Multimedia Mozart: The Dissonant Quartet, Interactive CD-ROM for IBM PC and Compatibles

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First released by the Voyager Company in 1991 for Macintosh, then by Microsoft in 1994 for IBM PC and compatibles, Robert Winter's interactive exploration of Wolfgang Amadeus great String in C Major, K. 465, is a pioneering effort in tapping the potential of multimedia personal computers to take a fresh look at some of the seminal compositions that have helped define an era of music history. Although the computer allows great flexibility in accessing material in a variety of ways, the first impression is of a rather traditional book structure comprising the following sections: from the Author, Pocket Audio Guide, Instruments, Mozart's World, Quartet Listening, Reading, Bibliography, and Mozart Game. There are, however, many navigational aids for moving at will through the program. A mouse click on the title of a chapter or a section within a chapter takes one straight to the chosen passage. Clicking on any underlined term brings up a glossary definition, and sometimes a musical example with it, such as the famous theme of the slow movement of Joseph Haydn's String Quartet, op. 76, no. 3, which appears in the Haydn glossary entry. The user can search for a term in the text either by selecting from a scrolling list or by entering the word in a search field. The opening Word from the Author is a single screen that sets a friendly tone for the entire program. As with all the text sections, the user has the option of listening to the page read by Winter himself. Most users will probably find the spoken voice of their computer less than ideal and thus elect not to use this speech capability. The Pocket Audio is also a single screen that enables a complete performance of the Dissonant Quartet, effectively played by the Angeles Quartet. This Guide presents a brief structural outline of each movement, using such terminology as exposition, which is broken down into primary area, transition, secondary area, and closing area. If one lets the performance continue, the descriptor for each area is highlighted when that section is reached. Clicking on any single descriptor allows nearly instantaneous access to the beginning of that section of the composition. The treatment of instruments is possibly the most handsome section in the program. Every screen has vivid art illustrating the construction of the various instruments comprising the string quartet. This section would have been improved by reference to the growing availability of recorded performances on historical instruments - not to force a heavy emphasis on historically informed performance, but to encourage the reader to sample the exciting musical vitality achieved by the best ensembles performing on historical instruments. The section entitled Mozart's World is an essay combining biography with general historical background about the cultural environment in which the composer grew into maturity. It includes brief discussions of other Enlightenment figures, such as Jean-Jacques-Rousseau and Voltaire, and it devotes several screens to Haydn, to whom Mozart dedicated the six great quartets to which K. 465 belongs. Graphics such as portraits, maps, and title pages of compositions enrich this section. Quartet Listening covers some technical aspects of style, such as rhythm, and provides the second opportunity to listen to the quartet. This time the structural outline of the work is at the bottom of the screen, with sections predictably highlighted for their duration, while a text discussion, replete with vivid adjectives and adverbs, occupies the top of the screen. The third opportunity to listen to the work occurs in the Close Reading. Here the text is on the left and the outline of form is on the right. This discussion is generally a little more technical than the one in the previous section. The Bibliography is a good introduction for the layperson to the enormous literature about Mozart and other topics relevant to the Dissonant Quartet. …