Wednesday 12 July 2017

Mozart and the Wolf Gang

Here is another reading suggestion to commemorate the 100th birth year of Anthony Burgess. This book is very special as Burgess wrote it in 1991 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Mozart's death. So my favourite writer wrote an homage about my favourite composer. The book is called Mozart and the Wolf Gang. I say book and not novel, as this is an homage that is multiform: part play, part TV script, part poetry and you could add essay to the list. Mainly set in Heaven (or what appears to be Heaven) in 1991 when on Earth the Golf War is raging. In Heaven, great minds observe the war going down below and discuss Mozart's music and its influence. Artists, among them famous musicians, but not exclusively. Through the chats and sometimes arguments of this wolf gang one can see the immense importance of Mozart's work not only for music, but also civilization. There is also a fictionalized version of Symphony No 40. Which I am sharing it to accompany this post. Burgess wrote many books to celebrate great minds, be it Shakespeare, Napoleon, Hemingway, Marlowe. Always sharp, always eye opening, always surprising, always relevant, this is a must-read.

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