Getting the Most Out of Mozart: The Instrumental Works - Unlocking the Masters Series, No. 3 [Paperback]

David Hurwitz (Author), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2005 | Series: Unlocking the Masters (Book 3)

In this book, Hurwitz takes the reader/listener through Mozart's chamber and orchestral music. This music doesn't sound like anyone else's - only Mozart could have written it. What makes it so special and how to enjoy it are explored. The CD contains excerpts from BMG Classics Recordings.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Hurwitz's] writing style is fresh, without complex techinical terms . . . I encourage all teachers of young students to read this book." -- American Music Teacher, August/September 2005

Product Details

• Paperback: 187 pages
• Publisher: Amadeus Press (January 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574670964
• ISBN-13: 978-1574670967
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,193,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in Wilmington, Delaware and grew up in Connecticut. I have graduate degrees in Modern European History from Johns Hopkins and Stanford Universities, and at one time or another studied and played piano, clarinet, viola, and percussion. I am currently the founder and Executive Editor of Classicstoday.com, the internet's first major classical music review magazine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really excellent guide to Mozart, February 24, 2005

By 

Alan Lekan (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting the Most Out of Mozart: The Instrumental Works - Unlocking the Masters Series, No. 3 (Paperback)

Unlocking the vast rewards of classical music takes more than just casual listening - it requires learning some of the basic aspects of music (rhythm, structure, harmony, etc) and a little of the historical context of the composers and his/her predecessors. Mozart is an excellent place to start into classical music for many reasons - one being his highly-melodic music is considered easily "accessible" to the average listener who can appreciate and enjoy it without any musical know-how.

In this fresh and much-needed new series, vetern music-writer David Hurwitz gives us an enticing roadmap to understanding the music of Mozart in a way that most anyone can deepen their music appreciation and enhance their listening experience. The text is friendly, well writen, without complex jargon and analyzes Mozart's music in simple but enough detail to reveal just exactly "what makes Mozart's music sound like Mozart."

Mr. Hurwitz takes the classical enthusiast through the some fifty major works of Mozart's instrumental music, focusing each chapter on one category (chamber music, symphony, concerto, church music). The vocal works (opera, concert arias, masses) are in a separate volume with the green cover. Within each major work, Hurwitz describes the most common musical "structures" Mozart used - such as the all-important sonata form, theme-and-variations, rondos, and the minuet. His "analysis" of Mozart's well-loved piano concertos is quite interesting and helpful, breaking them down into 10 'groups' to help get your hands around the differences in composition and effect of each. The accompanying CD of several movements helps bring to life Hurwitz's commentary of several featured works that are discussed in more depth.

I also appreciated his defense of "delightful music" such as Mozart's from the critical voices that sometimes devalues such music as merely "cute" - while giving elevated status to the later, more troubling-sounding music of the Romantic or Modern eras ... or as he jokingly terms it: "the suffering, Romantic, artist-hero expressing personal misery in their creations." Great music is not only about dramatic tension, disturbing dissonances and individual emotional expression but also about pleasant, happy tones that anyone can enjoy.

Hurwitz' book is one of the "fun to read" intros to Mozart and classical music appreciation and is highly recommended. It should appeal to both the newcomer as well as those with more experience in classical music as it also has great depth and detail. If your interest is to follow in more detail the actual musical scores for several popular works, a similar but slightly more musically-involved book is by Robert Harris' ("What To Listen For In Mozart"). Harris' books are also easy and interesting to read for the non-music major types.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Opens the treasure box of Mozart, July 17, 2009

By 

C. Huygen (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Getting the Most Out of Mozart: The Instrumental Works - Unlocking the Masters Series, No. 3 (Paperback)

I'm a pretty intelligent person, but Mozart's music has always made me feel stupid. It's obviously finely crafted and beautiful, but I've always felt I was missing out on a lot of what's there, and that was frustrating to me - for years. David Hurwitz' book gave me just the right amount of information to unlock this box of treasures.

One of my favorite things about Hurwitz' writing and teaching style is that he reassures you that you don't need to "catch" everything. Page 53: "[i]t's usually more important to get a feel for the contrast between periods of "motion" and "rest" than it is to be able to say for certain exactly what tune belongs to what section of the movement." Page 123, after a very brief discussion of A Little Night Music: "That is truly all you need to know." What a relief! And quite true.

I've gone on to enjoy a lot of the pieces Hurwitz recommends, and now I'm enjoying Beethoven too (another vast body of work that always intimidated and irritated me before). I feel like I "get it" now - not all of it, but enough to enter into it and enjoy myself, and to learn and discover more as I listen. I went out and bought 3 more of Hurwitz' books, too. Enjoy!

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for classical fans and a great intro for others., March 17, 2005

By 

Fruit Loop (Down South) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Getting the Most Out of Mozart: The Instrumental Works - Unlocking the Masters Series, No. 3 (Paperback)

As another reviewer has already pointed it, this collection would make an EXCELLENT intro to the wonders of classical music, as well as a must-have for Mozart fans. Even if you already have these pieces, having it on one collection makes the drive to work a pleasure rather than a chore. Highly recommend.