Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart’s Family
Born into a musical family
 Father, Leopold, was a distinguished violinist
and composer.
 He held the position of deputy music
director at the court of Prince-Archbishop
of Salzburg in Austria and authored an
important book on violin playing
 Sister was also a talented musician, but was
it was unaccepted for women to pursue a
life in music
 Father devoted his life to promoting young
Wolfgang’s talent
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Mozart’s Early Life
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Born in 1756, at age four, he was already displaying his
musical talent
At age 6, he had started to compose and performed well on
harpsichord.
For the next 10 years, his father took him on tour to
various courts and towns around Europe. Mozart played
for nobleman, princes, and the Empress of Austria, Maria
Theresa
Wherever Mozart went, he picked up the musical style of
the region and the prominent local composers
At age 8, Mozart already had music published
At 10, he was composing symphonies
At 14, he produced a full-length opera
At 17, when he returned to Salzburg, he was a mature artist
Finding Mozart a job after his tour
 Not
easy
 Archbishop of Salzburg agreed to
hire Mozart, even though he did not
think highly of the family because of
Leopold Mozart’s many leaves of
absence
 Mozart was hired in a junior position
 After a few years Mozart traveled
again to find another position
Job searching again
Mozart leaves to find a job with his mother because his
father could not take any more leaves of absence
 He went to Munich, Mannheim and Paris, but had no
luck
 The employers thought that he was “overqualified”
 On the trip, his mother dies
 Upon returning to Salzburg, Mozart is given a promotion
 In 1780, Mozart accompanied the Archbishop to Vienna
 While on the trip, Mozart had to live in servants
quarters and was not allowed to play for the aristocrats,
even though he was invited
 He felt this was unfair and quit his position with the
Archbishop of Salzburg
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Freelance Period
 Mozart
first supported himself by giving
piano lessons while composing several
piano sonatas and concertos
 In 1782, he composed a German comic
opera: The Abduction from the
Seraglio
 Also in 1782, he married his land-lady’s
daughter, a young soprano named
Constanze Weber; his father
disapproved of this union
Great Fame
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For the next few years, Mozart was successful
He composed a set of string quartets that were
designed to emulate those of Haydn, to whom
they are dedicated
The two composers met on a few occasions at
string quartet parties; Haydn played violin and
Mozart played the viola.
In these years, Mozart won great fame and made
quite a lot of money (It was the height of his
career)
Between 1784 and 1786, he composed 12 piano
concertos and appear5ed before the Viennese
public as both a pianist and a composer.
Mozart’s Fame declines
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Viennese always looking for the new sensation and the city
was undergoing a recession
From the late 1780’s, Mozart requested loans from friends
Despite his despise of authority, he made attempts to secure
a position at the Viennese court.
In the summer of 1788, he composed 3 symphonies in a span
of about 8 weeks, (no. 39, 40, and 41) These concluded his
work in this genre.
He next turned towards opera writing. In the last five years
of his life, he composed 5 operas (The Marriage of Figaro
1786, Don Giovanni 1787 and The Magic Flute 1791)
In November of 1791, while working on a Requiem Mass,
(Mass for the Dead) Mozart became ill.
On December 5, at age 35, Mozart dies
Mozart’s Music
Accessible and profound. It appeals to
experts and amateurs
 He composed more than 800
compositions including: Operas,
symphonies, string quartets and quintets,
sonatas, and concertos for violin, flute,
oboe, clarinet bassoon and horn
 He composed more than 20 piano
concertos
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Composed music that was
unconventional
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Used counterpoint to intensify his music in
places where counterpoint was not usual
Uses chromaticism
Often passes in minor mode
He uses the same instruments, forms and
genres, but Mozart is so well-known because
his music speaks deeply to more people,
covers a wider range of feeling and
resonates with more human significance than
that of almost any other composer.