Biography - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756-1791

Born in Salzburg, Austria on Jan. 27, 1756; full name- Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Gottlieb Mozart; he was baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. Mozart is named after his grandfather on his mother's side and after the Saint on his date of birth, Johannes Chrysostomus.

Parents: Leopold Mozart - composer and violinist, concertmaster at the archiepiscopal court, and in 1763, vice-kapellmeister at Salzburg court; and Anna Maria Pertl, daughter of Wolfgang Nikolaus Pertl, an official from Sankt Gilgen Sibling: Maria Anna (Nannerl) Mozart



At his age 3: started to play the keyboard Age 5: started composing minuets

1763-1766: toured Europe with his father and sister played for Louis XV at Versailles and George III in London 1764 wrote his first three symphonies; also met Johann Christian Bach.
By his teenage years, he mastered the piano, violin, and harpsichord 1768 completed first opera, La finta semplice (The Simple Pretense)

1769-1773: made three trips to Italy. In Rome, there was a myth that Mozart attended the performance of Allegri's Misere. He wanted the score but when no one agreed he wrote down the music from memory.

1770: Mitridate, re di Ponte (Mithridates, King of Pontus) performed in Milan which was Mozart's first major opera

1772: appointed concertmaster in the orchestra of Archbishop of Salzburg.. During this period, he wrote many sacred works.

1777: toured with his mother hoping to find a court position; traveled to Mannheim where he met and fell in love with Aloysia Weber

1778, July: Anna Maria Mozart died

1779: unable to find a court position, Mozart went back to Salzburg; appointed as court organist to the Archbishop of Salzburg

1781: resigned from his position due to increasing tension and disagreements between Mozart and the Archbishop. Mozart stayed in Vienna instead of returning to Salzburg. Mozart's resignation and his move to Vienna put a strain in his relationship with his father.

1782: married Constanze Weber in Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral. After Mozart's death, Constanze married Danish diplomat Georg Nikolaus von Nissen. In Vienna, Mozart supported his family by performing in public and private, teaching , and composing. His first opera written after his residency in Vienna, Abduction from Seraglio became a success.

Mozart conducts a rehearsal of his Requiem in this romanticized image of his last day.

1786: The Marriage of Figaro, the first of three operas Mozart collaborated with librettist, Lorenza da Ponte, premiered at the Burg Theater.

1787: became composer of Imperial and Royal Chamber with an annual salary of 800fl. His father, Leopold, died on May 28, 1787. Don Giovanni premiered in Prague at the National Theater.

1790: Cosi fan tutte premiered at Burg Theater. Mozart declined an opportunity to compose in London.

1791: composed dance music for the Vienna Court; publishers began to pay fees for the rights to publish his works; appointed assistant to the Cathedral Kapellmeister at St. Stephens with no pay. Mozart was already feeling ill in Prague while finishing La clemenza di Tito.

Dec. 5, 1791: a few minutes before 1AM, Mozart died of rheumatic fever.

Constanze watches as Mozart, on his deathbed,
works on the Requiem in this idealized depiction created years later.

The Mozart family: Maria Anna, Mozart, painting of Anna Maria, and Leopold.

His Works music in three stages:
- early: 1761-1772
- middle: 1772-1781
- late: 1781-1791 (best known works)
Mozart composed over 600 works including:21 stage and opera works, 15 Masses, over 50 symphonies, 25 piano concertos, 12 violin concertos, 27 concert arias, 17 piano sonatas, 26 string quartets, and many other pieces.

His style was very unique, unlike many of the musical styles of his time. People did not appreciate his radical music because they did not understand

Mozart's complex and extraordinary music. In his later years, Mozart incorporates many musical elements and style from different countries into his works. His late works include three of his most famous operas, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte, written in collaboration with Lorenza da Ponte and his last three church pieces, Mass in C Minor, Ave Verum Corpus, and Requiem. Both the Mass in C Minor and Requiem remain unfinished.