Biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart's birthplace at Getreidegasse 9, Salzburg, Austria
Family and early years
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born to Leopold and Anna Maria Pertl Mozart in Getreidegasse 9 in Salzburg, the capital of the sovereign Archbishopric of Salzburg, in what is now Austria, then part of the Holy Roman Empire. His only sibling who survived past birth was his sister Maria Anna (1751–1829), called "Nannerl". Wolfgang was baptized the day after his birth at St. Rupert's Cathedral. The baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. Mozart generally called himself "Wolfgang Amadè Mozart"[2][page # needed] as an adult, but there were many variants.
Mozart's father Leopold Mozart (1719–1787) was deputy Kapellmeister to the court orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg and a minor composer. He was also an experienced teacher; in the year of Mozart's birth he published a successful violin textbook, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.


Anonymous portrait of the child Mozart, possibly by Pietro Antonio Lorenzoni; painted in 1763 on commission from Leopold
When Nannerl was seven, Leopold began giving her keyboard lessons. The three-year old Mozart looked on, evidently with fascination: his sister later recorded that at this age "he often spent much time at the clavier [keyboard], picking out thirds, [...] and his pleasure showed it sounded good [to him]."[3] Nannerl continued: "in the fourth year of his age his father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and pieces at the clavier. [...] he could play it faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time. [...] At the age of five he was already composing little pieces, which he played to his father who wrote them down."[3] Among them were the Andante (K. 1a) and Allegro in C (K. 1b).
Biographer Maynard Solomon[4] notes that while Leopold was a very devoted teacher to his children, there is evidence that Wolfgang was motivated to make progress even beyond what his father was teaching him. His first independent (and ink-spattered) composition, and his initial ability to play the violin, were both his own doing and were a great surprise to Leopold. The father and son seem to have been close; both of the precocious episodes just mentioned brought tears to Leopold's eyes.[5]
Leopold eventually gave up composing when his son's outstanding musical talents became evident.[6] He was Wolfgang's only teacher in his earliest years. He taught his children languages and academic subjects as well as music.[4]


The Mozart family on tour: Leopold, Wolfgang, and Nannerl. Watercolor by Carmontelle, ca. 1763[7]

1762–1773: Years of travel
During Mozart's formative years, his family made several European journeys in which the children were exhibited as child prodigies. These began with an exhibition in 1762 at the Court of the Elector of Bavaria in Munich, then in the same year at the Imperial Court in Vienna and Prague. A long concert tour spanning three and a half years followed, taking the family to the courts of Munich, Mannheim, Paris, London, The Hague, again to Paris, and back home via Zürich, Donaueschingen, and Munich. During this trip Mozart met a great number of musicians and acquainted himself with the works of other composers. A particularly important influence was Johann Christian Bach, who met Mozart in London in 1764–65. The family again went to Vienna in late 1767 and remained there until December 1768.
These trips were often arduous, because of the primitive conditions of travel at that time,[8] the need to wait patiently for invitations and reimbursement from the nobility,[9] and long, near-fatal illnesses endured far from home: first Leopold (London, summer 1764)[10] then the two children (The Hague, fall 1765)[11]
After one year in Salzburg, Leopold and Wolfgang left for Italy, leaving Wolfgang's mother and sister at home. This journey took from December 1769 to March 1771, and like earlier journeys had the purpose of displaying the now-teenaged Mozart's abilities as a performer and as a rapidly maturing composer. Mozart met G.B. Martini in Bologna, and was accepted as a member of the famous Accademia Filarmonica. In Rome he heard Gregorio Allegri's Miserere once in performance in the Sistine Chapel then wrote it out in its entirety from memory, only returning to correct minor errors; thus producing the first illegal copy of this closely-guarded property of the Vatican.
In Milan, Mozart wrote the opera Mitridate Rè di Ponto (1770), performed with success. This led to further opera commissions, and Wolfgang and Leopold returned twice from Salzburg to Milan (August-December 1771, October 1772-March 1773) for the composition and premieres of Ascanio in Alba (1771) and Lucio Silla (1772). Leopold hoped these visits would result in a professional appointment for his son in Italy, but these hopes were never fulfilled.[12]
Toward the end of the final Italian journey Mozart wrote the first of his works that is still widely performed today, the solo cantata "Exsultate, jubilate", K. 165.
1773–1777: The Salzburg court
Following his final return with his father from Italy (13 March 1773), Mozart was employed as a court musician by the ruler of Salzburg Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo. Mozart was a favorite son in Salzburg, where he had a great number of friends and admirers,[13] and he had the opportunity to compose in many genres, including symphonies, sonatas, string quartets, serenades, and the occasional opera. Some of the works he produced during this early period are widely performed today. For instance, during the period between April and December of 1775, Mozart developed an enthusiasm for violin concertos, producing a series of five (the only ones he ever wrote), steadily increasing in their musical sophistication. The last three (K. 216, K. 218, K. 219) are now staples of the repertoire. In 1776 he produced a series of piano concertos, culminating in the E flat concerto K. 271 of early 1777, considered by critics to be a breakthrough work.[14]
Despite these artistic successes, Mozart gradually grew more discontented with Salzburg and made increasingly strenuous efforts to find a position elsewhere. The reason seems to be in part his low salary, 150 florins per year.[15] In addition, Mozart longed to compose operas, and Salzburg provided at best rare occasions for opera productions. The situation became worse in 1775 when the court theater was closed, and the other theater in Salzburg was largely reserved for visiting troupes.[16]
Two long job-hunting expeditions interrupted this long Salzburg stay: Wolfgang and Leopold (they were both looking) visited Vienna from 14 July to 26 September 1773 and Munich from 6 December 1774 to March 1775. Neither visit was successful, though the Munich journey resulted in a popular success with the premiere of Mozart's opera La finta giardiniera.[17]
1777–1778: The Paris journey


