Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Overview

The short and turbulent life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time, has been the source of much speculation, scholarship, and one Academy Award-winning film. Mozart was the ultimate child prodigy, the quintessential temperamental artist,... [more]

The short and turbulent life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time, has been the source of much speculation, scholarship, and one Academy Award-winning film. Mozart was the ultimate child prodigy, the quintessential temperamental artist, and the proverbial candle that burns twice as bright and half as long: in his 36 years he made an indelible mark on music.Mozart was born in Salzburg in 1756 to a father who was himself a musician. The boy's gifts were recognized early: he began composing pieces at age five, and by age seven he was touring Europe with his father and sister. While he spent the early part of his career in the employ of the Archbishop of Salzburg, after 1781 he was strictly an independent composer, and earned a living by writing commissioned pieces and teaching music. The full extent of Mozart's genius was not recognized during his lifetime, and he died a pauper.Musically, Mozart was influenced by contemporaries Bach and Handel, but whereas these gentlemen were of the baroque movement, Mozart was the leading composer of the new classical movement. He composed sacred music, instrumental works, comic and tragic operas, and every other kind of classical music imaginable. A list of his best-known works could take up pages, but highlights include "Don Giovanni," "The Magic Flute," and the "Requiem" (his last composition, which was finished by a student). It is difficult to explain how Mozart could compose so many unforgettable melodies in such a short time; some say that he had an instinctive understanding of chord structure and the mechanics of harmony. He combined the best aspects of the baroque period and of the Renaissance period, and from that foundation proceeded fearlessly onto new musical ground. Two hundred years later, many people have explored the same musical ground that Mozart discovered, but his effortless mastery of the rules -- and equally effortless disregard of them -- endowed his music with a timeless quality. [show less]