W. A. Mozartīs Life 1756-1791

The "good and admirable" Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria (a country in the west of Austria) in January 27, 1756. The Classical Period was well under way, and Salzburg was quickly becoming one of the centres for the arts in Europe. Mozart was fortunate to be born into the family of one of the town's foremost music teachers: Leopold Mozart. Leopold's influence in his young son's musical development was enormous, as he encouraged the eager Wolfgang to improve his already astounding talents. His father, Leopold, was also a musician who published a book called Violin School in 1756. His mother, Anna Maria, was an intellectual woman whose father, also called Wolfgang, was a bass singer.

By the age of four, having already experimented on his own for about a year with tunes and chords, Wolfgang began his studies in earnest on the keyboard. Under Leopold's training, Mozart began learning at an incredible rate. In half an hour, Mozart was able to learn an entire minuet and trio. Mozart also posessed a sense of perfect pitch.

By the age of six, Leopold felt that his son and his daughter, who was also extremely talented, were ready to be presented to the rest of the world. In 1762, while he was 6 years old, he appeared in every court in Europe.With this in mind, the family set out for Munich, the Bavarian capital. Upon their arrival, Wolfgang and his sister Nannerl were presented to the Municher nobles, who, needless to say, were stunned by the performances of thes two tiny children. A tour of Munich which lasted nearly three weeks followed this highly successful first concert, and the Mozarts' renown and popularity grew. This wildly successful tour presented the Mozarts with the key to a tour in Vienna, the musical capital of the Classical world. This tour in turn led to one in Paris and Versailles. It was in Paris, when Wolfgang was seven, that his first published works appeared. Four sonatas for clavier and violin were printed. When he was 7 years old, he met King George III and Queen Charlotte.

By the age of 13, Mozart had written La Finta Semplis, his first opera. He was enjoying enormous popularity, swarmed by throngs of people wherever he travelled in Europe.

Returning to Salzburg, Mozart took up employment as concertmaster for the Archbishop Colloredo. Unfortunately, the Archbishop was unconvinced of Mozart's genius, and fired the young composer at the age of twenty-one. In 14, he had been a violinist, keyboard player, improviser and composer. These things are unbelievable that were done by a child. In this time he received the Order of the Golden Spur from the Pope. He didn't want to go so he ask Pope. But Pope want to seize his father. In 1777, because he didn't want to serve the Archbishop Hieronymous Colleredo, he leave Salzburg and went to Paris with his mother. Unfortunately, his mother was died in 3rd July, 1778. On the way to Paris, he was spurned in love by the singer Aloysia Weber. He composed his first opera, Idomeneo. In 1780, he was sent to Vienna to perform for the festival of Joseph II. But he was looked down. Mozart had a heavy frustration. He endured the loss of his beloved mother. Heartbroken and jobless, he returned to Salzburg where he was forced once again to be employed by the hated Archbishop. This spell of employment was short-lived. Soon, Mozart was travelling again, this time to Vienna, where he married Constanze Weber in 1782. Because of his talents of music, he changed Vienna into the musical capital of Europe. At last, he married with Contanze Weber, sister of the singer who refused his love. After 9 years old, Mozart and Weber had two sons, Karl Thomas and Franz Xavier. Because he wanted to support his family, he composed operas, symphonies, etc.. In 1782, The Abduction from the Seraglio was performed. People were surprised of this opera. He had about 300 Viennese supporters and because rich. Four of operas he composed: The Abduction from the Seraglio(1782), The Marriage of Figaro(1786), Don Giovanni(1787) and Cos fan tutte(1790) were very popular in Vienna. Some composer in Vienna, e.g., Figaro and Antonia Salieri, competed with him, but, certainly, Mozart beated them.

In 1781, Mozart encountered Joseph Haydn. They became friendly and almost both were presented in the same events. Haydn Op.20 quartets provided models for Mozart. In 1781, Haydn published the Quartets Op.33, which made Mozart to finish his C-major quartet in Jan, 1785. Mozart invited 3 of his friends to be a new quartet : Wolfgang played Viola, Haydn played 1st violin, Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf played 2nd violin and Johann Bantist Vanhall played cello. This quartet became popular and successful.

By 1787, Mozart was writing as if in a frenzy, churning out works, trying to keep up with the costs of his sickly wife and six children. However, his hard work paid off. He finally landed a position as the Imperial and Royal Court Composer in Vienna. Mozart soon found disappointment in his new job. The salary was insufficient to pay for his now extravagant lifestyle, and the fashionable Viennese public was tiring of his concerts. He was forced to borrow money, mostly to pay for his wife's health care, and this depressed him. Despite these setbacks, Mozart was optimistic that his fortune would change. His fortune did change, but not for long. In 1791, his newest opera, The Magic Flute premiered to rousing success. However, Mozaart did not live long to enjoy this success. He was by this time quite ill, suffering from weakness, and fainting frequently. On Decembler 5, 1791, Mozart died, trying to compose the drums for his Requiem.

The joy of Mozart's music reflects Mozart's own enjoyment of life and its pleasures. Even during the times of his deepest despair, Mozart was able to fill his music with the ebulliency of his soul. In these passages, Mozart's playful sense of fun is clearly evident. However, Mozart was also capable of stirring darker emotions. Thus while some themes bounce merrily, others are sombre and pensive.

Mozart had few influences. His musical genius allowed him to be almost completely original. Despite the constant praise that was lavished upon him, however, Mozart never allowed himself to become arrogant of supercilious. He still kept himself open to new experiences, especially those of a musical nature. For instance, after hearing the music of Bach, Mozart exclaimed, "Now here's something one can learn from!".

During the course of his thirty-year musical career, Mozart produced over 600 works, in all the popular forms of the time, including concertos for piano, violin, and viola, sonatas, trios, quartets, quintets, symphonies, and operas. Mozart made his music reflect the changing opinions of the time while simultaneously adding his own. If there is one artist wo represents the order and sedate nature of Classical perfection, while embodying the turbulent emotional appeal of the Romantic era, that artist is Mozart. And if one artist can be called the greatest musical genius ever to grace this Earth, that artist is Mozart, the God of Music.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is often referred to as the most brilliant composer ever known. Not only is his work highly regarded today, but was admired by his contemporary peers, and Ludwig van Beethoven once said eloquent "Mozart is good and admirable."

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