Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart; January 27, 1756 Ð'- December 5, 1791) was a prolific and highly influential composer of Classical music. His enormous output of more than six hundred compositions includes works that are widely acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. Mozart is among the most enduringly popular of European composers, and many of his works are part of the standard concert repertoire.

Contents

[hide]

* 1 Life

o 1.1 Family and early years

o 1.2 The years of travel

o 1.3 Mozart in Vienna

o 1.4 Mozart and Prague

o 1.5 Final illness and death

* 2 Works, musical style, and innovations

o 2.1 Style

o 2.2 Influence

o 2.3 The KÐ"¶chel catalogue

* 3 Myths and controversies

o 3.1 Amadeus (1984)

* 4 Media

o 4.1 Orchestral

o 4.2 Vocal

o 4.3 Piano

* 5 See also

* 6 References

* 7 Further reading

* 8 External links

o 8.1 General reference

o 8.2 Scores

o 8.3 Recordings

o 8.4 Specific topics

Life

Family and early years

Mozart's birthplace at Getreidegasse 9, Salzburg, Austria

Enlarge

Mozart's birthplace at Getreidegasse 9, Salzburg, Austria

Plaque on wall outside Mozart's birthplace at Getreidegasse 9, Salzburg, Austria

Enlarge

Plaque on wall outside Mozart's birthplace at Getreidegasse 9, Salzburg, Austria

Mozart was born to Leopold and Anna Maria Pertl Mozart, in the front room of nine Getreidegasse in Salzburg, the capital of the sovereign Archbishopric of Salzburg, in what is now Austria, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. His only sibling who survived beyond infancy was an older sister: Maria Anna, nicknamed Nannerl. Mozart was baptized the day after his birth at St. Rupert's Cathedral. The baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. Of these names, the first two refer to John Chrysostom, one of the Church Fathers, and they were names not employed in everyday life, while the fourth, meaning "beloved of God", was variously translated in Mozart's lifetime as Amadeus (Latin), Gottlieb (German), and AmadÐ"© (French). Mozart's father Leopold announced the birth of his son in a letter to the publisher Johann Jakob Lotter with the words "...the boy is called Joannes Chrysostomus, Wolfgang, Gottlieb". Mozart himself preferred the third name, and he also took a fancy to "Amadeus" over the years. (see Mozart's name).

Mozart's father Leopold Mozart (1719Ð'-1787) was one of Europe's leading musical teachers. His influential textbook Versuch einer grÐ"јndlichen Violinschule, was published in 1756, the year of Mozart's birth (English, as "A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing", transl. E.Knocker; Oxford-New York, 1948). He was deputy Kapellmeister to the court orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg, and a prolific and successful composer of instrumental music. Leopold gave up composing when his son's outstanding musical talents became evident. They first came to light when Wolfgang was about three years old, and Leopold, proud of Wolfgang's achievements, gave him intensive musical training, including instruction in clavier, violin, and organ. Leopold was Wolfgang's only teacher in his earliest years. A note by Leopold in Nannerl's music book Ð'- the Nannerl Notenbuch Ð'- records that little Wolfgang had learned several of the pieces at the age of four. Mozart's first compositions, a small Andante (K. 1a) and Allegro (K. 1b), were written in 1761, when he was five years old.[1]

The years of travel

"Bologna Mozart" - Mozart age 21 in 1777, see also: face only

Enlarge

"Bologna Mozart" - Mozart age 21 in 1777, see also: face only

During his formative years, Mozart made several European journeys, beginning with an exhibition in 1762 at the Court of the Elector of Bavaria in Munich, then in the same year at the Imperial Court in Vienna and Prague. A long concert tour spanning three and a half years followed, taking him and his father to the courts of Munich, Mannheim, Paris, London (where Wolfgang Amadeus played with the famous Italian cellist Giovanni Battista Cirri), The Hague, again to Paris, and back home via ZÐ"јrich, Donaueschingen, and Munich. During this trip Mozart met a great number of musicians and acquainted himself with the works of other great composers. A particularly important influence was Johann Christian Bach, who befriended Mozart in London in 1764Ð'-65. Bach's work is often taken to be an inspiration for Mozart's music. They again went to Vienna in late 1767 and remained there until December 1768. On this trip Mozart contracted smallpox, and his healing was considered by Leopold as a proof of God's intentions concerning the child.

After one year in Salzburg, three trips to Italy followed: from December 1769 to March 1771, from August to December 1771, and from October 1772 to March 1773. Mozart was commissioned to compose three operas: "Mitridate RÐ"Ё di Ponto" (1770), "Ascanio in Alba" (1771), and "Lucio Silla" (1772), all three of which were performed