If it didn�t have the bold disclaimer, �A caper novel� in its cover, The Mozart Forgeries could well be shelved
along with John Carter's An Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets. It might well also be
classed along with the lead article �Forgery in the Music Library: A Cautionary Tale� which has recently appeared in
the June, 2004 issue of Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association. The question of forgery is one
that is always looming just beyond the horizon in all academic pursuits. In this case, the forgeries in question are
a pair of lost Mozart manuscripts linked by their very nature � the Clarinet Quintet, K. 581 and the Clarinet
Concerto, K. 622.
Dan Leeson is, by inclination, a thoughtful musical scholar and, by profession, a mathematician. His well-crafted
scenario is, but for the small problem that it is a figment of Leeson�s fertile and somewhat diabolical imagination,
plausible both in its broad outline and in its minutiae. Taken at face value, The Mozart Forgeries is a picaresque
novel as well as a genre novel. We who work or have worked in and about the world of musical scholarship are uniquely
qualified to explore and enjoy this book like an artichoke � each leaf is yummy but as we approach the heart they
become increasingly delicious until, wonder of wonders, we finally reach the heart.
The Mozart Forgeries is a literary romp and not just for the musically informed. The work is a delight. Like so many
a roman a clef, the more one knows about music and musical research, the more one will enjoy The Mozart Forgeries.
If one were to make a comparison, one would have to look at the oeuvre of P.D.Q. Bach/Peter Schickele. On the surface,
these pieces are amusing. The more steeped one is in the music of the second half of the Eighteenth Century, the more
hilarious they become. Indeed, like Schickele, one must be knowledgeable not only in the matters of Mozart
scholarship and the late Eighteenth Century but the ways of librarians, scholars, collectors and greedy people in
these and other pursuits.
Inasmuch as the main character in The Mozart Forgeries, identified only as �Librarian,� is an employee of The New
York Public Library for the Performing Arts, I took particular interest in this aspect of the tale. Leeson�s
depictions are out of whole cloth and one must never, ever draw parallels between �Librarian� and any of his
real-life counterparts the last three of which I had the honor to call my friends and colleagues. Nonetheless,
Leeson has distilled the essence of the heart and mind of one who works daily with priceless musical treasures.
To give even the tiniest bit more of the plot away would be a crime of which I choose not to be guilty. I would
only conclude with my initial reaction when I began this review, �I couldn't put the darn book down.�
. . . Joseph M. Boonin, Sr. Librarian (retired)
Former Head of the Recorded Sound and Moving Image Circulating Collection, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Former music publisher-distributor and one-time representative of the publishers of 'The New Mozart Edition'