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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Born January 27,1756
Died December 5, 1791
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was likely the greatest composer of his day.He was born January 27, 1756 and died on December 5, 1791 at 36 years of age. He was a master in all forms of music, from opera, the symphony, the concerto, chamber, vocal, piano, choral, literally everything! Therewas almost nothing related to music he couldn't do better than anyone else! He could sight read perfectly any music he was presented with, and he could hear a long piece of music for the first time and then write it down perfectly. He could write out one piece at the same time
he was thinking of another piece. These were just a few of the things regarding music that he was able to do!
However, Mozart paid a high price for his wonderful talents because he was unable to gain enough maturity in other areas to be able to lead anything near a normal adult life. This caused Friedrich Schlichtegroll, his first biographer, to write in 1793: "For just as this rare being early became a man as far as his art was concerned, he always remained.......in almost all other matters a child."
As early as the age of three, Mozart could pick out piano tunes. He started composing at the age of six. That was his age when he and his sister Nannerl, who was five years older, began touring. They performed for most of the courts of Europe. Because of this he had important contacts with the important musicians of the day. His name was frequently in the news and there were many articles written about his wonderful talent.
His father, Leopold Mozart, was also a gifted musician,
although not as talented as his son. Leopold did not understand how high-strung his son was and how badly he needed support and sympathy as well as encouragement. Instead, Leopold was frequantly reminding young Mozart of the flaws in his character. Because of this, and because of the boy's lack of a natural childhood, they had a very difficult relationship. This is evident in the letters that were exchanged between them.
Although earlier pieces were beautiful, they do not have the maturity, personality and depth that became present in the music he wrote after 1781. "The Marriage of Figaro" is one of his most famous pieces. It reveals its characters in ways that make them come alive. There are no flawed notes and all the situations ring true. Another very well-known opera, "The Magic Flute" was much loved by the Viennese public and became Mozart's biggest success. His opera, "Don Giovanni" was the most romantic of his operas and many feel it is the greatest opera ever composed.
Of course, his genius was evident in other forms of music as well, and most are regarded as true masterpieces. His ability to create wonderful melodies was balanced by his harmonic sense, which sometimes takes us into other key signatures, something which many other composers of his day tended to avoid. This makes his music sound ever fresh and attractive. His music is as respected today as it was 200
years ago. To quote Harold C. Schonberg, music critic for the New York Times, "The little man from Salzburg was a miracle. More protean than Bach, musically more aristocratic than Beethoven, he can be put forward as the most perfect, best equipped, and most natural musician the world has ever known."
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