Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria on January 27th, 1756.
He was born to Leopold and Anna Maria Pertl. Leopol was a very successful
composer, voilinist, and the assistant concertmaster at the Salzburg court.
Mozart showed musical talent at a very young age. By age five he was composing
minuets.And at age six he played before the Bavarian Elector and the Austrian
Empress.His father taught him, but said teahcing Wolfgang was hard because he
knew so much already. His father was also his largest influence. In 1763
Wolfgang’s father, Leopold, took him and his sister, Maria Anna, on a concert
tour of Europe. The children performed in many courts and large cities including
Paris, London, and Germany. They astonished their audiences wherever they
performed. In London Wolfgang wrote his first symphonies and met Johann
Christian Brahm, who had a very large influence on him. In Paris Wolfgang
published his first works, four sonatas for clavier with accompanying voilin. In
1768 he composed his first opera, La Finta Semplice, which was presented for the
first time a year later in his home town of Salzburg. In 1769 Wolfgang and his
father set out on another tour of Italy. Here Wolfgang wrote a new opera,
Mitridate ri de Ponto. He also wrote two more operas for Milan, Ascanio in Alba
and Lucio Silla. Three years later in 1772 Wolfgang was appointed concertmaster
to the archbishop of Salzburg, his home town. He composed many works while he
was concertmaster. But this job was not good for him and he did not get anolg
with most of the people around him. So, he soon quit this job to travel to Paris
with his mother and look for a new job. In 1777 Wolfgana and his mother, Maria
Anna, went to Paris, France. While here Wolfgang composed many works including
The Paris Symphony (1778).
But, he could not find a permanent job there. His
mother died in Paris this year and this upset Wolfgang very much. He returned to
Salzburg in 1779 and was made the court organist. He wrote many church works
then, including the famous Coronation Mass. He was supposed to write a new opera
for Munich, Idomeneo. In 1781 he was called to Vienna by von Colloredo. His
career in Vienna started out wonderfully. He was soon assigned to write The
Abduction from the Seralio (1782). The emporer loved his music, and later got
him the job of court composer. Mozart was now very popular in Vienna. That year
he married Constenze Weber, from Germany. His father was not happy with this
decision. In 1783 the newly married couple visited Salzburg. During this period
many of Mozart’s pieces that were composed in Vienna were played. (Such as Mass
in C Minor and his greatest success, The Marriage of Figaro, which was composed
for the Vienna opera.) After The Marriage of Figaro Mozarts career began doing
very poorly, and he was in great debt. The most successful piece after Figaro
was Don Giovonni (1787), which was composed for Prauge. After this he composed
Cosi Fotte (1790) and The Magic Flute (1791). He also composed his last three
symphonies, E Flat, G Minor, and the Jupiter in C. In 1791 Mozart was assigned
to write a requiem. His health was in bad shape at the time, but he still worked
hard on the requiem. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died on December 5th, 1791 in
Vienna, leaving the requiem unfinished. Some people think he dies of poisoning,
but the most likely reasoning of his death is kidney failure. After his funeral
he was buried in a pauper’s grave at Saint Marx Cemetary. Mozart was a very
large influence on the Classical Music Era, and will never be forgotten.
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