wolfgang mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg on January 27, 1756. His father was the composer and violinist Leopold Mozart, who worked in the court chapel of Count Sigismund von Strattenbach (Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg). The mother of the famous musician was Anna Maria Mozart (nee Pertl), who came from the family of the commissioner-trustee of the almshouse of the small commune of St. Gilgen.

In total, seven children were born in the Mozart family, but most of them, unfortunately, died at a young age. The first child of Leopold and Anna, who managed to survive, was the elder sister of the future musician Maria Anna (relatives and friends called the girl Nannerl from childhood). About four years later, Wolfgang was born. The birth was extremely difficult, and the doctors feared for a long time that they would be fatal for the boy's mother. But after a while Anna went on the mend.

Family of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Both Mozart children from an early age showed a love for music and excellent abilities for it. When her father began teaching Nannerl to play the harpsichord, her younger brother was only about three years old. However, the sounds heard during the lessons excited the little boy so much that since then he often approached the instrument, pressed the keys and picked up pleasant-sounding harmonies. Moreover, he could even play fragments of musical works that he had heard before.

Therefore, already at the age of four, Wolfgang began to receive his own harpsichord lessons from his father. However, the child soon got bored with learning minuets and pieces written by other composers, and at the age of five, young Mozart added to this type of activity the composition of his own small pieces. And at the age of six, Wolfgang mastered the violin, and with little or no outside help.

Nannerl and Wolfgang never went to school: Leopold gave them an excellent education at home. At the same time, young Mozart always immersed himself in the study of any subject with great zeal. For example, if it was about mathematics, then after several diligent studies by the boy, literally all surfaces in the room: from walls and floors to floors and chairs, were quickly covered with chalk inscriptions with numbers, tasks and equations.

Euro-trip

Already at the age of six, the "wonder child" played so well that he could give concerts. The voice of Nannerl became a wonderful addition to his inspired game: the girl sang just fine. Leopold Mozart was so impressed with the musical abilities of his children that he decided to go on long tours with them to various European cities and countries. He hoped that this journey would bring them great success and considerable profit.

The family visited Munich, Brussels, Cologne, Mannheim, Paris, London, The Hague, and several cities in Switzerland. The trip dragged on for many months, and after a short return to Salzburg, for years. During this time, Wolfgang and Nannel gave concerts to stunned audiences, as well as visiting opera houses and performances by famous musicians with their parents.

Young Wolfgang Mozart at the instrument

In 1764, the first four sonatas of the young Wolfgang, intended for violin and clavier, were published in Paris. In London, the boy was lucky for some time to learn from Johann Christian Bach (the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach), who immediately noted the genius of the child and, being a virtuoso musician, gave Wolfgang many useful lessons.

Over the years of wandering, the "miracle children", who already had far from the best health by nature, were quite tired. Their parents were also tired: for example, during the stay of the Mozart family in London, Leopold became very ill. Therefore, in 1766, the child prodigies, together with their parents, returned to their hometown.

Creative development

At the age of fourteen, Wolfgang Mozart, through the efforts of his father, went to Italy, which was amazed by the talent of the young virtuoso. Arriving in Bologna, he successfully took part in the original musical competitions of the Philharmonic Academy, along with musicians, many of whom were suitable for his fathers.

The skill of the young genius impressed the Academy of Constance so much that he was elected an academician, although usually this honorary status was assigned only to the most successful composers, whose age was at least 20 years old.

After returning to Salzburg, the composer threw himself into composing diverse sonatas, operas, quartets, and symphonies. The older he got, the more daring and original his works were, they looked less and less like the creations of musicians that Wolfgang admired in childhood. In 1772, fate brought Mozart together with Joseph Haydn, who became his main teacher and closest friend.

Wolfgang soon got a job at the archbishop's court, like his father. He had a large number of orders, but after the death of the old bishop and the arrival of a new one, the situation at court became much less pleasant. A breath of fresh air for the young composer was a trip to Paris and major German cities in 1777, which Leopold Mozart asked the archbishop for his gifted son.

