This illustrated Mozart biography is aimed at six- to twelve-year-old readers interested in Mozart, his music, and the circumstances of his life.
Hansjörg Ewert's thoroughly researched and fluently written text introduces readers to Mozart's life and works. The book is structured chronologically: the opening chapters are devoted to Mozart the child prodigy, followed by depictions of the major way-stations in his life and travels and ending with an account of his final composition, the “ Requiem”.
The chapters are presented across adjoining pages, with Dietmar Griese's lovingly detailed and uncluttered drawings ensuring clarity. Although the picture-book format requires that the chapters be short, Ewert succeeds in conveying an impression of what makes Mozart's music tick, how it relates to the musical currents of his age, and what external circumstances he sometimes had to put up with (e.g. in the chapters on Janissary music, dances pieces, and operas). Thus, as a welcome side effect, the book also presents the portrait of a bygone era.
