Mozart biography prodigy

Mozart spent the year in Vienna in an apartment which may be visited today at Domgasse 5 behind St. Stephen's Cathedral; it was here that Mozart composed Le nozze di Figaro in Mozart's final illness and death are difficult scholarly topics, obscured by Romantic legends and replete with conflicting theories. Scholars disagree about the course of decline in Mozart's health--particularly at what point Mozart became aware of his impending death, and whether this awareness influenced his final works.

The Romantic view holds that Mozart declined gradually, and that his mozart biography prodigy and compositions paralleled this decline. In opposition to this, some contemporary scholarship points out correspondence from Mozart's final year indicating that he was in good cheer, as well as evidence that Mozart's death was sudden and a shock to his family and friends.

The actual cause of Mozart's death is also a matter of conjecture. His death record listed 'hitziges Frieselfieber' 'severe miliary fever'a description that does not suffice to identify the cause as it would be diagnosed in modern medicine. In fact, dozens of theories have been proposed, which include mozart biography prodigymercury poisoning, and rheumatic fever.

The contemporary practice of bleeding medical patients is also cited as a contributing clause. Mozart's death occurred while he was working on his final composition, the Requiem. According to popular legend, Mozart was penniless and forgotten when he died, and was buried in a pauper's grave. In fact, though he was no longer as fashionable in Vienna as he had once been, he continued to have a well paid job at court and receive substantial commissions from more distant parts of Europe, Prague in particular.

Many of his begging letters survive, but they are evidence not so much of poverty than his ability to always spend more than he earned. He was not buried in a mass grave but a regular communal grave according to the laws. Being a fanatic of Mozart, he edited vulgar passages out of many of the composer's letters and wrote a Mozart biography.

Mozart was a prolific composer and wrote for many genres. Among his best works are his operasthe piano concertoshis symphoniesstring quartets and string quintets. Mozart also wrote voluminously for solo piano, chamber musicmasses and other religious music, dances, divertimentiand other forms of light entertainment. There were no trains, so the family crossed vast distances in rickety horse-and-cart, and suffered from terrifying sicknesses.

They often didn't get paid for a while either, so times were tight. At the age of 17 the year Mozart got a job as a court musician for the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. It was a great opportunity - he was being paid to compose in nearly every possible musical genre, letting him flourish as a composer. But the composer gradually grew bored and frustrated with the life and society in Salzburgas well as the lack of opportunities for getting operas performed.

He strived to find employment somewhere else. In he left Salzburg, and went to Paris the next year, still looking for a new opportunity. It didn't go very well though: the Parisian musical world didn't seem to take much notice of him. In he ended up back in Salzburg. His father had gotten him a position as a court organist. Mozart battled with his employer the Archbishop Colloredowho was rude to him and treated the composer like a servant.

The composer tried to quit but wasn't allowed. Finally he was relieved of duty, but humiliated at the same time. Mozart was through with working for others. He decided to go it alone, and shifted his life to Vienna in From now on he would be a freelance musician and composer. So begins the most financially successful period of Mozart's life Mozart's new career started out well.

Viennese musical society loved him, and he even played piano for the Emperor! After settling in for a few months he carved a reputation as the best keyboardist in all Vienna. Another huge development took place around this time. In August Mozart married Constanze Weberthird daughter in a musical family.

Mozart biography prodigy: Born in to a family

He had been courting her on and off for some time, but he finally got her! In all, Mozart wrote more than pieces and has remained popular ever since. His father, Leopold, was himself a composer of note. By the time he was three years old, Wolfgang was able to play minuets from memory, while at the age of six he was considered a superb player of the harpsichord.

Mozart biography prodigy: Mozart was widely regarded

He was not given a great deal of formal education, instead accompanying his father and sister, herself an excellent musician, around Europe in order to show off his abilities. He picked up at least the rudiments of more than a dozen languages during his travels and demonstrated his ability to play a tune perfectly from memory after having heard it only once.

By the time Mozart was ten, he was able to listen to a treble-clef melody and produce a perfect equivalent in basso continuo. He did not need to use any instrument; he did it all in his head. His first symphony had already been written by this time, probably transcribed for him by Leopold. His first publications appeared in Mozart wrote an oratorio at the age of 11, and the following year produced his debut opera.

Emperor Joseph II appointed him as his "chamber composer", a post that had fallen vacant the previous month on the death of Gluck.

