I have greatly enjoyed reading your material over the years. Last semester, I taught an undergraduate Mozart course. In it we studied not only your Jahnbuch article on K. 361, but also made use of your Requiem book and, perhaps, oddly, The Mozart Forgeries. It has the best "common language" description I've found of how paper generally was created and how music paper and watermarks worked.
. . . Professor Craig M. Wright,
The Henry L. and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Music,
Winner of the International Musicological Society’s Edward J. Dent Medal, the American Musicological Society’s Alfred Einstein Prize, and the Otto Kinkeldey Award.
Yale University
A few months ago, upon seeing the package from Leeson in my faculty mailbox, I ripped open the wrapping, virtually squealing with delight. As a "Mozart person" and the director of McKay Music Library at the University of Utah, I rushed back to the library, rounded up the students there working, and showed them the book. The next day, I took it to my summer class on music of the Classical era; we spent a good part of our class session looking through the book and discussing the exquisite portrait of Himself. Just last week, in my graduate music bibliography class, I brought the book to show that musicological research is alive and well and that we still have much to learn about music of the past, with recent discoveries bringing us closer to it.
. . . Professor April Greenan, Director, McKay Music Library
University of Utah
PhD in historical musicology, Univ. of Maryland
"The Mozart Cache" makes an valuable and unexpected contribution to our knowledge of Mozart and his milieu. Meticulously researched and richly illustrated, it draws upon a variety of techniques for analyzing documentary and iconographic evidence, including portraits, that are applicable well beyond the field of Mozart scholarship. As such, it can be warmly recommended not only to lovers of Mozart and his music, but also to all musicologists and music lovers in general. . . . Professor David Grayson School of Music, University of Minnesota
What a completely unexpected surprise! What at first appears to be of only peripheral interest to Mozart turns out to be utterly fascinating and great fun to read while at the same time enormously instructive. A serendipitous topic carried out with thoroughness, enthusiasm and a good deal of wit. . . . Malcolm Bilson, Frederick J. Wharton Emeritus Professor of Music Cornell University
Hi everyone,
I have had the opportunity to read and review Dan Leeson's wonderful account of a lost collection of items owned by the Mozart family, and it is quite prevalent in a world where so much is taken for granted, and simple pleasures and heirlooms are overlooked for instant gratification and stimulation.
Dan's book offers a great insight for antique collectors, history buffs, and Mozart Aficionados. Even the casual reader looking for some connection to another era in another time would enjoy this book.
I think Dan is very thorough and direct in reviewing the items. I also appreciate his challenges to discern what is authentic Mozart and what is presumed. The photos are very well displayed, the reasoning is supported by credibility, and his narrative makes it a good read.
That entire classical era is one of a grand, splendid, and extravagant era that saw artistic expression challenged by stilted logic and cut-and-dry philosophy. In was an age of enlightment, when education was becoming a necessity, and science was opening new challenges. revolution was about to challenge noble authority, and in this realm of stimulating culture, music was beginning to expand in unexplored directions.
Dan's book offers a glimpse at what was expected in the lives of that era, of the court musician/music director/instructor who had to perform for nobility while living on a modest income. This was indeed what Leopold Mozart represented to this era.
This collection certainly showcases how much he wanted better for himself and his family than the fates of many a mediocre court musician. As we see through Wolgang's music the loving demand of musical precision from Leopold, this book shows the lifestyle that would accompany it.
Now, that centuries have passed this era by in history, we see so many people who wish to claim a part of Mozart's legacy through presumption, wishful thinking, and even deliberate fraud. Bravo to Dan for helping sort out the authentic from the illusion.
More to come on this topic
. . . Scott Dykstra
(posted on the Mozart Forum website)