Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ( 1756-1791 )

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart lived from January 27, 1756 to December 5, 1791. Mozart was a very influential and prolific composer of more than 600 works, including symphonies, concertante, chamber, piano, opera, and choral music. Regarded as a child prodigy, Mozart composed and performed in the European courts from the age of five, and was engaged at the Salzburg court at 17. Mozart’s musical style can be classified as Classical, although he learned from many of his contemporaries throughout his musical career. In order to better understand Mozart’s genius it is best to begin looking at his earliest contributions to the musical world as a child. From there, an exploration of his

Mozart was a prolific and most influential composer of the classical era. As a mere toddler he began to observe his sister’s lessons with their father, developing a keen ear, and showing signs of surprising comprehension. His father, Leopold, was himself a successful composer, violinist and assistant concert master of the Salzburg Court. Both Mozart and his sister were tutored by their father, a dedicated and task-oriented pedagogue. Young Mozart progressed anon, excelling even above his father’s pedagogic genius. At the verdant age of six, he performed as a child prodigy at royal courts in London, Paris, and Zurich. Mozart’s youth was spent fully engaged in touring and performance. These tours were financed through donors and patrons. Through the years, and while abroad, Mozart met many accomplished musicians such as Johann

He was one of the most well-known and influential composers in the Classical Era. In the early years of his life, Mozart proved to be a prodigy. Growing up he “mastered the universal technical difficulties of musical composition, such as counterpoint, harmony, fugue, variation, instrumentation, and formal planning (of arias, ensembles, sonatas, and rondos); yet all this learning never suppressed the element of fantasy. Mozart excelled in virtually every genre and style” (Rushton, Paragraph 1) Mozart composed over 600 works varying from concertos, operas, sonatas, and symphonies. During the years 1782—1785, Mozart performed a series of concerts, earing him a substantial amount of wealth. In 1786, he returned to opera where his career began to slowly decline, causing him and his family to change from the comfortable lifestyle they grew accustom to living frugally. 1791, the year Mozart died was a year of great productivity. He wrote many new works, such as The Magic Flute, Clarinet Concerto K.622, and Ave verum corpus K.618. Unfortunately, he became ill and his health began to deteriorate. He died December 5th, 1791 at the age of

This paper discusses Mozart's life, his compositions and his importance to the world and the world of music. It explains how Mozart's music is still some of the most popular classical music played today and his life is still studied because his music is so well known and liked.

Wolfgang was busy during his childhood, playing, and practicing his music; he did not get much of a chance to really experience being a child. His father was constantly pushing him to be better, to play hard, and to make more money. Mozart and his father were evidently close, there are many different views to how Leopold fathered his children; some say he was a money hungry truant, others say he was sweet, sensitive, wanted the best for his children, and that the money didn’t matter. I believe that Leopold want the best for his children, and maybe a little money out of it. Eventually, Mozart wanted to leave his native home of Salzburg, he was most likely tired of his father constantly trying to control his life. Having knowledge of the lack of jobs in Vienna, and disregarding his fathers pleads, Mozart left his home anyways, heading for Vienna with no steady job.

The effects of Mozart on today’s society can be seen just about everywhere. In marketing, they play music to make the consumer want to buy their product. In restaurants, they play music to help the customer feel relaxed in their establishment. People listen to music while driving cars. It seems that music permeates almost every aspect of our everyday lives. When people think of the birth of modern music, they often think of classical music. And when people think of classical music, they think of Mozart. During the 18th century, the musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed a total number of six hundred and fifty works. When he was younger, he toured Europe with his father, Leopold, and his sister, Nannerl, playing for Europe’s elite of the time. He put forth some major musical contributions that shape modern music today (Fiero 324,326). Classical music is the great grandfather of all modern music. Some people enjoy

Mozart was known for having an ear that would make any musician envious. From a young age he was able to listen to any piece of music and his mind would interpret all of that data with ease. While in Rome, he listened to a performance of Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere only twice at the Sistine Chapel and was able to write it down for memory when he got home (Abert 135).

