Del.icio.usWolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Fact Sheet
| Occupation | Composer |
| Musical genre: | Classical |
| Birthday | 27 January 1756 |
| Sign | Aquarius |
| Birthplace | Salzburg, Austria |
| Date of death | December 5, 1791 (age 35) |
Mozart was born in Salzburg, part of the independent clerical state Erzfürstbistum Salzburg, Holy Roman Empire (in present-day Austria) and christened Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, after his grandfather on his mother's side and after the Saint on his date of birth, John Chrysostom. Later, his father shortened 'Wolfgangus' to 'Wolfgang'; translated 'Theophilus' to 'Amadeus' (God's beloved); and dropped off 'Johannes Chrysostomus.' Mozart himself often enjoyed making small changes to his name, in particular his middle name. Only on very rare occasions did he use the familiar Amadeus, which is most common today, much preferring the French version of his name, "Amadé". He was also known to occasionally use the Italian "Amadeo" and the German "Gottlieb," in addition to sometimes spelling his name backwards.
A prodigy from a musical family, he began composing at the age of five. His father Leopold Mozart was a well-known violin teacher and composer. He was also a harsh parent who took advantage of Mozart by showcasing him as a wunderkind (wonderchild) in the courts of Europe. His sister, Maria Anna, nicknamed "Nannerl", was a talented pianist, and often accompanied her younger brother on Leopold's tours. Mozart wrote a number of piano pieces, in particular duets and pieces for two pianos, to play with her. Once Mozart became ill, and Leopold expressed more concern over the loss of income than over Mozart himself. The cold weather and constant travel may have contributed to his later illness.
During his young years, Mozart completed several journeys in Europe, beginning with an exhibition in 1762 at the Court of the Prince of Bavaria in Munich, then in the same year at the imperial Court in Vienna. Then a long concert tour (three and a half years) took him - with his father Leopold - to the courts of Munich, Manheim, Paris, London, The Hague, again in Paris and back home via Zurich, Donaueschingen, Munich. They went to Vienna again in late 1767 and remained there until December 1768. After one year spent in Salzburg, three trips to Italy followed (December 1769-March 1771, August-December 1771, October 1772-March 1773). During the first of these trips he met in Bologna G.B. Martini, and was accepted as a member of the famous Accademia Filarmonica. In September 1777 Mozart began a tour of Europe, accompanied only by his mother, that took them to Munich, Manheim and Paris (where she died). In 1781, he finally settled in Vienna, where, on August 4, 1782, he married Constanze Weber, against his father's wishes.
During his trips, Mozart met a great number of musicians, and knew the works of other great composers (among them J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel, F.J.Haydn). Even non-musicians caught his attention: he was so taken by the sound created by Benjamin Franklin's Glass Harmonica, he composed several pieces of music for it.
As an adult, he became a Freemason and worked fervently and successfully to convert his father before his death, in 1787. His late opera The Magic Flute includes Masonic themes and meanings. He was in the same masonic lodge as Joseph Haydn.
Mozart had a difficult life. Often he received no payment for his work, and what sums he did receive were consumed by an extravagant lifestyle. He and Constanze had 6 children, only 2 of whom survived infancy (neither child, Karl Thomas [1784 - 1858] or Franz Xaver Wolfgang [1791 - 1844], married or had children). Gradually, his health declined, until he finally died of what is presumed to have been mercury poisoning while being treated for syphilis. He did not complete his last work, a requiem.
In popular legend, Mozart died penniless and forgotten, buried in a pauper's grave. In fact, although he was no longer as fashionable in Vienna as he had once been, he continued to receive substantial commissions from more distant parts of Europe, Prague in particular. Many of his begging letters survive, but they are evidence not of poverty but of his ability to always spend more than he earned. He was buried in a mass grave, not due to his family's inability to pay for a proper burial, but under orders of the Emperor to combat an outbreak of the bubonic plague.
Mozart spent his final years in Vienna, where one of the apartments he lived in is still to be visited at Domgasse 5 behind St. Stephen's Cathedral. In this house Mozart composed Le nozze di Figaro in 1786. Mozart lived just a little over half of Beethoven's life span, yet was amazingly prolific musically from early childhood until his death in 1791.
In 1809, Constanze married Danish diplomat Georg Nikolaus von Nissen (1761 - 1826). A Mozart fanatic, he edited vulgar passages out of many of the composer's letters, and wrote a Mozart biography.