Family portrait from about 1780 by Johann Nepomuk della Croce: Nannerl, Wolfgang, Leopold. On the wall is a portrait of Mozart's mother, who had died in 1778.
In August 1777, Mozart resigned his Salzburg position[18] and embarked (23 September) on yet another job-hunting tour, with visits to Augsburg, Mannheim, Paris, and Munich.[19] Since Archbishop Colloredo would not give Leopold leave to travel, Mozart's mother Anna Maria was assigned to accompany him.
In Mannheim Mozart became acquainted with members of the Mannheim orchestra, the best in Europe at the time. He also fell in love with Aloysia Weber, one of four daughters in a musical family. There were some prospects of employment in Mannheim, but eventually they failed to pan out, and Mozart left for Paris (14 March 1778)[20] in order to continue his search. His luck there was hardly better; one of his letters home indicates what may have been a job offer as organist at Versailles, but it was a job Mozart did not want.[21] He eventually fell into debt and took to pawning valuables.[22] The nadir of the visit occurred when Mozart's mother took ill and died (23 June 1778);[23] There had been delays in calling a doctor, which Halliwell speculates may have been due to lack of funds.[24]
While Wolfgang was in Paris Leopold was energetically pursuing opportunities for him back home in Salzburg,[25] and with the support of the local nobility obtained a better post for him, as court organist and concertmaster, at a pay of 450 florins.[26] However, Wolfgang was reluctant to take up this position,[27] and after departing from Paris (26 September 1778) he tarried in Mannheim, then Munich, still hoping to find a job outside Salzburg. In Munich he encountered Aloysia again, now a very successful singer, who made it plain to Mozart that she was no longer interested in him.[28]
Mozart finally reached home on 15 January 1779 and took up his new position. His discontent with Salzburg continued.
Among the better known works that Mozart wrote on the Paris journey are the A minor piano sonata, K. 310/300d, from 1778; and the "Paris" Symphony (no. 31), performed in Paris on the 12th and 18th of June, 1778.[29]


Mozart in 1777. Portrait requested by Padre Martini for his gallery.
1781: Departure to Vienna
In January 1781, Mozart's opera Idomeneo, premiered with "considerable success" (New Grove) in Munich. The following March, the composer was summoned to Vienna, where his employer, Prince-Archbishop Colloredo of Salzburg, was attending the celebrations for the installation of the Emperor Joseph II. Mozart, who had just experienced success in Munich, was offended when Colloredo treated him as a mere servant, and particularly when the Archbishop forbade him to perform before the Emperor at Countess Thun's (for a fee that would have been fully half of his Salzburg salary). In May the resulting quarrel intensified: Mozart attempted to resign, and was refused. The following month, however, the delayed permission was granted, but in a grossly insulting way: Mozart was dismissed literally "with a kick in the ass", administered by the Archbishop's steward, Count Arco. In the meantime, Mozart had been noticing opportunities to earn a good living in Vienna, and he felt he ought to settle there and develop his own freelance career.[30]
The quarrel with the Archbishop was made harder for Mozart by the fact that his father took the Archbishop's side: hoping fervently that his son would come home when Colloredo returned, his father exchanged emotionally intense letters with Wolfgang, urging him to reconcile with their employer. Wolfgang passionately defended his intention to pursue his career alone in Vienna. The debate ended when Mozart was dismissed, freeing himself both of his oppressive employer and of his father's demands to return. Solomon thus characterizes Mozart's resignation as a "revolutionary step," and it greatly altered the course of his future life.[31]
Early Vienna years
Mozart's new career in Vienna began very well. He performed often as a pianist, notably in a competition before the Emperor with Muzio Clementi, 24 December 1781,[30] and according to the New Grove, he soon "had established himself as the finest keyboard player in Vienna."[30] Mozart also prospered as a composer: during 1781–1782 he wrote the opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail ("The Abduction from the Seraglio"), which premiered 16 July 1782 and achieved a huge success. The work was soon being performed "throughout German-speaking Europe",[30] and fully established Mozart's reputation as a composer.


