Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Born:  January 27, 1756 - Salzburg Died:  December 5, 1791 - Vienna Quick Facts:

• Of the 41 symphonies that Mozart wrote, only two are in a minor key, both of which are in g minor (Symphony 25 & 40).
• Mozart's music was often critisized as being too complex and "having too many notes".
• Mozart was known to take familiar musical lines from one piece of music and insert them into another piece of music.

On November 14, 1719, Mozart's father, Leopold, was born. Leopold attended Salzburg Benedictine University and studied philosophy, but later he was expelled due to poor attendance. Leopold, however, became proficient in violin and organ. He married Anna Maria Pertl on November 21, 1747. Of the seven children they had, only two survived, Maria Anna (1751) and Wolfgang Amadeus (1756).

When Wolfgang was four (as noted by his father in his sisters music book), he was playing the same pieces as his sister. At the age of five, he wrote a miniature andante and allegro (K. 1a and 1b). In 1762, Leopold took Wolfgang and Maria Anna on tour throughout Vienna performing for nobles and ambassadors. Later in 1763, Leopold took Wolfgang and Maria Anna on a three-and-a-half year tour throughout Germany, France, England, Switzerland, and other countries.

Amid the many tours, Mozart wrote music for a number of occasions. In 1770, Mozart (only 14) was commissioned to write an opera ( Mitridate, re di Ponto ) by that December. He began work on the opera in October and by December 26, after eight rehearsals, the show was performed. The show, which included several ballets from other composers, lasted six hours. To much of Leopard's surprise, the opera was a huge success and went on to perform 22 more times.

In 1777, Mozart left Salzburg with his mother to search for a higher paying job. His travels lead him to Paris, where unfortunately, his mother became deathly ill. Mozart's efforts to find a better job were unfruitful. He returned home two years later and continued working in the court as an organist with accompanying duties rather than a violinist. Mozart was offered an increase in salary and generous leave.

After the successful premier of the opera Idomenée in 1881 in Munich, Mozart returned to Salzburg. Wanting to be released from his job as court organist, Mozart met with the archbishop. In March of 1781, Mozart was finally released from his duties and began working freelance. A year later, Mozart gave his first public concert consisting entirely of his own compositions.

Mozart married Constanze Weber in July of 1782, despite his father's constant disapprovals. As Mozart's compositions flourished, his debts did too; money always seemed a bit tight. In 1787, Leopold died. The effects his fathers death had on him can be seen in a lul in new compositions. Shortly thereafter, in 1791, Mozart died of miliary fever.