Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Aside from Beethoven, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the
most famous composers of the classical era. He was born into
a musical family and was soon a virtuoso violinist and
keyboardist. Before he was ten, he was composing his own
works. By the time his life was cut short by a fatal illness,
he had composed hundreds of works. Mozart had a unique style
that blended his fun loving attitude into his music. No one
is sure about the details of Mozart's life, but what we do
know is very interesting.
Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, in January of
1756. At the age of three, he had already learned to play the
piano. By age five, he was already composing. His father
Leopold, a composer and violinist, soon recognized young
Wolfgang's musical talent and potential and was looking to
make a fortune(Swafford 146). At six, Wolfgang made his
"public debut" (Swafford 146). In the summer of the next
year, Leopold took Wolfgang and his sister Nannerl, who was
also a musical prodigy, on a three year tour of Europe.
During his childhood, he performed for many prominent people,
including Marie Antoinette. Swafford says, "He was a showbiz
kid, his family life that of a traveling circus act" (146).
This statement accurately describes what life was like for
Mozart although he did rather enjoy it.
In 1769 Wolfgang and Leopold started out on their first
of three visits to Italy. While in Italy, Wolfgang was
knighted by the Pope. During this time he was developing a
new and remarkable skill: composing works in his head and
writing the scores later. He often composed while traveling
or during his leisure time. Einstein said that, "Travel does
not interrupt Mozart's creative activity; it rather
stimulates it" (4). After returning to Salzburg, he served as
the music-director to the prince-archbishop (Swafford 147).
"By 1777 Mozart was itching to get a job anywhere but
Salzburg...That year he went on a job-hunting trip...and
ended up in Paris" (Swafford 147-148). He was now a freelance
musician, striving unsuccessfully to make a living. Soon
after his mother's death in 1778, he left Paris and went back
home where he was a court and cathedral organist for about a
year.
In 1780, Mozart went to Munich to write the opera
Idomeneo. Soon after Idomeneo was finished, "he vowed to quit
Salzburg and seek his fortune where the greatest musical
fortunes of Europe and maybe the world were to be found: in
Vienna"
(Swafford 150).
In 1782, he reluctantly married Constanze Weber,
persuaded by her mother, an old friend. Swafford claims that
Constanze was "no intellectual partner or soulmate, but that
didn't seem to be what her husband was looking for" (151).
Mozart wasn't looking for a soulmate but rather someone to
spend time with and do the things he loved to do, especially
music, dancing, billiards, parties, and "fun in general"
(Swafford 151).
About this time, Mozart's comic opera The Abduction from
the Seraglio was premiering in Vienna. This new opera made
him the "talk of the town". As his popularity grew, he moved
into a nicer apartment which he filled with lavish
furnishings and even a billiard table. After this he went for
a while without writing any operas. He could not find a
subject to write one about until 1785 when he decided on the
play The Marriage of Figaro by Beamarchais. Mozart had a hard
time convincing the emperor to allow Figaro to be performed.
A ban had been placed on the play for mostly political
reasons, but with the help of a poet in close relations with
the emperor, the ban was lifted. Mozart finished his new
opera in less than two months. It was a big success, loved by
the public and performers alike.
Mozart's financial success soon turned to financial
trouble. He looked at his money as a way to have fun,
spending instead of storing. Some say he may have even
gambled. After his death, Constanze ended up paying back part
of his debts. Needing money, he took a job writing another
opera based on the Don Juan legend. From this came one of his
"darkest" operas: Don Giovanni.
In 1787, Mozart's father died. Two years later, Mozart
went to Berlin where he was "paid extravagantly for a series
of works" but went back to Vienna penniless. During this time
span, he wrote his last symphonies, nos. 39, 40, and 41
(Swafford 156). A few years later, he and one of his friends
decided to write an opera based on a fairy tale. This opera
was his famous and popular The Magic Flute.
Mozart's health was failing. Swafford says that "he
apparently knew he was dying" (159). In the summer of 1791,
he was commissioned to write a Requiem or burial mass. He
didn't know who had commissioned the Requiem because they had
refused to reveal their identity. We now know it was Count
Franz von Walsegg, who was going to pass the work as his own.
Little did Mozart know that he was actually writing his own
Requiem Mass. On December 4, 1791, he was on his deathbed,
the Requiem still unfinished. That night, he slipped into a
coma and died early the next morning.
Many rumors and legends surround Mozart's funeral and
burial. Many historians agree that he was buried in a
pauper's grave, attended only by a grave digger. Others say
he had magnificent memorial services, attended by thousands.
We may never know how he was remembered then, but we do
know his music will be remembered for years to come. His
music was serious yet reflected his fun and party-loving
nature. It has influenced us all. We have all heard it at one
time or another, whether it be at a live concert, on a radio,
on a recording, or even as background music on a television
show or at a shopping mall. One thing is certain it will not
be forgotten. It has influenced many composers after him as
well. They have followed in his footsteps, attempting to
reproduce his style, but, more than likely, none will ever
succeed in meeting the musical standards that he set.
Alkerstedt puts it best when he states: "Mozart's legacy is
inestimable. A master of every form in which he worked, he
set standards of excellence that have inspired generations of
composers" (2).
© 1997 mrkrbkw@tcnet.net
Works Cited
Alkerstedt, Johan, "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart". Classical Music
Page.www.ida.his.se/ida/~a94johal/music/mozart.html. 13
April 1998.
Einstein, Alfred. Mozart, His Character, His Work. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1945.
Kenyon, Max. Mozart in Salzburg. New York: G.P. Putnam's
Sons, 1953
Kerst, Friedrich. Mozart: The Man and the Artist in His Own
Words. New York: Dover Publications, 1965.
Swafford, Jan. The Vintage Guide to Classical Music. New
York:
Random House, 1992.