Too Many Notes, Mr. Mozart [Hardcover]

Robert Barnard (Author), Bernard Bastable (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1996

History meets mystery in a novel about one pupil of Mozart's we have never heard of, the young Princess Victoria, whom the composer soon discovers has quite a talent for the keyboard and a knack for being a murder victim.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Had Mozart lived to the age of 73, he might have fallen out of favor, becoming a "largely forgotten, neglected, unperformed composer." At least that's the premise of Bastable's historical mystery Too Many Notes, Mr. Mozart, in which an aging Mozart is sent to the English court of William IV to tutor 11-year-old Princess Victoria in music. Soon the child has her doting tutor wrapped around her finger and convinces him to spy on her mother and her illicit paramour. When the young Victoria's life is threatened, Mozart finds himself in a royal tangle--unable to trust anyone and increasingly fearful for his own life.

From Publishers Weekly

Combining mystery with alternative history, Bastable, who is really veteran mystery author Robert Barnard, offers us a Wolfgang Mozart who has lived to old age. Still unrecognized, still in debt, a widower after a long and happy marriage, the former child prodigy and performer for kings finds himself giving music lessons to Princess Victoria, heir apparent to the throne of England. But having more on her mind than music, the princess asks her piano teacher to uncover the truth about the ambiguous relationship between her mother and Sir John Conroy. The mature Mozart-a bit cagey, puckish, and fond of his young student-acts as a liaison between the princess's mother and the disarmingly informal newly crowned King William IV, who lives with Queen Adelaide surrounded by his brood of illegitimate children. The King, Victoria's uncle, invites her, the heir apparent, to the Windsor court. Shortly after her arrival, a court visitor is fatally poisoned after sipping from a cup intended for Victoria, and the king calls upon Mozart to make the kind of discreet inquiries at which he has proven so competent. Bastable imagines his characters and their setting so fully and seamlessly and offers such appealing possibilities that readers will wish this slight piece offered Mozart and Victoria more range.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 183 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786703156
• ISBN-13: 978-0786703159
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #385,281 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A charming and enlightening look at the private lives of royalty, July 12, 2006

By 

Elizabeth A. Root (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Too Many Notes, Mr. Mozart (Hardcover)

Hired as a music tutor to Princess Victoria, who is isolated in the forlorn surroundings of Kensington Palace, Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart (rumors of his death were exaggerated) becomes involved in the personal lives of her relatives.

Mozart is charmed by his spirited young charge, but dismayed at her virtual imprisonment by a mother desperately attempting to keep her away from bad influences. Ah, but is Mama herself a doubtful example? Is her alleged lover pilfering funds?

Mozart accompanies the Princess and her retinue when her mother reluctantly allows her to meet her illegitimate cousins, the numerous Fitzclarences, born of King Williams long liaison with the actress Mrs. Jordan. The visit is fraught with political significance, as the country does not like the estrangement between the King and his heir. The interactions of the extended family are well drawn and extremely interesting. Characters are brought vividly to life. This is the personal side of court life that so rarely makes it into history.

Violence at the happy gathering causes Mozart to suspect that someone is out to remove Princess Victoria from the line of succession.

A thoroughly enjoyable book. I wish there were more in the series. This is the second book, the first is Dead, Mr Mozart

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extremely Likeable Trio, December 17, 2000

By 

Peter Kenney (Birmingham, Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Too Many Notes, Mr. Mozart (Hardcover)

Wolfgang Gottlieb Mozart is an aging and neglected composer who, in 1830, is summoned to Kensington Palace to give piano lessons to eleven year-old Princess Victoria, the niece of King George IV. Mozart takes an immediate liking to the charming Victoria and sensing that her life may be in danger, decides to try to protect her. After King George IV dies, Princess Victoria becomes heir apparent to the throne and William IV is the new king. The book has a light-hearted tone. Victoria, Mozart and William IV are an extremely likeable trio and the plot is nicely resolved.