Trained as a theologian. David thinks about God鈥� all the time. Whether as a father or grandfather, college instructor or Sunday School teacher, poet or writer, he seeks to imagine God in ways that are helpful and hopeful. In this book he brings insights from seminary and graduate school into a story that is deceptively simple and simply profound.
Sacred and Profane a Novel of the Life and Times of Mozart, David Weiss
Austrian composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 Salzburg, Austria 鈥� 5 December 1791 Vienna, Austria), baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. This book is a historical novel, not a biography, nor a work born of imagination. It is historical in that it depicts the life of Mozart and the historical period of his life.
D.Veiss "Dievi拧姆ais un pasaul墨gais". Volfgangs Amadejs Mocarts ir izcils klasicisma laika m奴zikas p膩rst膩vis. Vi艈a fenomen膩lais talants un dz墨ves gaitas ir interes膿ju拧as visu pasauli, un cilv膿ki jau sen ir centu拧ies att膿lot komponista m奴啪u. To ir dar墨ju拧i da啪膩di re啪isori, rakstnieki, dramaturgi un ar墨 Deivids Veiss. 艩墨 autora gr膩mata 鈥淒ievi拧姆ais un pasaul墨gais鈥� ir 募oti patiess un v膿sturisks rom膩ns, jo viss atbilst 18.gs. otr膩s puses dz墨ves stilam, min膿tie cilv膿ki ir patiesi. Mocarta v膿train膩 dz墨ve, pan膩kumi, vi艈a spilgtie izteicieni un izsme募o拧膩 sarakste ar t膿vu ir bag膩t墨gs dokumentu kr膩jums D.Veisam , kura darbs, manupr膩t, vair膩k ir tr膩p墨gs 拧o materi膩lu apkopojums, aizpildot nedaudzos 鈥渂altos plankumus鈥� ar t膿lam rakstur墨gu iesp膿jamo r墨c墨bu. Gan 拧aj膩 darb膩, gan 18.gs. noteikti galvenais t膿ls ir pats Mocarts. Vi艈拧 ir strauj拧 un dz墨vespriec墨gs, komponistu iel墨ksmo balles, dz墨res, bet it 墨pa拧i operu rakst墨拧ana. 幕oti svar墨gu lomu 拧aj膩 gr膩mat膩 ie艈em Mocarta t膿vs Leopolds, kur拧 visu dz墨vi velt墨ja d膿lam, veidojot vi艈a karjeru. P膩r膿j膩 Mocartu 模imene, cilv膿ki, ar kuriem tiekas m膩kslinieks, un vi艈a aizrau拧an膩s 鈥� t膩s visas ir otr拧姆ir墨gas personas, jo vi艈a m墨lest墨ba pret m奴ziku caurstr膩vo 拧o gr膩matu. Autora rakst墨拧anas stils ir visnota募 vienk膩r拧s. Tas pal墨dz lab膩k uztvert teksta saturu, jo gr膩matu veido 墨sas, kodol墨gi aprakst墨tas episodes. 艩ie mazie st膩sti艈i veido diezgan apjom墨gu gr膩matu, bet si啪ets ir strauj拧 un negaid墨tiem pav膿rsieniem pilns. Kopum膩 拧is darbs neatst膩j garlaic墨ga v膿stures atst膩sta iespaidu, bet gan interesanta un notikumiem bag膩ta cilv膿ka dz墨ves atainojumu. Es uzskatu, ka ne vienm膿r person墨bu iepaz墨拧anas process ir aizraujo拧s, bet 拧膩di pasniegts V.A.Mocarta dz墨ves st膩sts mani 募oti ieinteres膿ja. Komponists p膿c b奴t墨bas ir 募oti harism膩tiska person墨ba un 拧墨 gr膩mata ir lielisks papildin膩jums. Bet, god墨gi atz墨stoties, es to nevienam neieteiktu, jo filma 鈥淎madeus鈥� atst膩ja uz mani daudz sp膿c墨g膩ku iespaidu. Dom膩ju, ka iemesls ir pavisam vienk膩r拧s 鈥� kinolentes ska艈u celi艈os bija m膩kslinieka darbi. T膩p膿c lasiet gr膩mats un klausieties 鈥淩ekvi膿mu鈥�, tas b奴s daudz iespaid墨g膩k!a
The book follows W.A. Mozart from cradle to grave. The author has researched the subject thoroughly and based his story on "actual events" which is impossible to fact check. In any case a thoughtfully written work which paints a very human picture of the deified composer. Starting from the stoic perspective of Leopold Mozart prepping his son to become The Ultimate Musician, gradually shifting to young Wolfgangs optimistic and lively attitude, as tragedy and misery slowly creeps into his life, before cascading to a heart-wrenching cadence towards the end.
As a composer and musician I found the book inspiring. As a "regular person" I found it characteristically and narratively well written, and I was at times completely immersed in the story.
My only issues were the authors no doubt subjective impressions of what the compositional process was for W.A.M., stating that "he wrote it like that because he was feeling this and that, and thus the music became serene and godly" or the likes of it, which I find to be a grey area where on the one side it's clearly the authors imagination and not "historical fact", who knows Mozarts true intentions and feelings/state of mind when writing? On the other hand it gives color to the story.
Besides that it's thoroughly well researched and paints a realistic picture of the composers life and the era he was living in. I now sit with a deep pity and sympathy for Mozart, and my impression is that he was all in all just another person for whom circumstances and his father made him into what he became, and he couldn't have become anything else because of it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Easy to read, pretty thorough. It's a novel, so Weiss takes liberties. Gives you a good sense of Mozart's struggle. If this period and/or this composer interests you, you will probably enjoy it.