Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Created | Updated Apr 21, 2004
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the greatest music
composers who ever lived. The name MOZART and the word
GENIUS are often bandied about together by music writers
and critics - and rightly so!
Mozart had a fantastic ear for writing a catchy tune with
perfect orchestral arrangement. Mozart's music has a
a very rich and distinctive sound. It can be said that in
his brief lifetime (only 35 years) that he
wrote a masterpiece in every genre of classical music
and without much apparent effort.
Mozart was a prolific music writer. Original and fully
completed music poured out of his mind and his music scores
showed little correction. His wife Constanze said that he
wrote the Overture of his opera Don Giovanni on the day of
its premiere.
Mozart described his method of composing in a letter:-
"When I am ...say travelling in a carriage, or walking
after a good meal, or during the nights when I cannot
sleep; it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best
and most abundantly. Whence and how they they come,
I know not; nor can I force them...When I proceed to
write down my ideas, I take out the bag of my memory,
if I may use that phrase, what has previously been
collected...the committing to paper is done quickly
enough, for everything is, as I said before, already
finished; and it rarely differs on paper from what
it was in my imagination."
BRIEF HISTORY
Born: Salzburg, January 27, 1756
Died: Vienna, December 5, 1791
Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 and was named
Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart but
called Wolfgang Amadeus by his family. "Amadeus" means gift
of God. His father Leopold was a musician at the court of the Archbishop of Salzburg and later became "Konzertmeister" or Court Composer. Wolfgang could play complicated pieces of music on the
piano at the age 4 and at the age of 5 he was writing
his own compositions.
Leopold knowing that people would see his children as
special and talented took them on tour across Europe
to play music to the public and Royal Courts. At the
age of 8, Mozart began to write his first symphony.
In 1771 Mozart was given a part time job at the
Archbishop's court. The new Archbishop Colloredo did not
appreciate music and his frosty personality made
Mozart's life intolerable. Mozart hated Colloredo's
manipulative, condescending and poisonous attitude.
In 1777, Mozart quit his post at Salzburg and travelled
to Mannheim and Paris with his mother who unfortunately
died during the journey. Mozart returned to Salzburg and
back into the service again of the Archbishop Colleredo.
The Archbishop was summoned with his musical servants
to Vienna for the celebrations of the coronation of the
new emperor Joseph II. Colleredo handed out numerous
humiliations to Mozart,for instance by making him sit
at the household servants table during a banquet.
In 1781, Mozart quit the Achbishop's service again after
a heated exchange and left Salzburg free to pursue a
freelance career in Vienna as a composer. The next 10
years of Mozart's life are perhaps without parallel in
history as the greatest decade of creative genius.
In 1782, Mozart married Constanze Weber. He settled
down with his new wife in Vienna and made money
teaching, composing and giving public performances of
his new work.
While in Vienna Mozart made the acquaintance of
composer Franz Joseph Haydn. The two became close
friends and the older composer's music had a profound
influence on Mozart. Between 1782 and 1785, Mozart
composed a series of six string quartets which he
dedicated to Haydn. Upon playing through some of them
together, Haydn said to Mozart's father, who was present,
"Before God and as an honest man, your son is the
greatest composer I know, either personally or by name."
From 1784, Mozart took advantage of playing the Lenten
Season concerts from which he could make the public more
aware of his new work. Although his financial problems
were very apparent and it is known that the Vienna Court
Composer Antonio Salieri, who was more popular than
Mozart in his day, schemed against Mozart by stopping
him getting a coveted court position.
In 1785, Mozart started work on his new opera the
Marriage of Figaro with Lorenzo da Ponte who provided
the words. It was first performed 1786 after it was
delayed by Salieri.
Just before Mozart finished his new opera Don Giovanni
(1787) his father Leopold died. The opera went ahead
and was a big success in Prague where it was premiered.
Unfortunately it went down less well in Vienna where
Mozart was beginning to become less fashionable amongst
the fickle Vienna public.
Mozart was especially productive in his last four years
churning out one masterpiece after another (e.g Horn
Concertos 1, 3 & 4, Clarinet Concerto, Eine Kleine
Nachtmusik).
SOME OF HIS MUSIC
Leopold Mozart came to Vienna on 10 February 1785 to
find his son racing to finish his new piano concerto
which he would premier at his public concert that evening.
It was his famous Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor K466.
