Mozarts Life ( Brief Summary) :: essays research papers

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is often referred to as the greatest musical genius of all time in Western musical tradition. His creative method was extraordinary: his writings show that he almost always wrote a complete composition mentally before finally writing it on paper. Mozart created 600 works in his short life of 35 years. His works included 16 operas, 41 symphonies, 27 piano concerti, and 5 violin concerti, 25 string quartets, and 19 masses. Mozart was born on Jan. 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria. His father was Leopold Mozart, a composer and a popular violinist. Mozart received his early musical training from his father. At the early age of 3 Mozart showed signs of being a musical genius. Then, at the age of five Mozart started composing. Beginning in 1762 Mozart’s father took young Mozart and his older sister, Maria Anna, on tours in Europe where they played the piano, harpsichord, violin, and organ, together and separately. Mozart learned to play the piano, harpsichord, and violin from his father. He gave public concerts and played at numerous courts and received several commissions. As an adult Mozart his career was not as successful as when he was younger. But he kept on composing anyway hoping one people would appreciate his work. He lived in poverty for the great majority of his life. In 1769 he became a concertmaster to the archbishop of Salzburg, which was another one of his jobs that afforded him little financial security. In 1777, he left on another concert tour. But, the courts of Europe ignored Mozart ‘s search for a more beneficial assignment. In 1782 he earned a living by selling compositions, giving public performances, and giving music lessons, which once again was a low paying job. The composer never did find a well paying job. The bizarre thing was is that even that he had ton of trouble finding jobs, he was still considered one of the leading composers of the late 1700s. Mozart became ill suffering from headaches and fever for several months. Mozart was under the illusion that he was to write music for his funeral.