1782 portrait of Constanze Mozart by Joseph Lange
Near the height of his quarrels with Archbishop Colloredo, Mozart moved in (1 May or 2 May 1781) with the Weber family, who had moved to Vienna from Mannheim. The father, Fridolin, had died, and the Webers were now taking in lodgers to make ends meet.[32] Aloysia, who had earlier rejected Mozart's suit, was now married to the actor Joseph Lange, and Mozart's interest shifted to the third daughter, Constanze. The couple were married, with father Leopold's "grudging consent" (New Grove), on 4 August 1782.[33] They had six children, of whom only two survived infancy: Karl Thomas (1784–1858) and Franz Xaver Wolfgang (1791–1844; later a minor composer himself).
During 1782–1783, Mozart became closely acquainted with the work of J. S. Bach and G.F. Handel as a result of the influence of Baron Gottfried van Swieten, who owned many manuscripts of works by the Baroque masters. Mozart's study of these works led first to a number of works imitating Baroque style and later had a powerful influence on his own personal musical language, for example the fugal passages in Die Zauberflöte ("The Magic Flute"), and in the finale of Symphony No. 41.
In 1783, Wolfgang and Constanze visited Wolfgang's family in Salzburg, but the visit was not a success, as Leopold and Nannerl were, at best, only polite to Constanze. However, the visit sparked the composition of one of Mozart's great liturgical pieces, the Mass in C Minor, which, though not completed, was premiered in Salzburg. Constanze sang in the premiere.[34]
Following his move to Vienna, Mozart met Joseph Haydn and the two composers became friends; see Haydn and Mozart. When Haydn visited Vienna, they sometimes played together in an impromptu string quartet. Mozart's six quartets dedicated to Haydn (K. 387, K. 421, K. 428, K. 458, K. 464, and K. 465) date from 1782–85, and are often judged to be his response to Haydn's Opus 33 set from 1781. Haydn stood in awe of Mozart; when he first heard the last three of Mozart's series, he told the visiting Leopold, "Before God and as an honest man I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name: He has taste, and, furthermore, the most profound knowledge of composition."
During the years 1782–1785, Mozart put on a series of concerts in which he appeared as soloist in his own piano concertos. He wrote three or four concertos for each concert season, and since space in the theaters was scarce, he booked unconventional venues: a large room in the Trattnerhof, an apartment building; and the ballroom of the Mehlgrube, a restaurant.[35] The concerts were very popular, and the concertos Mozart composed for them are considered among his finest works. Solomon writes that during this period Mozart created "a harmonious connection between an eager composer-performer and a delighted audience, which was given the opportunity of witnessing the transformation and perfection of a major musical genre".[35]
With the substantial money Mozart earned in his concerts and elsewhere, he and Constanze adopted a rather plush lifestyle. They moved to an expensive apartment, with a rent of 460 florins.[36] Mozart also bought a fine fortepiano from Anton Walter for about 900 florins, and a billiards table for about 300.[36] The Mozarts also sent their son Karl Thomas to an expensive boarding school[37][38] and kept servants. These choices inhibited saving, and were the partial cause of a stressful financial situation for the Mozart family a few years later.[39][40]
On 14 December 1784, Mozart became a Freemason, admitted to the lodge "Zur Wohltätigkeit" ("Beneficence").[41] Freemasonry played an important role in the remainder of Mozart's life; he attended many meetings, a number of his friends were Masons, and on various occasions he composed Masonic music. For details see: Mozart and Freemasonry.
1786–1787: Return to opera
Despite the great success of Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Mozart did little writing of operas during the years that followed it, producing only two unfinished works and the one-act Der Schauspieldirektor. He focused instead on his career as a piano soloist and writer of concertos. However, around the end of 1785, Mozart reshifted his focus again. He ceased to write piano concertos on a regular basis,[42][page # needed] and began his famous operatic collaboration with the librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. 1786 saw the Vienna premiere of The Marriage of Figaro, which was quite successful in Vienna and even more so in a Prague production later the same year. The Prague success led to a commission for a second Mozart-Da Ponte opera, Don Giovanni, which premiered 1787 to acclaim in Prague and was also produced, with some success, in Vienna in 1788. Both operas are considered among Mozart's most important works and are mainstays of the operatic repertoire today; their musical complexity caused difficulty for both listeners and performers alike at their premieres.
In December 1787 Mozart finally obtained a steady post under aristocratic patronage. Emperor Joseph II appointed him as his "chamber composer", a post vacated the previous month when Gluck died. It was a part-time job, however. It paid only 800 florins per year, and merely required Mozart to compose dances for the annual balls in the Redoutensaal. Mozart complained to Constanze that the pay was "too much for what I do, too little for what I could do".[43] However, even this much proved important to Mozart later on when hard times arrived. Court records show that Joseph's intent was explicitly to help make sure that Mozart, whom he esteemed, did not leave Vienna to seek better prospects elsewhere.[43]
In 1787, the young Ludwig van Beethoven traveled to Vienna for two weeks in hopes of studying with Mozart. The evidence for what happened during this visit is conflicting, and at least three hypotheses are in play: that Mozart heard Beethoven play and praised him, that Mozart rejected Beethoven as a student, and that they never even met. (See: Mozart and Beethoven.)


