpoliana. no. IX (December 1798), 445-50. | 1798 |
| Busby, Thomas | “Haydn and Mozart” | A General History of Music from the Earliest Times to the Present. 2 vols. London: Whittaker. | 1819 |
| Choron, Alexandre, and François Joseph Fayolle | “Mozart (Jean-Chrysostome Wolfgang Théophile)” | Dictionnaire historique des musiciens, artistes et amateurs, morts ou vivans, qui se sont illustrés en une partie quelconque de la musique et des arts qui y sont relatifs. 2 vols. S.v. Paris: Valade. | 1810-11 |
| Gerber, Ernst Ludwig | “Mozart (Leopold) and Mozart (Wolfgang Amadei, nach andern J.G. Wolfg.)” | Historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler, welches Nachrichten von dem Leben und Werken musikalischer Schriftsteller, berühmter Componisten, Sänger ... enthält. 2 vols. S.v. Leipzig: Breitkopf. | 1792-94 |
| Gerber, Ernst Ludwig | “Mozart (Leopold); Mozart (Johann Chrysostomus Wolfgang Gottlieb); Mozart, geb. Weber (Constanza)” | Neues historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler, welches Nachrichten von dem Leben und Werken musikalischer Schriftsteller, berühmter Componisten, Sänger ... enthält. 4 vols. S.v. Leipzig: A. Kühnel. | 1812-14 |
| Lipowsky, Felix Joseph | “Mozart, (Leopold) and Mozart, (Wolfg. Amadeus)” | Baierisches Musiklexikon. S.v. Munich: Jakob Giel. | 1811 |
| Mozart, Constanze | “Einige Anekdoten aus Mozarts Leben, von seiner hinterlassenen Gattin uns mitgetheilt” | Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. 1 (6 Feb. 1799): cols. 289–91. | 1799 |
| Mozart, Constanze | “Noch einige Kleinigkeiten aus Mozarts Leben, von seiner Wittwe mitgetheilt” | Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. 1 (11 Sept. 1799): cols. 854–56. | 1799 |
| Mozart, Nannerl | “Noch einige Anekdoten aus Mozarts Kinderjahren. Mitgetheilt von dessen Schwestern, der Reichsfreyin, Frau von Berthold zu Sonnenburg” | Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. 2 (22 Jan. 1800): cols. 300–301. | 1800 |
| Niemetschek, Franz Xaver | Leben des k. k. Kapellmeisters Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart, nach Originalquellen beschrieben | Prague: Herrlischen Buchhandlung. | 1798 |
| Niemetschek, Franz Xaver | Lebensbeschreibung des k. k. Kapellmeisters Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, aus Originalquellen | 2nd ed. Prague: Herrlischen Buchhandlung. | 1808 |
| Rochlitz, Friedrich | “Anekdoten von Mozart” | Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung. 1 (10 Oct. 1798), cols. 20–24; (24 Oct. 1798), 49–55; (7 Nov. 1798), 81–86; (21 Nov. 1798), 113–17, (5 Dec. 1798), 145–52; (19 Dec. 1798), 177–80; 2 (April 1799), 480; 3 (March 1801), 450–52; (April 1801), 493–97; (May 1801), 590–96. | 1798-1801 |
| Sainsbury, John | “Mozart (Leopold)” and “Mozart (Johann Chrysostomus Wolfgang Gottlieb)” | A Dictionary of Music from the Earliest to the Present Times. Comprising the Most Important Biographical Contents of the Works of Gerber, Choron, and Fayolle, Count Orloff, Dr. Burney, Sir John Hawkins, etc., etc. together with upwards of a Hundred Original Memoirs of the Most Eminent Living Musicians; and a Summary of the History of Music. 2 vols. S.v. London: Sainsbury. | 1824 |
| Schlichtegroll, Friedrich | “Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart” | Nekrolog auf das Jahr 1791. Enthaltend Nachrichten von dem Leben merkwürdiger in diesem Jahre verstorbener Personen. 2. Jahrgang, 2. Band. S.v. Gotha: Justus Perthes. | 1793 |
| Schlichtegroll, Friedrich | Mozarts Leben | Graz: Joseph Georg Hubeck. | 1794 |
| Stendhal | “Life of Mozart” | The Life of Haydn, in a Series of Letters Written at Vienna; Followed by the Life of Mozart; with Observations on Metastasio; and on the Present State of Music in France and Italy. Translated by L.A.C. Bombet. London, 1817; reprinted, with notes by William Gardner, Boston and Philadelphia, 1839. | 1817/1839 |
Editorial Policies
The texts in the EMB project have been laid out in pages or columns to reflect the original pagination. (In rare cases, there is no pagination in the original publication, e.g., Rees’s Cyclopedia.) Whenever possible, we have done two pages as a spread.
The texts reflect the original spelling and (for the most part) orthography (italic type, capitalization, punctuation) of the original publications. Spelling of names, places, and other words has not been corrected or modernized. Similarly, date and numbers are given as in the original publications.
Full bibliographical citations for each selection are provided, along with a facsimile of the original title page. All the texts are in the public domain and are copyright-free, and may be downloaded or used online. Simply click on the title to open the PDF.
If you find a typographical error in a selection, please send us a correction at mozartsocietyofamerica@gmail.com. Please include the work by title, page or column, and a brief description of the problem.
Acknowledgments
The selections were originally made by Paul Corneilson, Ulrich Leisinger, and John A. Rice. Marita P. McClymonds, Rachel Becker, and Melanie Leinbach generously assisted with proofreading.