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| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
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Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, b.
Salzburg, Jan. 27, 1756, d. Vienna, Dec. 5, 1791, composer, among J.
Haydn and L. van Beethoven key figure of Viennese Classicism.
Received musical and general instruction from his father Leopold
Mozart from the age of four. M. and his sister Maria Anna Mozart
performed as infant prodigies, for the first time in 1761 in
Salzburg. In January 1762 went on his first musical tour to Munich,
his second (Sept. to Dec. 1762) |
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took him to Passau, Linz and Vienna
(on the occasion of which he also performed in Pressburg (Bratislava).
While in Vienna also performed at the court of Maria Theresia, who was
charmed by his playing and wit. From June 1763 performed in Paris and
London, and for German princes. On journeys to Paris from November 1763
to April 1764 and to London in 1765 had contact with contemporary
composers. In London met J. S. Bach, whose compositions impressed him
very much. Meanwhile the first M. sonatas went into print in Paris. the
immense success of his first musical tour to Paris, however, remained
unrepeated. During his musical tours M. had begun to compose more and
now aimed to establish himself as a composer in Salzburg. composed
"Apollo und Hyacinthus" for Salzburg University and the first act of the
oratorio "Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots". During his 2nd stay in
Vienna, from September 1767 to January 1769, M. presented his Orphanage
mass ("Waisenhausmesse"), which was very successful, and staged "Bastien
und Bastienne" in the home of the famous doctor F. A. Mesmer, but failed
to impress the court. Although recommended by C. W. Gluck, the court
rejected his opera buffa "La finta semplice" for production. This was
first performed in 1769 in Salzburg.
After nearly one year in Salzburg, M. and his father Leopold, who had
meanwhile been appointed kapellmeister by the archbishop of Salzburg,
set out on extensive travels in Italy late in 1769. This, however, was
no longer the musical tour of a child prodigy but a conventional concert
tour of the time; M. performed in the concert halls of major cities and
in the homes of the aristocracy, always hoping to receive commissions.
met N. Piccini, G. B. Sammartini, Padre G. B. Martini, who highly
approved of his musical performance, and the castrati C. Farinelli and
G. Manzuoli. In Rome was awarded a knightship in the Order of the Golden
Spur, (Gluck and C. Ditters von Dittersdorf also received honours, but
lower than a knightship, from the order). In October 1770 M.´s "Mitridate,
Rè di Ponto" was received with great acclaim in Milan (22 performances).
In March 1771 M. returned to Salzburg with a few commissions for Padua,
Venice and Milan, only to return to Italy five months later. During his
stay, until December 1771, composed the oratorio "La betulia liberata"
for Padua and the serenata "Ascanio in Alba" for Milan. on his third
trip to Italy from October 1772 to March 1773 "Lucio Silla" was
performed in Milan.
Shortly after M. returned from Italy Sigismund von Schrattenbach, Prince
archbishop of Salzburg, died. His successor, Count Hieronymus Colloredo,
became the new patron of the M. family and M. composed "Il sogno di
Scipione" for his accession ceremony. compared to his predecessor,
Hieronymus was less "baroque" in attitude and taste and a more typical
representative of the Age of Enlightenment, favouring the reforms of the
time. |
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Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart - 1790
Painting by Johann Georg Edlinger |
Mozart in Verona - 1770.
Painting by Dalla Rosa |
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For the next few years M. was to stay in
Salzburg, except for a few trips to Vienna and Munich. during these
years in Salzburg M. developed his full power of orchestration and
style. He was inspired by his meeting with J. Haydn in Vienna, and the
rise of Viennese Classicism. As his position in Salzburg required, M.
composed church music, but there was a gradual shift in interest towards
instrumental music (symphonies, concertos, serenades).
His last extensive concert tour to Paris from September 1777 to January
1779 was less successful than expected and above all overshadowed by his
mother´s death on March 3, 1778. On his return, M. who had hoped for a
paid position, lost his post at Salzburg after a quarrel with the
archbishop. Even though his father was able to arrange for him to be
readmitted to court, M.´s refusal to accept the conditions of his
contract foreshadowed future conflicts. In 1780/81 M. composed "Idomeneo",
a commissioned work for Munich. From March 1781 M. spent most of his
time in Vienna, the conflict with the archbishop finally culminating in
M.´s dismissal in June 1681.
