The Mozart Effect: A Biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
I pay no attention whatever to anybody’s praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, otherwise known as the Genius Composer, was born on January 27, 1756 in Austria. He was the sole surviving son of Leopold and Maria. Mozart’s father was a successful composer, violinist. Mozart grew up with his sister, Maria Anna.
Music played an integral part of Mozarts and Maria’s life, as their father had encouraged them to play from a very young age. The strict education by their father had made out the siblings to become well disciplined and knowledgeable on the music. They had begun their European Tours to courts of Paris, London and Zurich where they performed as child prodigies. Mozart and his sister met many renowned musicians during this trip.
Unfortunately, in December 1769, when Mozart was 13, Maria Anna’s career had a drop. She was nearing marriageable marriage and the customs required her to not show her artistic talents. If times were different, Anna would have served as a great rival to Mozart later on.
Mozart’s ambitions grew as his age increased. He had hopped over multiple jobs and eventually stayed as a court organist in Salzburg after his mother’s death in 1778. This also did not last very long, as he left the job very quickly over a quarrel with the ArchBishop and then settled in Vienna with his friends.
Mozart quickly found work in Vienna, taking on pupils, writing music for publication, and playing in several concerts. He also began writing an opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio). At the age of 25, Mozart wished to marry Constanze, his future wife. However, there were hurdles for the future couple, and it came in the form of Mozart’s father, who disapproved the marriage in the beginning. The couple eventually married on August 4, 1782. They had 6 children, although only two survived infancy.
The Opera Die Entführung garnered immediate attention and boosted Mozart’s fame throughout Europe. The fame naturally brought enough money for the couple to live a lavish lifestyle.
The year 1784, marked the highlight in Mozart’s performance life. He appeared in 22 concerts in the span of 5 weeks. His fame had only grown from that point on. Historians depict that Mozart had begun creating a catalog of his own music. The fame had also affected the Mozart Family bad, their uncontrolled spendings took a toll on their financial position. This was because Mozart felt like he should live like a noble to relate to them.
Toward the end of 1785, Mozart met the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, a Venetian composer and poet and together they collaborated on the opera The Marriage of Figaro. It received a successful premiere in Vienna in 1786 and was even more warmly received in Prague later that year. This triumph led to a second collaboration with Da Ponte on the opera Don Giovanni which premiered in 1787
Mozart died on December 5, 1791, at age 35. The cause of death is uncertain, due to the limits of postmortem diagnosis. His death had only gathered a few mourners as only the death of the noble’s had public mournings.