Drawing of Mozart in silverpoint, made by Dora Stock during Mozart's visit to Dresden, April 1789
1788–1790
Toward the end of the decade, Mozart's career declined.
Around 1786 he had ceased to appear frequently in public concerts, and his income dropped.[44] This was in general a difficult time for musicians in Vienna because Austria was at war, and both the general level of prosperity and the ability of the aristocracy to support music had declined.[45][page # needed]
By mid-1788, Mozart and his family moved from central Vienna to cheaper lodgings in the suburb of Alsergrund.[44] Mozart began to borrow money, most often from his friend and fellow Mason Michael Puchberg; "a dismal series of begging letters" (New Grove) survives. Maynard Solomon and others have suggested that Mozart suffered from depression at this time, and it seems his output rate sank somewhat.[46] The major works of the period include the last three symphonies (1788: 39, 40, 41; it is not certain whether these were performed in Mozart's lifetime), and the last of the three Da Ponte operas, Cosi fan tutte, premiered 1790.
During this time Mozart made long journeys hoping to improve his fortunes: a visit in spring of 1789 to Leipzig, Dresden, and Berlin (see: Mozart's Berlin journey), and a 1790 visit to Frankfurt, Mannheim, and other German cities. The trips produced only isolated success and did not solve Mozart's financial problems.
1791
Mozart's last year was, until his final illness struck, one of great productivity and (in the view of Maynard Solomon) personal recovery.[47] During this time Mozart wrote a great deal of music, including some of his most admired works: the opera The Magic Flute, the final piano concerto (K. 595 in B flat), the Clarinet Concerto K. 622, the last in his great series of string quintets (K. 614 in E flat), the motet Ave verum corpus K. 618, and the unfinished Requiem K. 626.
Mozart's financial situation, which in 1790 was the source of extreme anxiety to him, also began to improve. Although the evidence is uncertain[48] it appears that admiring wealthy patrons in Hungary and in Amsterdam pledged annuities to Mozart, in return for the occasional composition. Mozart also probably made considerable money from the sale of dance music that he wrote for his job as Imperial chamber composer.[48] He ceased to borrow large sums from Puchberg and made a start on paying off his debts.[48]
Lastly, Mozart experienced great satisfaction in the public success of some his works, notably The Magic Flute (performed many times even during the short period between its premiere and Mozart's death)[49] and the Little Masonic Cantata K. 623, premiered 15 November 1791.[50]
Final illness and death
Main article: Death of Mozart


