Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1756 – 1791

Child Mozart (1763) The Mozart family on tour: Leopold, Wolfgang, and Nannerl. Watercolor by Carmontelle, ca. 1763Carmontelle

Wolfgang Mozart Some interesting facts: The most complete musical genius; He was competent on keyboard and violin by age five, and he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty.keyboardviolin Mozart, although a genius, also enjoyed a very simple little song that you all know. He liked to have fun with music, “play around” with it Wrote “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, at age 5 Fun Facts: He could write music before he could write words He was also good at math and spoke some different languages Many people did not believe young Mozart could play/compose such beautiful music He wrote half the number of symphonies he had ever wrote from the ages of 8-19 If you listen to his all his music he has ever made for 8 hours a day, it would take you almost 1,500 years to listen to it all After only hearing a piece of music once, he could play it perfect without the music People nicknamed Mozart Wolfie through his life Mozart was really short for his age He composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral musicsymphonic concertantechamberoperaticchoral

The Sonata How to identify a Sonata: There are three things about a sonata that are special. First it is written just for an instrument or instruments. It is never sung. Second, a sonata is almost like several different songs with the same title. A sonata is very much like some reading books. There are a lots of separate, short stories or sections but there is only one title for the book. A sonata has 2 or more parts, but usually they have 3. The third thing about sonata is that it has some surprises. Imagine a pianist begins to play a piece; he performs it well and then stops, with his hands on the keys. What would you do? Applaud… There is the surprise! A sonata has three completely different pieces of music in one with a stop in between parts. One way to know what to do is by watching the pianist. Usually, they do not remove their hands from the keyboard until the whole sonata is finished. Parts & Tempos to Sonata in C Major: The notes in the first piece within this sonata are like running feet because they are played rapidly. The word the composer writes over the music to let the pianist know that the notes should be played fast is ALLEGRO. The second part, Andante is slower, more like just walking down the street, not being in a hurry. The third part of a sonata, Allegretto (jogging), is not as fast as the first, running Allegro, but faster than the walking Andante.

Mozart K545 Sonata in C major (complete)

Thomas Gainsborough Self-portrait (1759)

Thomas Gainsborough Some interesting facts: One of nine children, young Tom enjoyed tramping about the countryside, sketching clouds, roads, trees, or whatever he saw His father send him to London to study art at the age of 13 He enjoyed painting landscapes, but they rarely sold Gainsborough was hired by local art dealers to repair old paintings; fixing old painting gave him the chance to study the techniques and styles of the old masters. He concentrated on the painting of portraits, influenced by Jan Van Eyck He worked to perfect his techniques, and his recognition grew, became one of the favorite portrait painters among the wealthy including the royal family He also began to work landscapes into the backgrounds of some of the portraits that he painted He was enormously successful during his lifetime, painting over 700 portraits in his individualistic and independent style.

The Blue Boy (Jonathan Buttall) By Thomas Gainsborough (1770) An oil on canvas

King George IIIQueen Charlotte

Portrait of Anne, 1777–1778

Landscape in Suffolk (1748) By Thomas Gainsborough

Cottage Girl with dog and pitcher, 1777–1778

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