This piece of music was a fore-runner to the later
romantic style of Beethoven. It shows its temper immediately
and the interplay between piano and orchestra create tension, conflict, vulnerability, shock and sheer bliss. Beethoven and
Brahms both wrote Cadenzas for this concerto.
Beethoven commenting on Mozart's Piano Concerto No.20
"Ah, we shall never be able to do anything like this".
Many people believe that Mozart's 27 piano concertos
were his ultimate creative genius. They are incredibly
tuneful and haunting. The piano concertos were played
to the paying public in which Mozart could show his
own musical vituosity on the piano with a hired orchestra.
Nowhere else can you see Mozart's maturing style than
in their composition.
"You know my greatest desire is to write operas"
- Mozart.
The Marriage of Figaro had been banned in Paris for its
attack on the feudal powers of the aristocracy. In the
original play the two servants Figaro and Susanna struggle
with dignity against their bullying master Count Almavia.
Mozart and librettist Lorenzo da Ponte added warmth and
a comic air to this brilliant opera.
Mozart wrote over 50 symphonies though only 41
are actually numbered. He wrote his greatest symphonies
in his last decade. Two of which were written to coincide
with his visits to cities Linz No.36 K425 and Prague
No.38 K504. In 1788, Mozart wrote three great symphonies
in only six weeks. The beginning of Symphony No.40 K550
is often beeped out these days as a mobile phone ring.
All of Mozart's compositions were listed, indexed and
catalogued by Ludwig von Kochel and they are all
uniquely identified by "K" numbers.
LAST DAYS & FINAL COMPOSITION - REQUIEM MASS K626
In the summer of 1791, a mysterious grey clad figure
arrived on Mozart's doorstep announcing that his
anonymous master (who was Count Franz von
Walsegg-Stuppach who liked to order music from
professional composers and pass them off as his own)
would like to commission a Requiem Mass for the
Dead from Mozart for the fee of 50 ducats.
It was agreed. Unfortunately due to a hectic
workload (i.e. the completion of two operas
La Clemenza di Tito and The Magic Flute), Mozart
was unable to start work on the requiem until
October 1791 by which time he was beginning to
suffer from the illness which would eventually claim
his life. On his return to Vienna from Prague, Mozart
said to his shocked wife Constanze
"I am writing that Requiem for myself. I know I must die".
At the beginning of December 1791 Mozart was bed ridden
suffering from a raging temperature and swollen joints.
Mozart's musical friends and pupils joined him at his
bedside to sing the Requiem which he was trying to finish.
Sadly, he broke down in tears "If only I can stay alive
long enough" cried Mozart "this must be a masterpiece
and my swan-song".
On the evening 4 December 1791, the Doctor was called
to Mozart's house. Mozart was sinking fast. He had a high
fever, red hot fore-head and he was covered in sweat.
The Doctor eventually arrived at 11pm and prescribed
cold compresses to be placed across Mozart's head. As
soon as the cold cloths were applied he lost
unconsciousness forever. He died a few hours later
on the morning of 5 December 1791. His final utterances
were the drum patterns he was describing for the Requiem.
Before his death Mozart had completed sketched for the
first seven sections of the Requiem Mass and explained
to his pupils F.X Freysadtler, Joseph Eybler and Franz
Sussmayr how to complete it. All three pupils worked
on the Requiem and had their own individual part to play in
its finished state.
Mozart was buried in a communal unmarked grave on the
6th December 1791 at the graveyard of St Stephens
Cathedral in Vienna.
QUOTE - UNQUOTE
"O Mozart, immortal Mozart, how many, how infinitely
many inspiring suggestions of a finer, better life have
you left in our souls" - Franz Schubert
"Beethoven is always storming heaven but Mozart lives there"
- Josef Kris (Conductor)
"Beethoven is the greatest composer - but Mozart is the
only one" - Gioacchino Rossini
"He emancipated music from the bonds of a formal
age, while remaining the true voice of the 18th Century"
- Sir Thomas Beecham (Conductor)
"It (one of the piano concertos) has the effect of a
fountain of youth" - Karl Bohm (Conductor)
"I have literally hundreds of favourite Mozart works:
operatic, symphonic, concerti and chamber music. Its
the very life and existence of Mozart which for me,
remains the greatest miracle and blessing for this
world." - Sir Georg Solti (Conductor)
'Too many notes, my dear Mozart' - Emperor Joseph II
to Mozart
"Exactly the right number, Your Majesty" - Mozart
to Emperor Joseph II
composers who ever lived. The name MOZART and the word
GENIUS are often bandied about together by music writers
and critics - and rightly so!
