Ars Antiqua Austria, Gunar Letzbor - Mozart: Grabmusik, Gallimathias Musicum (1998)

Every so often, one becomes enchanted by the accomplishments of a true genius. When such a genius is only 11 years of age, we cannot help but reflect on mankind's wonderful gifts. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart granted the world with a source of pleasure, beauty and inspiration that will be ours to enjoy forever. The goal of this recording was to produce, as simply, organically and accurately as possible, a journey back to what might have happened when the 11-year-old Mozart wrote and performed the music featured here.

This album was made with the purest audio path, using the very best microphones, mic preamps, analog-to-digital converters, recorders, and cables with careful attention to detail to produce the most transparent and natural sound available today.

"Both the Grabmusik and the Gallimathias are likely to surprise those who know Mozart only by his most celebrated symphonic and operatic works; neither Passion Cantatas nor orchestral quodlibets are to be found in his mature output. Performed here with due attention to their Baroque and Rococo elements, each of these pieces represents a fascinating road not taken by a protean genius whose potential was limited only by human mortality." - Benjamin Folkman