Mozart biography prodigy: Mozart was the most

It was a part-time appointment, paying just florins per year, and required Mozart only to compose dances for the annual balls in the Redoutensaal see Mozart and dance. This modest income became important to Mozart when hard times arrived. Court records show that Joseph aimed to keep the esteemed composer from leaving Vienna in pursuit of better prospects.

Inthe young Ludwig van Beethoven spent several weeks in Vienna, hoping to study with Mozart. Toward the end of the decade, Mozart's circumstances worsened. Aroundhe ceased to appear frequently in public concerts, and his income shrank. By mid, Mozart and his family had moved from central Vienna to the suburb of Alsergrund. Around this time, Mozart made some long journeys hoping to improve his fortunes, visiting Leipzig, Dresden, and Berlin in the spring ofand FrankfurtMannheim, and other German cities in Mozart's last year was, until his final illness struck, a time of high productivity—and by some accounts, one of personal recovery.

Mozart's financial situation, a source of anxiety infinally began to improve. Although the evidence is inconclusive, [ 83 ] it appears that wealthy patrons in Hungary and Amsterdam pledged annuities to Mozart in return for the occasional composition. He is thought to have benefited from the sale of dance music written in his role as Imperial chamber composer.

He experienced great satisfaction in the public success of some of his works, notably The Magic Flute which was performed several times in the short period between its premiere and Mozart's death [ 84 ] and the Little Masonic Cantata K. Mozart mozart biography prodigy ill while in Prague for the premiere, on 6 Septemberof his opera La clemenza di Titowhich was written in that same year on commission for Emperor Leopold II 's coronation festivities.

His health deteriorated on 20 November, at which point he became bedridden, suffering from swelling, pain, and vomiting. Mozart was nursed in his final days by his wife and her youngest sister and was attended by the family doctor, Thomas Franz Closset. Mozart died in his home on 5 December aged 35 at am. Mozart was interred in a common grave, in accordance with contemporary Viennese custom, at the St.

Marx Cemetery outside the city on 7 December. The tale of a storm and snow is false; the day was calm and mild. The expression "common grave" refers to neither a communal grave nor a pauper's grave, but an individual grave for a member of the common people i. Common graves were subject to excavation after ten years; the graves of aristocrats were not.

The cause of Mozart's death is not known with certainty. The official record of hitziges Frieselfieber "severe miliary fever", referring to a rash that looks like millet seeds is more a symptomatic description than a diagnosis. Researchers have suggested more than a hundred causes of death, including acute rheumatic fever[ 92 ] [ 93 ] streptococcal infection, [ 94 ] [ 95 ] trichinosis[ 96 ] [ 97 ] influenzamercury poisoningand a rare kidney ailment.

Mozart's modest funeral did not reflect his standing with the public as a composer; memorial services and concerts in Vienna and Prague were well attended. Indeed, in the period immediately after his death, his reputation rose substantially. Solomon describes an "unprecedented wave of enthusiasm" [ 98 ] for his work; biographies were written first by SchlichtegrollNiemetschekand Nissenand publishers vied to produce complete editions of his works.

Mozart's physical appearance was described by tenor Michael Kelly in his Reminiscences : "a remarkably small man, very thin and pale, with a profusion of fine, fair hair of which he was rather vain". His early biographer Niemetschek wrote, "there was nothing special about [his] physique. He was small and his countenance, except for his large intense eyes, gave no signs of his genius.

He loved elegant clothing. Kelly remembered him at a rehearsal: "[He] was on the stage with his crimson pelisse and gold-laced cocked hatgiving the time of the music to the orchestra. Mozart usually worked long and hard, finishing compositions at a tremendous pace as deadlines approached. He often made sketches and drafts; unlike Beethoven's, these are mostly not preserved, as his wife sought to destroy them after his death.

Mozart lived at the centre of the Viennese musical world and knew a significant number and variety of people: fellow musicians, theatrical performers, fellow Salzburgers, and aristocrats, including some acquaintance with Emperor Joseph II. Leutgeb and Mozart carried on a kind of friendly mockery, often with Leutgeb as the butt of Mozart's practical jokes.

He enjoyed billiardsdancing, and kept pets, including a canary, a starlinga dog, and a horse for recreational riding. He possibly also understood and spoke some English, having jokingly written "You are an ass" after his year-old student Thomas Attwood made a thoughtless mistake on his exercise papers. Mozart was raised a Catholic and remained a devout member of the Church throughout his life.

