Multimedia Mozart : The Dissonant Quartet : An Illustrated, Interactive Musical Exploration (CD-ROM)

Mozart and his music come alive in this interactive exploration of the String Quartet in C Major. Historic events of 18th-century Europe and Mozart's own intense genius combine to create an expressive beauty in each individual stringed instrument. Music scholar Robert Winter interprets the inner meaning of The Dissonant Quartet. Includes color illustrations and informative charts. System Requirements: IBM-compatible 386SX or better; Super VGA monitor with 256 colors; CD-ROM drive; 4MB RAM; DOS 3.1 or later; Windows 3.1 or later; sound board.

The Microsoft Mozart CD-ROM not only delivers accurate detailed analysis about the String Quartet in C major- K. 465, nicknamed the Dissonant Quartet, but goes further, with a discussion of the instruments of a string quartet, Mozart's world, and an excellent bibliography of books about Mozart.

The first chapter of Multimedia Mozart -The Dissonant Quartet, A Word from the Author, allows you to learn about the author, Robert Winter. You can even click on the Play button and hear the author speak. The author's enthusiasm for Mozart and his world comes through in this introduction. Pocket Audio Guide takes each movement of the string quartet and gives a brief analysis of the form of the movement. For example, Movement I. Sonata Form has these sections:

Introduction
Exposition
Primary Area
Transition
Secondary Area
Closing Area
Exposition repeat
Development
Recapitulation
Primary Area
Transition
Secondary Area
Closing Area
Coda

You can click on any of these areas and can hear exclusively the music for that particular section of the movement of the quartet. This is a wonderful way to focus quickly on the specific spots of the quartet that you might want to listen to and to learn the its structure.

In The Instruments, you'll learn about the instruments of a string quartet. Just click to learn about the anatomy of a string instrument, the bow, and explore a most enlightening section called "From Home to Concert Hall". We learned a lot about the construction and history of the instruments in a string quartet. Included were pictures of the instruments showing them from different angles as well as in cross section. The analysis of the instruments also shows how the instruments evolved as changes and improvements happened over the course of time and as the technology for the construction of the instruments improved.

One of the best chapters is Mozart's World. This section has the following topics: Child of the Enlightenment, The Prodigy, On the Road, Prisoner in Salzburg, Escape to Vienna, Public Success, Music in the Homes, Papa Haydn, a Quartet Party. You can either read these sections or click to have the writer engagingly narrate them. The sections include wonderful illustrations not only of the composer and his family, but also of the architecture of the day. After spending some time on this insightful chapter one comes away with a deeper understanding and appreciation not only of the world of Mozart, but of Mozart himself.


http://rapidshare.com/files/354555735/MOZART.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/354555739/MOZART.part2.rar

No Mirror Please!