Neal Zaslaw (born June 28, 1939) is an American

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

Life and career

Born in New York, Zaslaw graduated from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1961 with a BA and obtained his master's from

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

in 1963. He played flute in the American Symphony Orchestra under

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

from 1962 to 1965. In 1970 he received his Ph.D from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

; he also taught at

CUNY , mottoeng = The education of free people is the hope of Mankind , budget = $3.6 billion , established = , type = Public university system , chancellor = Fél ...

, 1968-70. Since 1970 he has taught at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. Zaslaw's early work dealt with

performance practice Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of classical music, which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of the musical era in which ...

, especially tempo and ornamentation with respect to French and Italian styles. Zaslaw has done extended work on the works of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

, including a landmark 1989 work on his symphonies. In 1993, he was named the principal editor of the revised

Köchel catalogue The Köchel catalogue (german: Köchel-Verzeichnis, links=no) is a chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, originally created by Ludwig Ritter von Köchel, in which the entries are abbreviated ''K.'', or ''KV''. The n ...

Works

*Zaslaw, Neal (1994) "Mozart as a working stiff," in James M. Morris, ed., ''On Mozart'', Cambridge University Press. An influential assertion of the practicality of Mozart's motivations in composition, attacking older conceptions as romanticized and unrealistic. Available on line:

Books

*''Materials for the Life and Works of Jean-Marie Leclair L’ainé'' (dissertation, Columbia U., 1970) *with M. Vinquist: ''Performance Practice: a Bibliography'' (New York, 1971) *(ed.) ''Man & Music:/Music in Society: The Classical Era'' (London, 1989) *''Mozart’s Symphonies: Context, Performance Practice, Reception'' (Oxford, 1989) *''The Compleat Mozart: a Guide to the Musical Works'' (New York, 1990) *(ed. with F.M. Fein) ''The Mozart Repertory: a Guide for Musicians, Programmers, and Researchers'' (Ithaca, NY, 1991) *(ed.) ''Mozart’s Piano Concertos: Text, Context, Interpretation'' (Ann Arbor, 1996) *with John Spitzer, J. Spitzer: ''The birth of the orchestra: history of an institution, 1650 - 1815'' (Oxford Univ. Press 2004)

Notable student

References

*Paula Morgan. "Neal Zaslaw". ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'' online. ;Liber amicorum *

Cliff Eisen Cliff Eisen (born 21 January 1952 in Toronto) is a Canadian musicologist and a Mozart expert. He was based in the Department of Music at King's College London. He studied at the University of Toronto and at Cornell University, and has taught at th ...

(ed.): ''Coll' astuzia, col giudizio : essays in honor of Neal Zaslaw'' (Ann Arbor, Mich. : Steglein 2009) {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaslaw, Neal American musicologists Cornell University faculty Columbia University alumni Harvard University alumni Mozart scholars Living people 1939 births