The Vienna years proved very successful for M. As he wrote to his father,
Vienna just was the place to be, and he could pick and choose his pupils.
M. composed frantically, with the effect that nearly half of all his
works were composed during his ten years in Vienna. He soon gained a
high reputation as an organizer of concerts, sometimes for subscribers
only, and also as a conductor, pianist and composer. The success of "Die
Entführung aus dem Serail" in July 1782 won him a high reputation at the
Vienna imperial court. In 1782, against the wishes of his father, M.
married Konstanze Weber, the younger sister of his first love Aloysia.
The relationship between father and son had been troubled ever since
M.´s dismissal in Salzburg. Over the next three years M. composed piano
and chamber music, including the famous six string quartets dedicated to
J. Haydn, and the piano concertos which proved especially popular in
Vienna.
From 1784/85 M. worked with the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte and
dedicated most of his energies to composing operas. "Le Nozze di
Figaro", composed in 1785/86 and "Don Giovanni", composed in 1787, were
very successful in both Vienna and Prague. Around this time M. also
composed his last symphonies (among them the "Jupiter" Symphony),
numerous works for piano (mostly sonatas) and pieces of chamber music,
among them "Eine kleine Nachtmusik" and "Musikalischer Spaß".
In November 1787 M. was employed as "Kammercompositor" to the emperor,
which meant recognition as an artist, a high social reputation and,
finally, a regular income. The last three years of his life (1789-1791)
were artistically and financially successful. His debts grew rapidly
however, as a result of M.´s spendthrift ways and his wife´s lack of
financial sense. Her extensive trips to the fashionable resort Baden
were only one example of the generally expensive life style that was way
beyond their means. On his return from a trip through Germany with
Prince Lichnowsky, M. composed "Così fan tutte", again with da Ponte. M.
was honoured with a commission to compose an opera for the coronation of
Leopold II in Prague. In "Titus" M. aspired to bring together the
baroque tradition of the festive opera and contemporary trends, which in
the eyes of the court turned out a failure. His opera "Zauberflöte" ("The
Magic Flute") first staged around the same time was, however, met with
acclaim.
From summer 1791 M. had not been well. In December 1791 his condition
deteriorated and he died within a few days. M. could not finish the
requiem commissioned by count F. Walsegg-Stuppach, and M.´s wife
Konstanze commissioned J. L. von Eybler and F. X. Süßmayer to finish it.
Süßmayer´s version proved more successful.
M. left two children, Karl (1784-1858), who made the Mozarteum Salzburg
his universal heir, and Wolfgang (1791-1844), who became a composer,
pianist and kapellmeister. M. was buried in a paupers´ grave (in
accordance with the regulations of the time) in St. Marx cemetery. Later,
the exact position of his grave could not be located exactly, so a grave
stone was erected in the section of the Zentralfriedhof among the graves
of honour.
From his very early childhood M.´s musical talents were encouraged by
his father, one of the best music teachers of his time. It was
particularly his travels that inspired M. and helped him develop his
full compositorial power. M. received very little traditional musical
instruction and always had certain weaknesses in handling counter point.
It was not until his time in Vienna that his extensive studies of G. F.
Handel´s oratorios and the music of J. Haydn and G. van Swieten helped
M. make up for the lack of traditional musical instruction in his youth.
As with most of his contemporaries, the composing itself did not take
much time. However, the long-cherished belief that M. composed "in his
head" and without premeditation has been proven a myth by recent
research.
M.´s musical development reflects the change in musical styles from the
galant and sensitive style to the pre-classical and classical periods on
the one hand and the skilful combination of French, Italian and local
styles on the other, a development also evident in Haydn´s work.
Recent historical research into M.´s life has changed the traditional M.
image, a myth established by Konstanze and her second husband G. Nissen,
whose idealized image of M. survived well into the 20th century.
M. monuments in Salzburg (1842), Vienna (1896, by V. Tilgner, originally
near the state opera, since 1955 in the Burggarten park) and Graz
(Stadtpark, 1936). M. fountain (Magic Flute Fountain, 1905) in Vienna's
fourth district. |
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© Ton: Otto Preiser & Co. Ges. m. b. H.,
Fischerstiege 9/4, A-1010 Wien, CD-Nr. PR 90021. |
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