Bach and Mozart : essays on the enigma of genius

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"The essays in this volume serve a single objective: to promote a deeper understanding of two of the greatest composers in history, as both supremely gifted creators and fellow human beings. The many fascinating topics include, among others, Bach's relationship to his sons, Martin Luther's importance in Bach's music and in his life, Bach's attitude toward the Jews, Mozart's wit, his portrayal in Amadeus, his evolving responses to Bach's influence, and the lessons of his unfinished works. Diverse interpretive approaches range from text criticism to style criticism and draw on Freudian and Schenkerian analysis, along with the ideas of Harold Bloom, Theodor Adorno, Edward Said, Maynard Solomon, Charles Rosen, and other challenging thinkers"--  Read more... Prologue: The Century of Bach and Mozart as a Music-Historical Epoch: A Different Argument for the PropositionYoung Man Bach: Toward a Twenty-First-Century Bach BiographyThe Notebooks for Wilhelm Friedemann and Anna Magdalena Bach: Some Biographical LessonsBach and LutherRedeeming the St. John Passion--and J. S. BachBach's Keyboard MusicThe Minimalist and Traditionalist Approaches to Performing Bach's Choral Music: Some Further ThoughtsTruth and Beauty: J. S. Bach at the Crossroads of Cultural HistoryBach at Mid-Life: The Christmas Oratorio and the Search for New PathsBach at the Boundaries of Music History: Preliminary Reflections on the B-Minor Mass and the Late-Style ParadigmFather and Sons: Confronting a Uniquely Daunting Paternal LegacyJohann Christian Bach and ErosBach and Mozart: Styles of Musical GeniusMozart and AmadeusBach and Mozart's Artistic MaturityMozart's Unfinished: Some Lessons of the FragmentsEpilogue (ossia Postmortem). Had Mozart Lived Longer: Some Cautious (and Incautious) SpeculationsBibliographyNotes