Mozart Biography
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartborn January 27, 1756, in salzburg, Austriawas a musician capable of playing various instruments who began performing in public at the age of 6.
Over the years, Mozart He aligned himself with a variety of European venues and patrons, composing hundreds of works including sonatas, symphonies, masses, chamber music, concertos, and operas, marked by lively emotion and sophisticated textures.
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Early life
Central Europe in the mid-18th century was going through a period of transition. The remnants of the Holy Roman Empire had broken up into small semi-autonomous principalities.
The result was competing rivalries between these municipalities for their identity and recognition.
The political leadership of small city-states like Salzburg, vienna and Prague he was in the hands of the aristocracy and his wealth would commission artists and musicians to entertain, inspire and entertain.
The Renaissance
The music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods was in transition towards fuller-bodied compositions with complex instrumentation.
The small city-state of salzburg it would be the birthplace of one of the most talented and prodigious musical composers of all time.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the only surviving child of Leopold and Maria Pertl Mozart. Leopold was a successful composer, violinist, and assistant concertmaster at the Salzburg court.
Wolfgang’s mother, Anna Maria Pertl, was born into a middle-class family of local community leaders. Her only sister was Maria Anna (nicknamed «Nannerl»).
With their father’s encouragement and guidance, they were both introduced to music at a young age. Leopold started Nannerl on the keyboard when he was seven years old, when Wolfgang, a three-year-old boy, looked at him.
Mozart’s life
Miniseries in three chapters on the life of Mozart, filmed in 1991 on the occasion of the second centenary of the composer’s death (Salzburg, January 27, 1756, Vienna, December 5, 1791
their teachers
Mimicking his playing, Wolfgang quickly began to show a great understanding of chords, tonality, and tempo. Soon, he too was being tutored by his father.
Leopold was a task-oriented and devoted teacher to his two sons. He made the lessons fun, but he also insisted on a strong work ethic and perfection. Fortunately, both children excelled in these areas.
Recognizing his special talents, Leopold devoted much of his time to his education in music and other subjects.
Wolfgang soon showed signs of excelling beyond his father’s teachings, with early composition at age five and demonstrating outstanding ability on the harpsichord and violin. He would soon play the piano, the organ, and the viola.
The father
In 1762, Wolfgang’s father took the now eleven-year-old Nannerl and the six-year-old Wolfgang to the Bavarian court in Munich on what would become the first of several European «tours». The brothers traveled to the courts of Paris, London, Hague and zurich acting like child prodigies.
Wolfgang met a number of accomplished musicians and became familiar with their works. Particularly important was his meeting with Johann Christian Bach (Johann Sebastian Bach’s youngest son) in London, who had a great influence on Wolfgang.
The journeys were long and often arduous, traveling in primitive conditions and waiting for invitations and reimbursements from the nobility.
Wolfgang and other members of his family often fell seriously ill and had to limit their performance hours.
Young budding composer
In December 1769, Wolfgang, then 13 years old, and his father left Salzburg for Italyleaving his mother and sister at home.
It seems that at this time Nannerl’s professional music career was over.
She was reaching marriageable age, and in accordance with the custom of the time, she was no longer allowed to display her artistic talents in public.
The departure from Italy was longer than the others (1769-1771) as Leopold wanted to show his son’s skills as a performer and composer to as many new audiences as possible.
While in Rome Wolfgang heard the Miserere of Gregorio Allegrirealized once in the Sistine Chapel. He wrote the entire score from memory, returning only to correct some minor errors.
During this time Wolfgang also wrote a new opera, Mitridate, re di Ponto for the court in Milan.
Other commissions followed and on subsequent trips to ItalyWolfgang wrote two other operas, Ascanio en Alba (1771) and Lucio Silla (1772).
piano concerts
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his father returned from their last stay in Italy in March 1773. His father’s benefactor, Archbishop von Schrattenbach, had died and was succeeded by Hieronymus von Colleredo.
Upon his return, the new archbishop appointed the young Mozart as assistant concertmaster with a small salary.
During this time, the young Mozart had the opportunity to work in several different musical genres composing symphonies, string quartets, sonatas and serenades, and a few operas.
He developed a passion for violin concertos, producing what became the only five he ever wrote.
In 1776, he turned his efforts to piano concertos, culminating in Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major early in 1777. Wolfgang had just turned 21.
