Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Featured Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Early Life Born January 27, 1756 Began keyboard lessons at age 3 Salzburg, Austria Father was Leopold Mozart Began keyboard lessons at age 3 Began doing music tours with his father and sister at age 6 1764—Composed his first symphony “A small, vain, and physically unremarkable man.” Leopold was a minor musician in Salzburg at the time of his son’s birth. He was a music tutor and wrote a successful music instruction book for the violin. When Mozart’s sister, Nannerl, was 7, Leopold began giving her keyboard lessons on the clavier. She took to it very quickly, but even more surprising was that 3 year old Mozart could listen to the sounds his sister was making and replicate them on the clavier without any formal instruction. Realizing this, Leopold ditched all of his other pupils and took to training his children full time. He started playing minuets at age 4 and wrote his first composition at age 5. Their tours took them all over Europe, but travelling conditions were often horrible. They had poor lodging, had to contend with bad weather, and had to wait months to be compensated by the rulers for whom they performed. He was 8 when he wrote his first symphony. Scholars are pretty certain that his father is actually the one who transcribed it for him.

European Tour 1770-1772 Composing operas 1771-Accepted into the Accademia Filarmonica Upset the Pope; returned home At age 14, he began composing a series of operas that set his career in motion. The Accademia Filarmonica was founded in Bologna, Italy 100 years earlier. Many of its members are some of the finest composers and musicians we have ever seen or heard: Bach, Mozart, Puccini, Liszt, Brahms, Wagner, Rossini, Verdi to name a few In his travels, Pope Clement invited him to the Vatican. During an Easter mass, he heard Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere played twice in the Sistine Chapel. This song was a closely guarded secret, and there had never been a copy of it available to the public in Mozart’s time. After hearing it only twice, he was able to write down the entire composition from memory and published it, making it the first unauthorized composition of this piece available to the general public.

Career 1773-1777 Court Musician of Salzburg 1781 Moved to Vienna Flourished artistically Personally unhappy 1781 Moved to Vienna Emperor of Vienna became a huge patron of his 1781-1785 A period of great financial and artistic success 1786-1790 Experiences difficult time Music isn’t a popular Didn’t save any money 1791 Experiences a revival in his career While in Salzburg, he wrote 5 violin concertos, had several breakthrough piano concertos, wrote numerous symphonies, masses, sonatas, quartets, serenades, and minor operas. What he really wanted, though was to write big operas, but the Archbishop wouldn’t let him. He also wanted to be paid more than his measly 150 florin annual salary. The Archbishop also refused him on this account. Mozart finally became so fed up that he resigned and eventually moved to Vienna. Mozart was well-received in Vienna. He was allowed to do what he wanted—write operas—and was getting paid handsomely for it. However, he also lived a lavish lifestyle and didn’t save money for hard times ahead. 1786, the Austro Turkish War breaks out and makes life hard for all composers. People just don’t have the money or the leisure time anymore to go and listen to music. Scholars also believe that Mozart went through a period of depression that caused him to turn to heavy drinking. It is unclear if the depression was a result of his decline in success or if his depression was already present and his decline exacerbated it. 1791, the war ends. Mozart comes out of his slump and goes through a period of frenzied composition right up until he took ill September 6, 1791. He continued working until he was completely bedridden November 20, 1791 because of intense pain, swelling, and vomiting. He died on December 5, 1791. He was only 35 years old.

Austro-Turkish War 1786-1791 Joseph II (Hapsburg Monarchy, Austria) vs. Ottoman Empire Austria got involved because of alliance with Russia Joseph II saw this as a way to increase Austria’s land holdings Ended in a treaty Austria gained little land and lost some it already had Russia gained a small bit of land The Ottomans gained nothing and saw their society steadily decline afterwards The fight began with Russia and the Ottomans; they had been in frequent conflict with one another. In 1781, Catherine the Great came to Joseph II of Austria and asked him to sign an alliance with Russia. He did so because he didn’t want Russia as an enemy and didn’t think they’d ever actually need him anyway. In 1786, Catherine the Great informally asked Joseph II to honor the conditions of their alliance. He did so under the table. In 1788, she formally requested their assistance, and Joseph II followed through He didn’t just join the fight out of the goodness of his heart. Austria had steadily been losing land in other conflicts. He saw this as a way to reclaim what was rightfully his by using the might of the Russian army. No one really won On the homefront, no one was really indulging in luxuries like attending operas or symphonies, so there are economic hardships for all composers of this time.

Marriage and Legacy August 4, 1782 Married Constanze Webster Didn’t receive his father’s consent to marry until August 5th Lavish lifestyle Apartment rent was 460 florins a year Bought a fortepiano for 900 florins Bought a pool table for 300 florins Had servants Sent children to boarding school 2 of his children survived into adulthood Karl Thomas Mozart (September 21, 1784-October 31, 1858) Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart (July 26, 1791-July 29, 1844) Mozart was actually in love with Constanze’s older sister Aloysia. He liked her because she could sing and came from a musical family. However, when he proposed, she refused because she couldn’t trust that he would find stable employment and therefore was uncertain that he could provide for her and their children. When they met a few years later, she was no longer interested in him and had moved on to someone else. Mozart’s father was always polite to Constanze, but it was clear he didn’t approve of her. He thought her too common for his prodigy son. The Mozarts lived life with all the luxuries one can imagine. They spent money they often didn’t have, taking out loans to throw expensive parties, buy servants, purchase expensive wine and food, and other things. They didn’t save any of their money which didn’t bode well in 1786 when times became tough and money got tight. His children with Constanze include: Raimund Leopold (died 1 month old) Karl Thomas (September 21, 1784-October 31, 1858) Johann Thomas Leopold (died 1 month old) Theresia Constanzia Adelheid Friedericke Maria Anna (died 6 months old) Anna Maria (died in less than a day) Franz Xaver Wolfgang (July 26, 1791-July 29, 1844) Karl was a gifted pianist, though he never made a career out of it. He never had children and neither did his brother, so the Mozart line died with him. Franz (also called Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Jr.) was a composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.

Fun Facts Young Beethoven came to Vienna hoping to study under Mozart Mozart hated the way the flute sounded, so he never wrote parts for it His Magic Flute is actually sung by a female soprano No one can agree what illness finally killed him. There are over 20 diagnoses as to how he died He was a gifted singer, a tenor He was left-handed