‘Telling the story with wit, verve and a fine eye for the by-ways of Viennese society … this is a magnificently produced book’ – The Observer

‘Scholarly yet richly enjoyable … if you want the story behind some of the greatest music ever composed, this is an ideal place to start’ – Classic FM Magazine

The last decade of Mozart’s short but amazingly prolific career counts as one of the most remarkable periods – truly golden years – in the entire history of Western music.

Richly illustrated with contemporary paintings and engravings, 'Mozart: The Golden Years' provides a vivid account of the composer’s life in the European music capital, Vienna, from 1781–1791.

This creative yet turbulent decade witnessed a crescendo of activity. Mozart married Constanze Weber in 1782, and in the ensuing years produced an astonishing wealth of new music, rich in quality as well as quantity. A host of immortal works belong to this period, among them the great trilogy of symphonies (nos. 39–41), operatic masterpieces – The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, The Magic Flute – and the Clarinet Concerto of 1791.

Through a close examination of Mozart’s public successes and failures, his relationship with his father Leopold, his devotion to his wife Constanze, his Masonic associations and his friendship with Joseph Haydn, H.C. Robbins Landon provides an intimate and eminently readable portrait of an extraordinary musical genius.

H. C. Robbins Landon was one of the world’s leading scholars in the field of eighteenth century music. His main publications were on Haydn and Mozart, including the five-volume Haydn: Chronicle and Works, Mozart: The Golden Years and 1791: Mozart’s Last Year. He was responsible for the first edition of all Haydn’s symphonies and has also shared in the new Collected Edition of Mozart’s works. In 1988 he was accorded the signal honour of life membership in the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna.
H.C. Robbins Landon died in 2009

Also of interest
Mozart and Vienna
The Chronicle of Opera: Year-by-year Four Centuries of Music,
    Performance and Recording