Posthumous painting by Barbara Krafft in 1819
Mozart fell ill while in Prague, for the 6 September premiere of his opera La clemenza di Tito, written in 1791 on commission for the coronation festivities of the Emperor.[51] He was able to continue his professional functions for some time, for instance conducting the premiere of The Magic Flute on 30 September. The illness intensified on 20 November, at which point Mozart became bedridden, suffering from swelling, pain, and vomiting.
Mozart was tended in his final illness by Constanze, her youngest sister Sophie, and the family doctor, Thomas Franz Closset. There is evidence that he was mentally occupied with the task of finishing his Requiem. However, the evidence that he actually dictated passages to Süssmayr is very slim.[52][53]
Mozart died at 1 in the morning on 5 December. The New Grove describes his funeral thus: "Mozart was buried in a common grave, in accordance with contemporary Viennese custom, at the St Marx cemetery outside the city on 7 December. If, as later reports say, no mourners attended, that too is consistent with Viennese burial customs at the time; later Jahn (1856) wrote that Salieri, Süssmayr, van Swieten and two other musicians were present. The tale of a storm and snow is false; the day was calm and mild."[44]
The cause of Mozart's death cannot be determined with certainty. His death record listed "hitziges Frieselfieber" ("severe miliary fever", referring to a rash that looks like millet seeds), a description that does not suffice to identify the cause as it would be diagnosed in modern medicine. Dozens of theories have been proposed, including trichinosis, influenza, mercury poisoning, and a rare kidney ailment. The practice of bleeding medical patients, common at that time, is also cited as a contributing cause. However, the most widely accepted version is that he died of acute rheumatic fever; he had had three or even four known attacks of it since his childhood, and this particular disease has a tendency to recur, leaving increasingly serious consequences each time, such as rampant infection and heart valve damage.[54]
Mozart's spare funeral did not reflect his standing with the public as a composer: memorial services and concerts in Vienna and Prague were well attended.[55] Indeed, during the period following his death, Mozart's musical reputation rose substantially; Solomon describes an "unprecedented wave of enthusiasm"[56] for his work. Biographies were written (initially by Schlichtegroll, Niemetschek, and Nissen), and publishers vied to produce complete editions of his works.[56]


Unfinished portrait of Mozart by his brother-in-law Joseph Lange
Portrait
See also: Mozart's compositional method and Mozart and Roman Catholicism
Mozart's physical appearance was described by tenor Michael Kelly, in his Reminiscences: "a remarkable small man, very thin and pale, with a profusion of fine, fair hair of which he was rather vain". His early biographer Niemetschek wrote, "there was nothing special about [his] physique [...] He was small and his countenance, except for his large intense eyes, gave no signs of his genius." His facial complexion was pitted, a reminder of his childhood case of smallpox. He loved elegant clothing: Kelly remembered him at a rehearsal: "[he] was on the stage with his crimson pelisse and gold-laced cocked hat, giving the time of the music to the orchestra". Of his voice Constanze later wrote that it "was a tenor, rather soft in speaking and delicate in singing, but when anything excited him, or it became necessary to exert it, it was both powerful and energetic."[57]
Mozart worked very hard, a great deal of the time, and finished works where necessary at a tremendous pace. When composing he often made sketches and drafts, though (unlike Beethoven's sketches) these are mostly not preserved, Constanze having destroyed them after his death.[58]
Mozart also enjoyed billiards and liked dancing. He kept pets (a canary, a starling and a dog), and kept a horse for recreational riding.[59]
He was raised Roman Catholic and remained a loyal member of the Catholic Church throughout his life.[60]
Mozart lived at the center of Viennese musical life, and knew a great number of people, including not just his fellow musicians, but also theatrical performers, fellow transplanted Salzburgers, and many aristocrats, including a fairly close acquaintance with the Emperor, Joseph II. Mozart had a considerable number of friends, of whom Solomon estimates the three closest were Gottfried Janequin, Count August Hatzfeld, and Sigmund Barisani. Others included the singers Franz Xaver Gerl and Benedikt Schack, Haydn (mentioned above), and the horn player Joseph Leutgeb. Leutgeb and Mozart carried on a curious kind of friendly mockery, often with Leutgeb as the butt of Mozart's practical jokes.[61]
Particularly in his youth, Mozart had a striking fondness for scatological and sexual humor, which is preserved in his many surviving letters, notably those written to his cousin Maria Anna Thekla Mozart around 1777–1778, but also in his correspondence with his sister Nannerl.[62] Mozart even wrote scatological music, the canon "Leck mich im Arsch" (literally "Lick me in the arse", sometimes idiomatically translated "Kiss my arse" or "Get stuffed") K. 231