Mozart's Viennese Instrumental Music: A Study of Stylistic Re-Invention

There is much to admire and much to think about in Keefe’s densely argued chapters, with their thorough examination of thematic, harmonic, textural and formal elements…[Keefe has] insisted that scholars need to think about stylistic change in Mozart’s music, and offered a promising way of doing just that. ― JAMS

Keefe provides here a valuable and musically insightful account of this composer’s music that should offer the reader a new way into this much loved music, and argues convincingly for the revised critical standing of several later works. ― AD PARNASSUM

A welcome biographical reappraisal of Mozart that portrays the perspiration as well as the inspiration behind Mozart’s genius. ― NOTES

Keefe has written a rewarding [and] challenging study. His theory about stylistic re-invention is carefully and densely argued, and the many detailed stylistic connections he makes between works both within a genre and across genres provide ample opportunity for future scholars to evaluate the persuasiveness of his claims…[he has] insisted that scholars need to think about stylistic change in Mozart’s music, and offered a promising way of doing just that. ― JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

It is clear, however, that future studies of Mozart’s stylistic development, from whatever angle they are undertaken, and evaluations of the significance of his mature instrumental works, will have to grapple with Keefe as he has grappled with his many predecessors. ― MUSIC & LETTERS