Wolfgang Mozart biography
Born On This Day
Wolfgang Mozart was born on this day in 1756.
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Quick Facts
- NAME: Wolfgang Mozart
- OCCUPATION: Songwriter, Pianist
- BIRTH DATE: January 27, 1756
- DEATH DATE: December 05, 1791
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Salzburg, Austria
- PLACE OF DEATH: Vienna, Austria
- Full Name: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- AKA: Wolfgang Mozart
Best Known For
A prolific artist, Austrian composer Wolfgang Mozart created a string of operas, concertos, symphonies and sonatas that profoundly shaped classical music.
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Synopsis
Born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria, Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart was a musician capable of playing multiple instruments
who started playing in public at the age of 6. Over the years, Mozart
aligned himself with a variety of European venues and patrons, composing
hundreds of works that included sonatas, symphonies, masses, concertos
and operas, marked by vivid emotion and sophisticated textures.
Contents
Quotes
"Love, love, love—that is the soul of genius."
– Wolfgang Mozart
Early Life
Central Europe in the mid-18th century was going through a period of transition. The remnants of the Holy Roman Empire had divided into small semi-self-governing principalities. The result was competing rivalries between these municipalities for identity and recognition. Political leadership of small city-states like Salzburg, Vienna, and Prague was in the hands of the aristocracy and their wealth would commission artists and musicians to amuse, inspire, and entertain. The music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods was transitioning toward more full-bodied compositions with complex instrumentation. The small city-state of Salzburg would be the birthplace of one of the most talented and prodigious musical composers of all time.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s was the sole-surviving son of Leopold and Maria Pertl Mozart. Leopold was a successful composer, violinist, and assistant concert master at the Salzburg court. Wolfgang’s mother, Anna Maria Pertl, was born to a middle class family of local community leaders. His only sister was Maria Anna (knick-named “Nannerl”). With their father’s encouragement and guidance, they both were introduced to music at an early age. Leopold started Nannerl on keyboard when she was seven, as three-year old Wolfgang looked on. Mimicking her playing, Wolfgang quickly began to show a strong understanding of chords, tonality, and tempo. Soon, he too was being tutored by his father.
Leopold was a devoted and task-oriented teacher to both his children. He made the lessons fun, but also insisted on a strong work ethic and perfection. Fortunately, both children excelled well in these areas. Recognizing their special talents, Leopold devoted much of his time to their education in music as well as other subjects. Wolfgang soon showed signs of excelling beyond his father’s teachings with an early composition at age five and demonstrating outstanding ability on the clavinet and the violin.
In 1762, Wolfgang’s father took Nannerl, now age eleven, and Wolfgang, age six to the court of Bavaria in Munich in what was to become the first of several European "tours." The siblings traveled to the courts of Paris, London, The Hague, and Zurich performing as child prodigies. Wolfgang met a number of accomplished musicians and became familiar with their works. Particularity important was his meeting with Johann Christian Bach (Johann Sebastian Bach's youngest son) in London who had a strong influence on Wolfgang. The trips were long and often arduous, traveling in primitive conditions and waiting for invitations and reimbursements from the nobility.
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