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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart term paper |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in 1756. From the very beginning of his life in Salzburg, Austria, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a master of music. His father, Leopold Mozart, sacrificed his own career as a respected composer and theorist so he could concentrate on fostering his prodigy son's talents. He taught Mozart the violin, piano and musical theory, all of which Mozart excelled at. At the age of four, Mozart was writing piano concertos and he completed his first opera, when he was eleven. Mozart spent most of his childhood touring Europe with his sister and he got his first job at the age thirteen for the Archbishop of Salzburg. He worked here for twelve years until the archbishop dismissed him. Mozart moved to Vienna, the musical capital of the world at the time. He had been successful there as a child prodigy but as an adult had difficulty in finding work.It was in Vienna that Mozart met Haydn, who took Mozart under his wing and nurtured Mozart' talents like a second father. To make a living, Mozart wrote operas which were becoming very popular. Musical ideas sprang from Mozart's mind. His only task in composing was actually writing the music down on paper. Around this time he fell in love with a woman called Aloysia Weber. He asked her to marry him but she declined and so he married her sister Constanze instead. For their wedding, Mozart wrote his great C-minor composition.Mozart had more success as a composer when he visited Prague. He was commissioned to write several operas and he enjoyed a successful career.Mozart was convinced while he was writing Requiem commissioned by an unnamed stranger that it was his own requiem and he was right. He raced to finish it but in the end only completed a few movements and a sketchy outline of the rest of the piece. He died probably from poor health when he was just thirty five years old. The Requiem was completed by one of Mozart's pupils, Sussmayr.Mozart was apolitical. He was very classical. He appreciated Bach and had a large output: 49 symphonies and 18 operas.
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