At that time, the family faced quite severe financial difficulties, and therefore only the mother was able to go with Wolfgang. The grown-up composer again gave concerts, but his bold compositions did not look like the classical music of those times, and the grown-up boy no longer aroused delight with his appearance alone. Therefore, this time the public received the musician with much less cordiality. And in Paris, Mozart's mother died, exhausted by a long and unsuccessful trip. The composer returned to Salzburg.

Career heyday

Despite money problems, Wolfgang Mozart had long been dissatisfied with the way he was treated by the archbishop. Without doubting his musical genius, the composer was indignant at the fact that the employer regards him as a servant. Therefore, in 1781, spitting on all the laws of decency and persuasion of his relatives, he decided to leave the service of the archbishop and move to Vienna.

There the composer met Baron Gottfried van Steven, who at that time was the patron of musicians and had a large collection of works by Handel and Bach. On his advice, Mozart tried to create music in the Baroque style in order to enrich his work. Then Mozart tried to get a position as a music teacher for Princess Elisabeth of Württemberg, but the emperor preferred singing teacher Antonio Salieri to him.

Wolfgang Mozart's creative career peaked in the 1780s. It was then that she wrote her most famous operas: The Marriage of Figaro, The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni. At the same time, the popular "Little Night Serenade" was written in four parts. At that time, the composer's music was in great demand, and he received the largest fees in his life for his work.

Unfortunately, the period of unprecedented creative upsurge and recognition for Mozart did not last too long. In 1787, his beloved father died, and soon his wife, Constance Weber, fell ill with a leg ulcer, and a lot of money was needed for the treatment of her wife.

The situation was worsened by the death of Emperor Joseph II, after which Emperor Leopold II ascended the throne. He, unlike his brother, was not a fan of music, so the composers of that time did not have to rely on the location of the new monarch.

Personal life

Mozart's only wife was Constance Weber, whom he met in Vienna (for the first time after moving to the city, Wolfgang rented a house from the Weber family).

Wolfgang Mozart and his wife

Leopold Mozart was against the marriage of his son to a girl, as he saw in this the desire of her family to find a "profitable match" for Constance. However, the wedding took place in 1782.

The composer's wife was pregnant six times, but few of the couple's children survived infancy: only Carl Thomas and Franz Xaver Wolfgang survived.

Death

In 1790, when Constance again went for treatment, and the financial condition of Wolfgang Mozart became even more unbearable, the composer decided to give several concerts in Frankfurt. The famous musician, whose portrait at that time became the personification of progressive and immensely beautiful music, was greeted with a bang, but the fees from the concerts turned out to be too small and did not justify Wolfgang's hopes.

In 1791, the composer had an unprecedented creative upsurge. At this time, Symphony 40 came out from under his pen, and shortly before his death, the unfinished Requiem.

In the same year, Mozart became very ill: he was tormented by weakness, the composer's legs and arms were swollen, and soon he began to faint from sudden bouts of vomiting. Wolfgang's death occurred on December 5, 1791, its official cause being rheumatic inflammatory fever.

However, to this day, some believe that the cause of Mozart's death was poisoning by the then-famous composer Antonio Salieri, who, alas, was not at all as brilliant as Wolfgang. Part of the popularity of this version is dictated by the corresponding "little tragedy" written by . However, no confirmation of this version has been found so far.

• The composer's real name is Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus (Gottlieb) Mozart, but he himself always demanded that he be called Wolfgang.

Wolfgang Mozart. Last lifetime portrait

• During the great tour of the young Mozarts in Europe, the family ended up in Holland. Then there was a fast in the country, and music was banned. An exception was made only for Wolfgang, considering his talent a gift from God.
• Mozart was buried in a common grave, where several more coffins were located: the financial situation of the family at that time was so difficult. Therefore, the exact burial place of the great composer is still unknown.