Mozart

Mozart
Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. His output of over 600 compositions includes works widely acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concert ante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. Mozart is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers and many of his works are part of the standard concert repertoire.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born to Leopold and Anna Maria Pertl Mozart in Getreidegasse 9 in Salzburg, the capital of the sovereign Archbishopric of Salzburg, in what is now called Austria, which was previously the part of the Holy Roman Empire. His only sibling who survived past birth was his sister Maria Anna (1751-1829), called Nannerl. Mozart generally called himself Wolfgang Amad? Mozart as an adult, but there were many variants.

Mozart's father Leopold Mozart (1719?1787) was deputy Kapellmeister to the court orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg, and a minor composer. He was also an experienced teacher as he published a successful violin textbook, Versuch einer gr?ndlichen Violinschule.Mozart's music stands as an archetypal example of the Classical style. Mozart's own stylistic development closely paralleled the development of the classical style as a whole. In addition, he was a versatile composer and wrote in almost every major genre; including symphony, opera, and the solo concerto, chamber music including string quartet and string quintet, and the piano sonata. While none of these genres were new, the piano concerto was almost single-handedly developed and popularized by Mozart. His works spanned the period during which that style transformed from one exemplified by the style gallant to one that began to incorporate some of the contrapuntal complexities of the late Baroque, complexities against which the gallant style had been a reaction. He also wrote a great deal of religious music, including masses; and he composed many dances, divertimenti, serenades, and other forms of light entertainment.

1762?1773: Years of travel
During Mozart's seminal years, his family made several European journeys in which the children were exhibited as child prodigies. These began with an exhibition in 1762 at the Court of the Elector of Bavaria in Munich, then in the same year at the Imperial Court in Vienna and Prague. A long concert tour spanning three and a half years followed. During this trip Mozart met a great number of musicians and acquainted himself with the works of other composers.

1773?1777: The Salzburg court
Following his final return with his father from Italy (13 March 1773), Mozart was employed as a court musician by the ruler of Salzburg Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo. Some of the works he produced during this early period are very widely performed today. For instance, during the period between April and December of 1775, Mozart developed an enthusiasm for violin concertos, producing a series of five, steadily increasing in their musical sophistication. Mozart was a favorite son in Salzburg, where he had a great number of friends and admirers, and he had the opportunity to compose in a great number of genres, including symphonies, sonatas, string quartets, serenades, and the occasional opera. The E flat piano concerto K. 271 (1777), with its surprising interruption of the orchestra by the soloist at the start, is considered by critics to be a breakthrough work.

Mozart's new career in Vienna began when he performed often as a pianist, notably in a competition before the Emperor with Muzio Clementi, 24 December 1781, and according to the New Grove, he soon had established himself as the finest keyboard player in Vienna. Mozart also prospered as a composer: during 1781?1782 he wrote the opera Die Entf?hrung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), which premiered 16 July 1782 and achieved a huge success. The work was soon being performed throughout German-speaking Europe, and fully established Mozart's reputation as a composer.

1786?1787: Return to opera
Despite the great success of Die Entf?hrung aus dem Serail, Mozart composed some operas during the years that followed it, producing only two unfinished works and the one-act Der Schauspieldirektor. He focused instead on his career as a piano soloist and writer of concertos. However, around the end of 1785, Mozart reshifted his focus again: he ceased to write piano concertos on a regular basis, and began his famous operatic collaboration with the librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. 1786 saw the Vienna premiere of The Marriage of Figaro, which was quite successful in Vienna and even more so in a Prague production later the same year. The Prague success led to a commission for a second Mozart-Da Ponte opera, Don Giovanni, which premiered 1787 to acclaim in Prague and was also produced, with some success, in Vienna in 1788. Both operas are considered among Mozart's most important works and are mainstays of the operatic repertoire today; their musical complexity caused difficulty for both listeners and performers alike at their premieres.

Mozart fell ill while in Prague, for the 6 September premiere of his opera La clemenza di Tito, written in 1791 on commission for the coronation festivities of the Emperor. He was able to continue his professional functions for some time, for instance conducting the premiere of The Magic Flute on September 30. The illness intensified on 20 November, at which point Mozart became bedridden, suffering from swelling, pain, and vomiting. Mozart's extremely spare funeral did not reflect his standing with the public as a composer: memorial services and concerts in Vienna and Prague were well attended. Indeed, during the period following his death, Mozart's musical reputation rose substantially; Solomon describes an unprecedented wave of enthusiasm for his work. Biographies were written, and publishers vied to produce complete editions of his works.

Ludwig van Beethoven, whose life overlapped with Mozart's, seems to have been particularly strongly influenced by him. Beethoven became closely acquainted with Mozart's work as a teenager as he is thought to have played Mozart's operas in the court orchestra in Bonn, and he traveled to Vienna in 1787 with the most desirable hope of studying with Mozart.

Mozart's most famous pupil was probably Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a transitional figure between Classical and Romantic eras whom Mozart took into his Vienna home for two years as a child during his studies. With the surge in his reputation following his death, the study of Mozart's works became part of the training of every classical musician, and has been so ever since.