Concerts
Despite his success with the compositions, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart grew increasingly discontented with his position as assistant concertmaster and the restrictive environment of Salzburg. He was ambitious and believed that he could do more elsewhere.
Archbishop von Colloredo was becoming an inpatient with the whining and immature attitude of the young genius.
In August 1777, Mozart set out on a journey to find more prosperous employment. The archbishop did not give Leopold permission to travel, so Anna Maria accompanied Wolfgang in search of him to the cities of mannheim, Paris and Munich.
There were several jobs that initially showed promise, but all ultimately fell through.
He began to run out of funds and had to pawn various valuable personal items to pay for travel and living expenses.
doing it in vienna
Back in Salzburg in 1779, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart produced a number of church works, including the Coronation Mass. He also composed another opera for MunichIdeomeneus in 1781.
In March of that year, Mozart was summoned to Vienna by Archbishop von Colloredo, who was attending the accession of Joseph II to the Austrian throne. The Archbishop’s cold reception of Mozart offended him.
He was treated as a mere servant, quartered with the help, and forbidden to perform before the Emperor for a fee equal to half his yearly salary in Salzburg. A fight ensued and Mozart offered to resign from him.
The Archbishop initially refused, but then relented with abrupt dismissal and physical removal from the Archbishop’s presence.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart quickly found work in Vienna, taking students in, writing music for publication, and playing several concerts.
He also began writing an opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The kidnapping from the seraglio). In the summer of 1781, Mozart was rumored to be contemplating marriage to Fridolin Weber’s daughter, Constanze.
Mozart’s marriage
Knowing that his father would disapprove of the marriage and the interruption in his career, the young Mozart quickly wrote that his father denied any idea of marriage. But in December, he was asking for his father’s blessings.
While Leopold is known to have disapproved, what is not known is the argument between father and son, as Leopold’s letters were destroyed by Constanze.
However, Wolfgang’s subsequent correspondence indicated that he and his father differed considerably on this matter.
He was in love with Constanze and her mother was strongly encouraging the marriage, so in a sense he felt compromised.
The couple finally married on August 4, 1782. Meanwhile, Leopold finally consented to the marriage. Constanze and Wolfgang had six children, although only two boys, Karl Thomas and Franz Xaver, survived.
As 1782 became 1783, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart became fascinated with the work of Johannes Sebastian Bach and George Frederic Handel and this, in turn, resulted in several compositions in the Baroque style and influenced many of his later compositions, such as the passages from Die Zauberflote.
European fame
The opera Die Entführung enjoyed immediate and continuing success and strengthened the name and talents of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart throughout Europe.
With substantial profits from concerts and publishing, he and Constanze enjoyed a lavish lifestyle.
They lived in one of the most exclusive apartment buildings in Vienna, sent their son, Karl Thomas, to an expensive boarding school, had servants, and maintained a busy social life.
In 1783, Mozart and Constanze traveled to Salzburg to visit their father and sister. The visit was somewhat cold, as Leopold was still a reticent father-in-law and Nannerl was a dutiful daughter.
But the stay promoted Mozart to begin writing a mass in C Minor, of which only the first two sections, «Kyrie» and «Gloria», were completed.
Mozart Freemasonry
In 1784, Mozart became a Freemason, a fraternal order focused on charitable work, moral rectitude, and the development of brotherly friendship.
Mozart was well regarded in the Masonic community, attending meetings and taking part in various functions. Freemasonry also became a major influence on Mozart’s music.
The year 1784 proved to be the most prolific in Mozart’s performance life. Over a five-week period, he appeared at 22 concerts, including five that he produced and performed as a solo artist.
In a typical concert, he would play a selection of existing and improvisational pieces and his various piano concertos.
Other times he performed performances of his symphonies. The concerts were well attended as Mozart enjoyed a unique connection with his audiences who were,
In the mid-1780s Wolfgang and Constanze Mozart’s extravagant lifestyle was beginning to take its toll.
Despite his success as a pianist and composer. Mozart was falling into serious financial difficulties. Mozart associated with aristocratic Europeans and felt that he should live as such.
rumors
He thought that the best way to obtain a more stable and lucrative income would be through a judicial appointment.
However, this would not be easy with the musical preference of the court towards Italian composers and the influence of the Kapellmeister Antonio Salieri.
Mozart’s relationship with Salieri has been the subject of speculation and legend. The letters written between Mozart and his father, Leopold, indicate that the two felt a rivalry and mistrust towards Italian musicians in general and towards Salieri in…