Mozart had a fantastic ear for writing a catchy tune with
perfect orchestral arrangement. Mozart's music has a
a very rich and distinctive sound. It can be said that in
his brief lifetime (only 35 years) that he
wrote a masterpiece in every genre of classical music
and without much apparent effort.
Mozart was a prolific music writer. Original and fully
completed music poured out of his mind and his music scores
showed little correction. His wife Constanze said that he
wrote the Overture of his opera Don Giovanni on the day of
its premiere.
Mozart described his method of composing in a letter:-
"When I am ...say travelling in a carriage, or walking
after a good meal, or during the nights when I cannot
sleep; it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best
and most abundantly. Whence and how they they come,
I know not; nor can I force them...When I proceed to
write down my ideas, I take out the bag of my memory,
if I may use that phrase, what has previously been
collected...the committing to paper is done quickly
enough, for everything is, as I said before, already
finished; and it rarely differs on paper from what
it was in my imagination."
BRIEF HISTORY
Born: Salzburg, January 27, 1756
Died: Vienna, December 5, 1791
Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 and was named
Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart but
called Wolfgang Amadeus by his family. "Amadeus" means gift
of God. His father Leopold was a musician at the court of the Archbishop of Salzburg and later became "Konzertmeister" or Court Composer. Wolfgang could play complicated pieces of music on the
piano at the age 4 and at the age of 5 he was writing
his own compositions.
Leopold knowing that people would see his children as
special and talented took them on tour across Europe
to play music to the public and Royal Courts. At the
age of 8, Mozart began to write his first symphony.
In 1771 Mozart was given a part time job at the
Archbishop's court. The new Archbishop Colloredo did not
appreciate music and his frosty personality made
Mozart's life intolerable. Mozart hated Colloredo's
manipulative, condescending and poisonous attitude.
In 1777, Mozart quit his post at Salzburg and travelled
to Mannheim and Paris with his mother who unfortunately
died during the journey. Mozart returned to Salzburg and
back into the service again of the Archbishop Colleredo.
The Archbishop was summoned with his musical servants
to Vienna for the celebrations of the coronation of the
new emperor Joseph II. Colleredo handed out numerous
humiliations to Mozart,for instance by making him sit
at the household servants table during a banquet.
In 1781, Mozart quit the Achbishop's service again after
a heated exchange and left Salzburg free to pursue a
freelance career in Vienna as a composer. The next 10
years of Mozart's life are perhaps without parallel in
history as the greatest decade of creative genius.
In 1782, Mozart married Constanze Weber. He settled
down with his new wife in Vienna and made money
teaching, composing and giving public performances of
his new work.
While in Vienna Mozart made the acquaintance of
composer Franz Joseph Haydn. The two became close
friends and the older composer's music had a profound
influence on Mozart. Between 1782 and 1785, Mozart
composed a series of six string quartets which he
dedicated to Haydn. Upon playing through some of them
together, Haydn said to Mozart's father, who was present,
"Before God and as an honest man, your son is the
greatest composer I know, either personally or by name."
From 1784, Mozart took advantage of playing the Lenten
Season concerts from which he could make the public more
aware of his new work. Although his financial problems
were very apparent and it is known that the Vienna Court
Composer Antonio Salieri, who was more popular than
Mozart in his day, schemed against Mozart by stopping
him getting a coveted court position.
In 1785, Mozart started work on his new opera the
Marriage of Figaro with Lorenzo da Ponte who provided
the words. It was first performed 1786 after it was
delayed by Salieri.
Just before Mozart finished his new opera Don Giovanni
(1787) his father Leopold died. The opera went ahead
and was a big success in Prague where it was premiered.
Unfortunately it went down less well in Vienna where
Mozart was beginning to become less fashionable amongst
the fickle Vienna public.
Mozart was especially productive in his last four years
churning out one masterpiece after another (e.g Horn
Concertos 1, 3 & 4, Clarinet Concerto, Eine Kleine
Nachtmusik).
SOME OF HIS MUSIC
Leopold Mozart came to Vienna on 10 February 1785 to
find his son racing to finish his new piano concerto
which he would premier at his public concert that evening.
It was his famous Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor K466.