Mozart's music, like Haydn 's, stands as an archetype of the Classical style. At the time he began composing, European music was dominated by the style galanta reaction against the highly evolved intricacy of the Baroque. Progressively, and in large part at the hands of Mozart himself, the contrapuntal complexities of the late Baroque emerged once more, moderated and disciplined by new formsand adapted to a new aesthetic and social milieu.

Mozart was a versatile composer, and wrote in every major genre, including symphonyopera, the solo concerto, chamber music including string quartet and string quintetand the piano sonata. These forms were not new, but Mozart advanced their technical sophistication and emotional reach. He almost single-handedly developed and popularised the Classical piano concerto.

He wrote a great deal of religious musicincluding large-scale massesas well as dances, divertimentiserenadesand other forms of light entertainment. The central traits of the Classical style are all present in Mozart's music. Clarity, balance, and transparency are the hallmarks of his work, but simplistic notions of its delicacy mask the exceptional power of his finest masterpieces, such as the Piano Concerto No.

Charles Rosen makes the point forcefully:. It is only through recognising the violence and sensuality at the centre of Mozart's work that we can make a start towards a comprehension of his structures and an insight into his magnificence. In a paradoxical way, Schumann 's superficial characterisation of the G minor Symphony can help us to see Mozart's daemon more steadily.

In all of Mozart's supreme expressions of suffering and terror, there is something shockingly voluptuous. During his last decade, Mozart frequently exploited chromatic harmony. A notable instance is his String Quartet in C majorK. Mozart had a gift for absorbing and adapting the valuable features of others' music. His travels helped in the forging of a unique compositional language.

Bach and heard his music. In Paris, Mannheim, and Vienna he met with other compositional influences, as well as the avant-garde capabilities of the Mannheim orchestra. In Italy, he encountered the Italian overture and opera buffaboth of which deeply affected the evolution of his practice. In London and Italy, the galant style was in the ascendent: simple, light music with a mania for cadencing ; an emphasis on tonic, dominant, and subdominant to the exclusion of other harmonies; symmetrical phrases; and clearly articulated partitions in the overall form of movements.

Others mimic the works of J. Bach, and others show the simple rounded binary forms turned out by Viennese composers. As Mozart matured, he progressively incorporated more features adapted from the Baroque. For example, the Symphony No. Some of his quartets from have fugal finales, probably influenced by Haydn, who had included three such finales in his recently published Opus 20 set.

The influence of the Sturm und Drang "Storm and Stress" period in music, with its brief foreshadowing of the Romantic erais evident in the music of both composers at that time. Mozart's Symphony No. Mozart would sometimes switch his focus between operas and instrumental music. In his later operas, he employed subtle changes in instrumentation, orchestral texture, and tone colourfor emotional depth and to mark dramatic shifts.

Here, his advances in opera and instrumental composing interacted: his increasingly sophisticated use of the mozart biography prodigy in the symphonies and concertos influenced his operatic orchestration, and his developing subtlety in using the orchestra to psychological effect in his mozart biographies prodigy was in turn reflected in his later non-operatic compositions.

This is a unique number assigned, in regular chronological order, to every one of his known works. A work is referenced by the abbreviation "K. It has since been repeatedly updated, as scholarly research improves knowledge of the dates and authenticity of individual works. Later when Mozart was visiting Augsburg, he was impressed by Stein fortepianos and shared this in a letter to his father.

The Augsburg Cathedral organist Demmler was playing the first, Mozart the second and Stein the third part. Your brother's pianoforte has been moved at least twelve times from his house to the theatre or to someone else's house. His most famous pupil was Johann Nepomuk Hummel[ ] a transitional figure between the Classical and Romantic eras whom the Mozarts took into their Vienna home for two years as a child.

Ever since the surge in his reputation after his death, studying his scores has been a standard part of a classical musician's training. Ludwig van BeethovenMozart's junior by fifteen years, was deeply influenced by his work, with which he was acquainted as a teenager. Some of Beethoven's works have direct models in comparable works by Mozart, and he wrote cadenzas WoO 58 to Mozart's D minor piano concerto K.

Composers have paid homage to Mozart by writing sets of variations on his themes. Beethoven wrote four such sets Op. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Composer — For other uses, see Mozart disambiguation. Portrait, c. Getreidegasse 9Salzburg.

Leopold Mozart Anna Maria Mozart. See also: Mozart's nameMozart familyand Mozart's nationality. Main articles: Mozart family grand tour and Mozart in Italy. Antiphon "Quaerite primum regnum Dei", K. See also: Haydn and Mozart and Mozart and Freemasonry. See also: Mozart's Berlin journey.