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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791) Background Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus) was born in Salzburg in 1756, the second survivor out of six children. His father Leopold, an accomplished musician and composer, was Kapellmeister to Prince Archbishop Siegmund Christoph von Schrattenbach of Salzburg. The young Mozart showed astonishing musical precocity, playing the keyboard at three and composing at four. His elder sister Maria Anna was also a fine keyboard player, and in 1762 Leopold decided to display their skills to the European courts. They visited Munich and Vienna in 1762, and in 1763 embarked on a triumphant tour of Europe, performing in the palaces of the aristocracy. In 1764, the Mozarts arrived in London, where Wolfgang studied composition with Johann Christian Bach and singing with the castrato Manzuoli. J.C. Bach's symphonies had a strong influence on the young Mozart, who wrote his first three symphonies in London. The Mozart family returned to Salzburg in 1766, after visits to Holland, France, and Italy. |
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First Successes The years 1767 and 1768 saw the composition of two operas, La Finta Semplice (The Feigned Innocent) and Bastien and Bastienne. Leopold was eager to expose his son to Italian opera, and in 1770 they went to Italy. Wolfgang's performances and compositions met with tremendous acclaim across Italy. He received a commission for an opera, and he responded with Mitridate, Re di Ponto (Mithridates, King of Pontus), which was produced in Milan in December 1770. In 1772, Prince-Archbishop Schrattenbach died, and was replaced by Hieronymus Count Colloredo. After much argument, Mozart was dismissed from court service in 1777. He went on a tour of Europe with his mother in search of a post, visiting Munich, Augsburg, and Mannheim, all to no avail. They arrived in Paris in 1778, where Mozart's mother died. The Parisians were uninterested in his talents, and he returned to Salzburg in 1779 where he was reinstated as an organist. Move to Vienna In 1780, Mozart moved to Munich to write the opera Idomeneo, Re di Creta (Idomeneo, King of Crete) in response to a commision from the Elector of Bavaria. On his return to Salzburg, his stormy relationship with Colloredo came to a head, and he resigned from his post. Mozart moved to Vienna in 1782, where he married Constanze Weber and composed his opera Die Entfurung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Harem). In 1785 he dedicated six string quartets to Joseph Haydn, a life-long friend of Mozart, and wrote the opera Le Nozze de Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). It was a great success in Vienna, and the reception in Prague when it was produced there in 1787 was so rapturous that he received a commission for another opera, Don Giovanni. In 1787 Leopold died. Don Giovanni was completed in a few months, along with the two string quintets and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. The opera was a success when premiered in Prague in 1787, but the reception in Vienna in 1788 was less enthusiastic. In that year Mozart wrote his great final triptych of symphonies, Nos. 39-41. Financial struggles Mozart's financial difficulties put his family under considerable strain, and in 1789 Constanze fell ill. With his pupil Prince Lichnowsky, he travelled to Dresden, where he performed before the Elector Frederick Augustus. He visited Leipzig for a financially disastrous public concert, and went on to Berlin, where Friedrich Wilhelm II, King of Prussia, commissioned six string quartets, of which only three were written. The year 1790 saw a commission from Emperor Joseph II for another opera, Cosi fan tutte (Thus Do All Women). It was well-received at its premiere on 26th January 1790, but its run was cut short when Joseph II died on 20th February. Mozart travelled to Frankfurt, but encountered more bad luck - a scheduled performance of Don Giovanni was cancelled and replaced by an opera by Dittersdorf, and his hopes of being appointed Kapellmeister by Leopold II were dashed. His last year Mozart's last year, 1791, saw the composition of some of his greatest music - the Ave Verum K614, Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute), La Clemenza di Tito (The Mercy of Titus), and the Clarinet Concerto K622. In July, Mozart received a commission from an anonymous patron (Count F. von Walsegg) for a Requiem. Mozart became convinced that he was writing the Requiem for his own funeral, and he died on 5th December, leaving his pupil Sussmayr to complete the work. He received a cheap funeral and was buried in an anonymous grave. Mozart's genius lay in his ability to take unrefined Early Classical genres established by composers such as C.P.E. Bach and Haydn and raise them to heights of absolute perfection and mastery. He has written some of the most memorable music ever written, and although it often conveys immense joy, a darker vein of melancholy always lies underneath the surface, giving it an emotional depth unmatched by other composers of his time. His symphonies, particularly Nos. 39-41, combine perfect formal symmetry and symphonic design with a freedom of emotional expression that was to remain unequalled until the symphonies of Beethoven and Schubert. Back to top of page |
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