Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart’s Family Born into a musical family Father, Leopold, was a distinguished violinist and composer. He held the position of deputy music director at the court of Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg in Austria and authored an important book on violin playing Sister was also a talented musician, but was it was unaccepted for women to pursue a life in music Father devoted his life to promoting young Wolfgang’s talent

Mozart’s Early Life Born in 1756, at age four, he was already displaying his musical talent At age 6, he had started to compose and performed well on harpsichord. For the next 10 years, his father took him on tour to various courts and towns around Europe. Mozart played for nobleman, princes, and the Empress of Austria, Maria Theresa Wherever Mozart went, he picked up the musical style of the region and the prominent local composers At age 8, Mozart already had music published At 10, he was composing symphonies At 14, he produced a full-length opera At 17, when he returned to Salzburg, he was a mature artist

Finding Mozart a job after his tour Not easy Archbishop of Salzburg agreed to hire Mozart, even though he did not think highly of the family because of Leopold Mozart’s many leaves of absence Mozart was hired in a junior position After a few years Mozart traveled again to find another position

Job searching again Mozart leaves to find a job with his mother because his father could not take any more leaves of absence He went to Munich, Mannheim and Paris, but had no luck The employers thought that he was “overqualified” On the trip, his mother dies Upon returning to Salzburg, Mozart is given a promotion In 1780, Mozart accompanied the Archbishop to Vienna While on the trip, Mozart had to live in servants quarters and was not allowed to play for the aristocrats, even though he was invited He felt this was unfair and quit his position with the Archbishop of Salzburg

Freelance Period Mozart first supported himself by giving piano lessons while composing several piano sonatas and concertos In 1782, he composed a German comic opera: The Abduction from the Seraglio Also in 1782, he married his land-lady’s daughter, a young soprano named Constanze Weber; his father disapproved of this union

Great Fame For the next few years, Mozart was successful He composed a set of string quartets that were designed to emulate those of Haydn, to whom they are dedicated The two composers met on a few occasions at string quartet parties; Haydn played violin and Mozart played the viola. In these years, Mozart won great fame and made quite a lot of money (It was the height of his career) Between 1784 and 1786, he composed 12 piano concertos and appear5ed before the Viennese public as both a pianist and a composer.

Mozart’s Fame declines Viennese always looking for the new sensation and the city was undergoing a recession From the late 1780’s, Mozart requested loans from friends Despite his despise of authority, he made attempts to secure a position at the Viennese court. In the summer of 1788, he composed 3 symphonies in a span of about 8 weeks, (no. 39, 40, and 41) These concluded his work in this genre. He next turned towards opera writing. In the last five years of his life, he composed 5 operas (The Marriage of Figaro 1786, Don Giovanni 1787 and The Magic Flute 1791) In November of 1791, while working on a Requiem Mass, (Mass for the Dead) Mozart became ill. On December 5, at age 35, Mozart dies

Mozart’s Music Accessible and profound. It appeals to experts and amateurs He composed more than 800 compositions including: Operas, symphonies, string quartets and quintets, sonatas, and concertos for violin, flute, oboe, clarinet bassoon and horn He composed more than 20 piano concertos

Composed music that was unconventional Used counterpoint to intensify his music in places where counterpoint was not usual Uses chromaticism Often passes in minor mode He uses the same instruments, forms and genres, but Mozart is so well-known because his music speaks deeply to more people, covers a wider range of feeling and resonates with more human significance than that of almost any other composer.