Mozart life
WOLGANG AMADEUS MOZART, (1756-1791) One of the greatest musicians of all time was born in Salzburg, Austria. He was often called the "Wonder Boy." His father Leopold was a musician, too. He was a composer at the Austrian court. When Wolfgang was three years old he began to show great interest in music. One day after he had listened to his older sister's music lesson he went to the clavier (an early kind of piano) and played one of his sister's pieces. His father realized that Wolfgang had great talent. When Wolfgang was four he began to take music lessons. He learned very quickly and when he was five he not only played very well but he had already composed a number of pieces.
When he was seven years old his father took him and his sister on a tour of many of the leading cities of Europe. They went first to Munich, where the Mozart children gave concerts for three years. Then they went to Vienna, Paris, and London. People were amazed at these musical children. Once while they were playing in Vienna the emperor asked Wolfgang if he could play as well if the keys were covered by a cloth. Wolfgang said nothing. But after the keys were covered, people found that he could play just as beautifully as he did with the keys uncovered. Wolfgang was loved by everyone. One day at the palace he slipped and fell on the polished floor. The little daughter of the emperor ran and helped him up. Wolfgang said to her, "Oh, you are so kind! Someday I shall marry you." The little daughter was Marie Antoinette, who later became queen of France.
Wolfgang played the organ and violin as well as the clavier, although he never had any lessons on these two instruments. When he was 13 he went to Italy, where he gave concerts. In Rome he was invited to listen to some special music that had not yet been published. He was not allowed to see the music. Wolfgang listened to it, then went to his room and wrote all of the music from memory. No one could believe that such a thing was possible. It was while he was in Rome that the pope conferred upon him the Order of the Golden Spur. This meant that at 13 he was a knight.
After 13 years of composing music and giving concerts in many cities, Mozart returned to Salzburg. He married and tried to earn a living by composing and giving lessons. People were often enthusiastic about his music, but he received little money. He lived in poverty for the rest of his life.
Mozart spent long hours each day at his work. He was unable to stand such hard work, and in his 35th year his health failed. It was in his last year that he wrote one of his greatest works, the Requiem Mass. He did not live to finish it. One of his pupils finished it after his death. No one knows exactly where Mozart was buried. Some years after his death a monument was erected to him in Vienna.
Mozart was one of the very few composers who mastered both the symphony and opera. The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, and his operatic masterpiece, Don Giovanni, are three of his great operas.
He wrote 41 symphonies, the first when he was eight years old. The Jupiter symphony, which he wrote in 15 days, is considered his finest. He composed concertos, choral music, orchestral and chamber music, and a great many smaller compositions.
