Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Key Facts
- Prodigy: composes his first pieces at age 5 and performs before the royal courts of Europe at 7
- Transcribes Allegri's Miserere from memory after a single hearing at age 14 (a work kept secret by the Vatican)
- Receives the title of Knight of the Golden Spur from Pope Clement XIV at age 14
- Breaks with Archbishop Colloredo in 1781 to settle in Vienna as an independent composer
- Composes “The Marriage of Figaro” (1786), “Don Giovanni” (1787) and “The Magic Flute” (1791), operas of the international repertoire
- Leaves more than 600 works covering every genre: operas, symphonies, concertos, chamber music, masses
- Dies on December 5, 1791 aged 35, leaving his Requiem unfinished, completed by his pupil Süssmayr
Biography
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 in Salzburg, in the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg, today in Austria. A child prodigy of astonishing precocity, he composed his first pieces at five and performed before the royal courts of Europe at seven. Though he died at thirty-five, he left a colossal body of work (over 600 compositions) spanning every musical genre of his time and placing his name among the greatest geniuses in the history of music.
Son of musician Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang received intensive musical training from childhood. A virtuoso harpsichordist and accomplished violinist, he captivated audiences in Vienna, Munich, Paris, and London during European tours organised by his father between 1762 and 1773. At ten he met Johann Christian Bach in London, who deeply inspired him. The greatest sovereigns of Europe listened with delight to the little genius from Salzburg.
In 1769, his father took him to Italy, where he absorbed the operatic style and at fourteen transcribed from memory Allegri's Miserere after a single hearing, earning him the title of Knight of the Golden Spur from Pope Clement XIV. Back in Salzburg, he served Archbishop Colloredo, whose constraints stifled his genius. In 1781, he broke with his employer and settled in Vienna as an independent composer. His Viennese years were prolific: The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and The Magic Flute (1791) revolutionised opera; his symphonies and piano concertos defined the Classical aesthetic.
From 1788, his financial situation deteriorated. In 1791 he received an anonymous commission for a Requiem, which he worked on feverishly until his last days without completing it. Mozart died on 5 December 1791, aged thirty-five. His student Franz Xaver Süssmayr completed the Requiem. Mozart's legacy is immense: his music has never ceased to enchant audiences worldwide.