Mozart’s Vienna

(4 Credits)

This course explores the life and work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart during the last decade of his life, from 1781 to 1791, when he was living in Vienna, the capital of the Habsburg monarchy. The course attempts to understand Mozart's work in the context of the city during that particular decade, the high point of the Viennese Enlightenment under Emperor Joseph II. The course will survey different aspects of Mozart's life and work while focusing especially on three operas: “The Abduction from the Seraglio,” “The Marriage of Figaro,” and “The Magic Flute.”