Date/Place of Birth:

27 January, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria.

Personality:

A legendary child prodigy. Mozart was multi-talented - playing piano delicately, conducting, playing violin and viola skillfully, and composing. He was not only a musical genius; by the time he was twelve years old, he could speak fluently in French, English, Italian and his native German. Unfortunately, the tragedy of Mozart was that as a child, he relied on his father heavily. Since his father's death, Mozart lost his father's guide and seemed to collapse. He therefore behaved like a child and was unable to meet the demands of society and life. He never learned to rule himself: could not make decision wisely; always short of money; being undisciplined; did not take care of himself; easy-going; arrogant; spoke out impulsively; and criticized other composers' music. As a result, Mozart had very few close friends but enemies in musical community.

Piano-Playing Style:

Mozart started playing the piano at the age of three. His ear was so delicate that harsh sounds would make him physically ill. Like Haydn's, his playing was very much in Vienna style. Other than clear articulation and gentle touch, Mozart played with a more expression compared with Haydn. Besides that, unlike Beethoven or Brahms who used to bang the keyboard to get rich sonorities, Mozart used to play it, restlessly and in a mischievous, witty manner, with small fingers running up and down smoothly across the keyboard. Mozart was a superb piano virtuoso at his time. He always played as a soloist in most of his own piano concertos. The works of course contained virtuoso exercises - cadenza; fast arpeggio and running notes; light, lively staccatos etc. While Mozart played his piano concerto, the public including competing pianists did nothing but looked at him amazingly.

Music:

In Mozart's early works, the music was very joyful and entertaining like Haydn's early works. His early music was easy to hear. The characteristics of his early music are: grace, restless melody, clear and perfect organization and simple accompaniment. Most of his early works were small-scale and short in length. And because of its simplicity, most people today even hum Mozart melody like the famous Eine kleine Nachtmusik, Variations on 'Ah vous dirai-je, maman' for piano. When Mozart grew up a complicated man, his music was no longer simple but more passionate and in a darker mood. More difficulty in rhythmic patterns, inflexibility in tempos and mysterious accompaniment in a soft manner. At his time, people, who used to listen gentle Vienna music, considered that his music was too 'discordant' and too 'powerful'. Examples of his late works were the dark Fantasy in C minor for piano, powerful operas and profound Symphony no 25 in G minor etc. With a vast amount of works produced in Mozart's short life, a critic said,"Mozart is Music!" and most people today have agreed with it.

Composing Habit:

Mozart's gift was extraordinary. He was one of the fastest composer in the world. He could think out a complete work like string quartet and then write it out in an incredible speed. And yet his mind was so restless and rich of musical ideas that piece by piece flowed continuously from his pen. Moreover, he could even write down a piece while thinking out another piece in his mind. In addition, Mozart was a incomparable composer. Not many composers at his time like him who could compose all forms perfectly: symphony, chamber, opera, concerto, vocal, piano works, choral and everything. Mozart was therefore considered as a miracle.

Mozart's Quote:

"Music must never offend the ear; but must please the hearer, or in other words, must never cease to be music," Mozart "The poetry must be the obedient servant of the music," Mozart, while composing on Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) in 1782 "I have learned from Haydn how to write quartets," Mozart's string quartets were influenced by his close friend Haydn

Mozart's Death:

During the last four years of his life, Mozart was dogged by extreme poverty and debt. Due to his overwork and kidney disease, the legendary composer finally died on 5 December, 1791 in Vienna, at the age of 35 only. He received the cheapest funeral available and was buried in an unmarked common grave in St. Marx cemetery. Today, nobody knows where his body lies.