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{moht'-sahrt, vohlf'-gahng ah-mah-day'-us}
Perhaps the greatest musical genius who ever lived, Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, Jan. 27, 1756,
the son of Leopold Mozart, concertmaster at the archiepiscopal
court, and his wife, Anna Maria Pertl.
Leopold Mozart was a successful composer and violinist, whose
famous treatise on violin playing (Versuch einer grundlichen
Violinschule) was first printed in 1756. In 1763, Leopold
was made vice-Kapellmeister at the Salzburg court, whose sympathetic
archbishop, Sigismund von Schrattenbach, appreciated and encouraged
the activities of Leopold and his children.
BOYHOOD
Wolfgang was the greatest musical child prodigy who ever lived.
He began composing minuets at the age of 5 and symphonies
at 9. His father took him on a series of concert tours together
with his sister, Maria Anna, born four and one-half years
before Wolfgang; she, too, was a child prodigy. Both played
the keyboard, but Wolfgang became a violin virtuoso as well.
In 1762 the Mozart children played at court in Vienna; the
Empress MARIA THERESA and her husband, Emperor FRANCIS I,
received the Mozarts cordially. During a large European concert
tour (1763-66) the Mozart children displayed their talents
to audiences in Germany, in Paris, at court in Versailles,
and in London (where Wolfgang wrote his first symphonies and
was befriended by Johann Christian BACH, whose musical influence
on Wolfgang was profound). In Paris, Wolfgang published his
first works, four sonatas for clavier with accompanying violin
(1764). In 1768 he composed his first opera, La finta semplice,
for Vienna, but intrigues prevented its performance, and it
was first presented a year later at Salzburg. In 1769-70,
Leopold and Wolfgang undertook a tour through Italy, where,
in Rome, Wolfgang wrote down Allegri's Miserere from memory
after one hearing. This first Italian trip culminated in Wolfgang's
new opera, Mitridate, re di Ponto, composed for Milan. In
two further Italian journeys Wolfgang wrote two more operas
for Milan, Ascanio in Alba (1771) and the impressive Lucio
Silla (1772).
In 1772, Archbishop von Schrattenbach died, to be succeeded
by Hieronymus von Colloredo. The latter, at first sympathetic
to the Mozarts, later became irritated by Wolfgang's prolonged
absences and stubborn ways. In 1772, von Colloredo retained
Wolfgang as concertmaster at a token salary. In this capacity
Mozart composed a large number of sacred and secular works.
Wishing to secure a better position outside Salzburg, he obtained
permission to undertake another journey in 1777. With his
mother he traveled through Germany to France, where he composed
the well-known Paris Symphony (1778); he could find no permanent
position, however. His mother died in Paris.
MATURITY
When he returned to Salzburg he was given the position of
court organist (1779) and produced a splendid series of church
works, including the famous "Coronation" Mass. He
received a commission to compose a new opera for Munich, Idomeneo
(1781), which proved that he was a consummate master of opera
seria. Wolfgang was summoned by von Colloredo to Vienna in
1781 and after a series of violent arguments was dismissed
from the archbishop's service.
Mozart's career in Vienna began promisingly, and he was soon
(1782) commissioned to write The Abduction from the Seraglio,
a SINGSPIEL, for the Court Opera. His concerts were a great
success, and the emperor, JOSEPH II, encouraged him, later
(1787) engaging him as court composer at a modest salary.
Mozart's works were now in constant demand by amateur and
publisher. In 1782 he married Constanze Weber from Germany
(Mozart had fallen in love with her sister, Aloysia, at Mannheim
in 1777-78), much to his father's dismay. The young pair visited
Salzburg in 1783; there, the Kyrie and Gloria of Mozart's
great Mass in C minor, composed in Vienna and destined to
remain unfinished, were performed.
Mozart's greatest success was THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO (1786),
composed for the Vienna Opera. The great piano concertos and
the string quartets dedicated to his "dear friend"
Joseph HAYDN, whom he had long admired and had first met in
1781 at Vienna, were also composed during this period.
FINAL YEARS
Mozart's fame began to wane after Figaro. The nobility and
court grew increasingly nervous about his
revolutionary ideas (as exemplified in Figaro; Beaumarchais's
original play was still banned in Austria when the opera was
being given), and his new musical style was not understood
by many. He sank into debt and was assisted by a brother Freemason,
Michael Puchberg (Mozart had joined the Masons in 1784 and
remained an ardent member until his death). His greatest operatic
success after Figaro was DON GIOVANNI (1787), composed for
Prague, where Mozart's art was especially appreciated. This
was followed in 1790 by Cosi fan tutte, the third and final
libretto provided by the Italian poet Lorenzo DA PONTE; and
in 1791 by THE MAGIC FLUTE, produced by a suburban theater
in Vienna. During this period of financial strain, Mozart
composed his last three symphonies (E flat, G minor, and the
Jupiter in C) in less than 7 weeks (summer 1788); these had
been preceded by a great series of string quintets, including
in particular the two in C and in G minor (1787).
In 1791, Mozart was commissioned to write a requiem (unfinished).
He was at the time quite ill--he had never known very good
health--and imagined that the work was for himself, which
it proved to be. His death, on Dec. 5, 1791, which gave rise
to false rumors of poisoning, is thought to have resulted
from kidney failure. After a cheap funeral at Saint Stephen's
Cathedral, he was buried in an unmarked grave at the cemetery
of Saint Marx, a Vienese suburb. Much has been made of this,
but at that time such burial was legally required for all
Vienese except those of noble or aristocratic birth.
Mozart excelled in every form in which he composed. His contemporaries
found the restless ambivalence and complicated emotional content
of his music difficult to understand. Accustomed to the light,
superficial style of ROCOCO MUSIC, his aristocratic audiences
could not accept the complexity and musical depth of much
of Mozart's music. Yet, with Joseph Haydn, Mozart perfected
the grand forms of symphony, opera, string quartet, and concerto
that marked the CLASSICAL PERIOD IN MUSIC. In his operas Mozart's
uncanny psychological insight, particularly into his female
characters, is unique in musical history. His music informed
the work of the later Haydn and of the next generation of
composers, most notably BEETHOVEN. The brilliance of his work
continued until the end, although darker themes of poignancy
and isolation grew more marked in the last five or six years
of his short life. Couched as they are in a language of shining
technical perfection, his compositions continue to exert a
particular fascination for musicians and music lovers.
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