This piece of music was a fore-runner to the later
romantic style of Beethoven. It shows its temper immediately
and the interplay between piano and orchestra create tension, conflict, vulnerability, shock and sheer bliss. Beethoven and
Brahms both wrote Cadenzas for this concerto.
Beethoven commenting on Mozart's Piano Concerto No.20
"Ah, we shall never be able to do anything like this".
Many people believe that Mozart's 27 piano concertos
were his ultimate creative genius. They are incredibly
tuneful and haunting. The piano concertos were played
to the paying public in which Mozart could show his
own musical vituosity on the piano with a hired orchestra.
Nowhere else can you see Mozart's maturing style than
in their composition.
"You know my greatest desire is to write operas"
- Mozart.
The Marriage of Figaro had been banned in Paris for its
attack on the feudal powers of the aristocracy. In the
original play the two servants Figaro and Susanna struggle
with dignity against their bullying master Count Almavia.
Mozart and librettist Lorenzo da Ponte added warmth and
a comic air to this brilliant opera.
Mozart wrote over 50 symphonies though only 41
are actually numbered. He wrote his greatest symphonies
in his last decade. Two of which were written to coincide
with his visits to cities Linz No.36 K425 and Prague
No.38 K504. In 1788, Mozart wrote three great symphonies
in only six weeks. The beginning of Symphony No.40 K550
is often beeped out these days as a mobile phone ring.
All of Mozart's compositions were listed, indexed and
catalogued by Ludwig von Kochel and they are all
uniquely identified by "K" numbers.
LAST DAYS & FINAL COMPOSITION - REQUIEM MASS K626
In the summer of 1791, a mysterious grey clad figure
arrived on Mozart's doorstep announcing that his
anonymous master (who was Count Franz von
Walsegg-Stuppach who liked to order music from
professional composers and pass them off as his own)
would like to commission a Requiem Mass for the
Dead from Mozart for the fee of 50 ducats.
It was agreed. Unfortunately due to a hectic
workload (i.e. the completion of two operas
La Clemenza di Tito and The Magic Flute), Mozart
was unable to start work on the requiem until
October 1791 by which time he was beginning to
suffer from the illness which would eventually claim
his life. On his return to Vienna from Prague, Mozart
said to his shocked wife Constanze
"I am writing that Requiem for myself. I know I must die".
At the beginning of December 1791 Mozart was bed ridden
suffering from a raging temperature and swollen joints.
Mozart's musical friends and pupils joined him at his
bedside to sing the Requiem which he was trying to finish.
Sadly, he broke down in tears "If only I can stay alive
long enough" cried Mozart "this must be a masterpiece
and my swan-song".
On the evening 4 December 1791, the Doctor was called
to Mozart's house. Mozart was sinking fast. He had a high
fever, red hot fore-head and he was covered in sweat.
The Doctor eventually arrived at 11pm and prescribed
cold compresses to be placed across Mozart's head. As
soon as the cold cloths were applied he lost
unconsciousness forever. He died a few hours later
on the morning of 5 December 1791. His final utterances
were the drum patterns he was describing for the Requiem.
Before his death Mozart had completed sketched for the
first seven sections of the Requiem Mass and explained
to his pupils F.X Freysadtler, Joseph Eybler and Franz
Sussmayr how to complete it. All three pupils worked
on the Requiem and had their own individual part to play in
its finished state.
Mozart was buried in a communal unmarked grave on the
6th December 1791 at the graveyard of St Stephens
Cathedral in Vienna.
QUOTE - UNQUOTE
"O Mozart, immortal Mozart, how many, how infinitely
many inspiring suggestions of a finer, better life have
you left in our souls" - Franz Schubert
"Beethoven is always storming heaven but Mozart lives there"
- Josef Kris (Conductor)
"Beethoven is the greatest composer - but Mozart is the
only one" - Gioacchino Rossini
"He emancipated music from the bonds of a formal
age, while remaining the true voice of the 18th Century"
- Sir Thomas Beecham (Conductor)
"It (one of the piano concertos) has the effect of a
fountain of youth" - Karl Bohm (Conductor)
"I have literally hundreds of favourite Mozart works:
operatic, symphonic, concerti and chamber music. Its
the very life and existence of Mozart which for me,
remains the greatest miracle and blessing for this
world." - Sir Georg Solti (Conductor)
'Too many notes, my dear Mozart' - Emperor Joseph II
to Mozart
"Exactly the right number, Your Majesty" - Mozart
to Emperor Joseph II