Mozart was a virtuoso on the piano. A virtuoso refers to someone who is highly skilled on his or her instrument. Mozart played keyboard and violin while his sister only played the keyboard. At the early age of 3, Mozart was showing signs of being musically gifted and began composing shortly after. Both he and his sister received intense musical training which, in turn, allowed Mozart the opportunity to grow as a musician. It became certain that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy. This meant that he had a skill that was not learned. He had a natural gift for music. Their father, Leopold began teaching his children music at a young age. Because of this, both children were destined to get far in their musical careers. Over his short life, Mozart wrote several operas. His most famous operas include; The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute and La Clemenza di Tito. Operas and plays that are entirely sung. Each of Mozart’s operas have a story behind it. For example, The Marriage of Figaro is a comedy about a couple trying to get married but, a series of obstacles interferes with it. Because Mozart showed a talent for music at the young age of six, his father took him and his sister to play in from of a court and they caught the attention of important individuals. This resulted in a tour.

Mozart's first opera buffa debuted when he was only 12. La Finta Semplice's first performance was at the Archbishop's Palace in Salzburg, Austria.

Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria to Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria Pertyl. His father was a violinist and a composer and was the man whom introduced him to music at a very young age, and from then on he grew to be one of the most talented musical prodigies in history. Mozart started learning about music at a very young age. It was at age three that he began to play the keyboard, and within the next few years, he could play many different instruments. His sister, Maria Anna, was also very talented in music, and excelled at learning instruments as well. By the time he was eight years old, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had written his first three symphonies, and was learning music and an incredibly quick rate. Because of Mozart’s talent and interest in music, his father took him to Italy when he was thirteen to further his career, leaving his sister behind..

     Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s style unlike anyone else. Mozart was a master of counterpoint, fugue, and the other traditional compositional points of his day. He is also considered the best melody writer the world has ever known. Wolfgang perfected the grand forms of symphony, opera string quartet, and concerto made the classical period. “Mozart’s music is characterized by lucid ease and distinction of style....”2 Wolfgang wrote over 600 works which consisted of 21 stage and opera works, 15 masses, over 50 symphonies, 25 piano concertos, 12 violin concertos,27 concert arias, 17 piano sonatas, 26 string quartets, and many more. His operas range from comic baubles to tragic pieces. In his Requiem it illustrates the supreme vocal sounds in any of his work.

     Without a doubt, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart born January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, was probably the greatest genius in Western musical history. His father was a noted composer, pedagogue and author of a famous treatise on violin

In Salzburg, Austria, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756. Wolfgang was the only son of Leopold and Maria Pertl Mozart to survive. Wolfgang began learning about music when he was three years old, watching his sister Nannerl play the keyboard. He was a musical prodigy, composing his first piece at 5, and beginning “tours” with his father at 6 years old. When Wolfgang turned 13, his father took him to Italy to show off this young boy’s talents. Before Mozart turned 21, he was appointed to be assistant concertmaster. It was at this time that he wrote his first opera. Mozart left on another tour in 1777, and then returned to Salzburg to be a court organist. He soon decided he was not so fond of this position, and resigned to become a freelance musician in Vienna. When he moved to Vienna, he married Constanze Weber, against his father’s wishes. Wolfgang lived in luxury during the beginning of his life in Vienna, he was producing popular operas. Soon, though, he began to lack money, and took loans that would leave him in debt for the rest of his life. In the final years of Mozart’s life, he was most productive, writing his most famous symphonies, The Magic Flute, and of course,

second Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were he to continue as he has begun” (Morris, 19-22 & Suchet, “1770”).

At the age of three, Wolfgang showed signs of remarkable musical talent. He learned to play the harpsichord, a keyboard instrument related to the piano, at the age of four. Wolfgang began composing minuets at the age of five. When he was only six years old, he and his older sister, Anna Maria, embarked on a series of concert tours to Europe’s courts and major cities. They played for the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa