Born inSalzburg, Mozart quickly emerged as achild prodigy under the training of his fatherLeopold, a skilled pedagogue. At age five, he was already competent on keyboard and violin, had begun to compose, and had performed before European royalty. His father took him ona grand tour of Europe and thenthree trips to Italy. At 17 he was a musician at the Salzburg court but grew restless and travelled in search of a better position. A fruitless journey in search of employment (1777-1779) led him to Paris,Mannheim, Munich, and eventually back to Salzburg. During this time he wrote his five violin concertos, theSinfonia Concertante, variousmasses, and the operaIdomeneo.
While he was visiting Vienna in 1781, Mozart's quarrels with his Salzburg employers came to a head and he was dismissed. He chose to remain in Vienna, where he stayed for the rest of his life, achieving fame and some financial success, but no long-term security. During Mozart's early years in Vienna he produced several notable works, such as the operaDie Entführung aus dem Serail, theGreat Mass in C minor, the"Haydn" Quartets and a number ofsymphonies. Throughout his Vienna years Mozart composed more than a dozenpiano concertos, many considered some of his greatest achievements.
Baptismal record showing him as "Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart"
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 toLeopold Mozart andAnna Maria, née Pertl, atGetreidegasse 9 in Salzburg.[1] Salzburg was the capital of theArchbishopric of Salzburg, an ecclesiastical principality within theHoly Roman Empire, located in what is now Austria.[c] He was the youngest of seven children, five of whom died in infancy. His elder sister wasMaria Anna Mozart, nicknamed "Nannerl". Mozart wasbaptised the day after his birth, atSt. Rupert's Cathedral in Salzburg. The baptismal record gives his name in Latinised form, asJoannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. He generally called himself "Wolfgang Amadè Mozart"[2] as an adult, but his namehad many variants.
When Nannerl was seven, she began keyboard lessons with her father, while her three-year-old brother looked on. Years later, after her brother's death, she reminisced:
He often spent much time at theclavier, picking out thirds, which he was ever striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good.... 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.[6]
Mozart family on tour: Leopold, Wolfgang, Nannerl; watercolour byCarmontelle,c. 1763[7]
Wolfgang's father was his only teacher. Along with music, he taught his children languages and academic subjects.[8] While Leopold was a devoted teacher to his children, there is evidence that Mozart was keen to progress beyond what he was taught:[8] his first ink-spattered composition and his precocious efforts with the violin were of his own initiative and came as a surprise to Leopold,[9] who eventually gave up composing when his son's musical talents became evident.[10]
While Wolfgang was young, his family made several European journeys in which he and Nannerl performed aschild prodigies. These began with an exhibition in 1762 at the court ofPrince-electorMaximilian III of Bavaria in Munich, and at the Imperial Courts in Vienna and Prague. A long concert tour followed, spanning three and a half years, taking the family to the courts of Munich,Mannheim, Paris, London, The Hague, Amsterdam, Utrecht, and again to Paris, and back home viaZürich,Donaueschingen, and Munich.[11] During this trip, Wolfgang met many musicians and acquainted himself with the works of other composers. A particularly significant influence wasJohann Christian Bach, whom he visited in London in 1764 and 1765. When he was eight years old, Mozart wrotehis first symphony, most of which was probably transcribed by his father.[12]
Mozart aged 14 in January 1770 (School of Verona, attributed toGiambettino Cignaroli)
The family trips were often challenging, and travel conditions were primitive.[13] They had to wait for invitations and reimbursement from the nobility, and they endured long, near-fatal illnesses far from home: first Leopold (London, summer 1764),[14] then both children (The Hague, autumn 1765).[15] The family again went to Vienna in late 1767 and remained there until December 1768.
After one year in Salzburg, Leopold and Wolfgang set off for Italy, leaving Anna Maria and Nannerl at home. This tour lasted from December 1769 to March 1771. As with earlier journeys, Leopold wanted to display his son's abilities as a performer and a rapidly maturing composer. Wolfgang metJosef Mysliveček andGiovanni Battista Martini inBologna and was accepted as a member of the famousAccademia Filarmonica. According to a letter Leopold wrote home to Salzburg, while in Rome Wolfgang heardGregorio Allegri'sMiserere twice in performance in theSistine Chapel. He subsequently wrote it out from memory, thus producing the "first unauthorised copy of this closely guarded property of theVatican". The details of this account are, however, disputed.[16][17][d][18]
In Milan, Mozart wrote the operaMitridate, re di Ponto (1770), which was performed with success. This led to further operacommissions. He returned with his father twice to Milan (August–December 1771; October 1772 – March 1773) for the composition and premieres ofAscanio in Alba (1771) andLucio Silla (1772). Leopold hoped these visits would result in a professional appointment for his son, and indeed rulingArchdukeFerdinand contemplated hiring Mozart, but owing to his motherEmpressMaria Theresa's reluctance to employ "useless people", the matter was dropped[e] and Leopold's hopes were never realised.[19]
Most of the music Mozart wrote at this early stage of his career is little known today, but there is one exception: toward the end of the last Italian journey, Mozart wrote the solomotetExsultate, jubilate,K.165 for thecastratoVenanzio Rauzzini; this work is a favorite for performance by sopranos today.
1773–1777: Employment at the Salzburg court
Tanzmeisterhaus, Salzburg, Mozart family residence from 1773; reconstructed in 1996
After finally returning with his father from Italy on 13 March 1773, Mozart was employed as a court musician by the ruler of Salzburg,Prince-ArchbishopHieronymus Colloredo. The composer had many friends and admirers in Salzburg[20] and had the opportunity to work in many genres, including symphonies, concertos, sonatas, string quartets,masses, serenades, and a few minor operas.
An important part of Mozart's output at this time was violin concertos: he wrote one in 1773 and four more in 1775. These are the only violin concertos he ever wrote, and through the series they increase in their musical sophistication. The last three—K. 216,K. 218,K. 219—are staples of the modern repertoire.
In 1776 he turned his efforts topiano concertos, culminating in the E♭ concertoK. 271 of early 1777, considered by critics to be a breakthrough work.[21]
Despite these artistic successes, Mozart grew increasingly discontented with Salzburg and redoubled his efforts to find a position elsewhere. One reason was his low salary, 150florins a year;[22] Mozart longed to compose operas, and Salzburg provided only rare occasions for these. The situation worsened in 1775 when the court theatre was closed, especially since the other theatre in Salzburg was primarily reserved for visiting troupes.[23]
Two long expeditions in search of work interrupted this long Salzburg stay. Mozart and his father visited Vienna from 14 July to 26 September 1773, and Munich from 6December 1774 to March 1775. Neither visit was successful, though the Munich journey resulted in a popular success with the premiere of Mozart's operaLa finta giardiniera.[24]
In August 1777 Mozart resigned his position at Salzburg[26][f] and on 23 September ventured out once more in search of employment, this time accompanied byhis mother, with visits to Munich,Augsburg, Mannheim, and Paris[27]
Maria Anna Thekla Mozart. Self-portrait in pencil from 1777 or 1778. Now in the Mozart-Museum in Salzburg.[28]
The first stop, in Munich, proved to offer Mozart no sort of permanent position, and the mother and son moved on to Augsburg on 11 October.[29] This was the city where Leopold had grown up, and still living there was Mozart's uncle Franz Aloys Mozart and his daughter, Mozart's first cousinMaria Anna Thekla Mozart. She and Mozart engaged in what Abert calls a "charming and innocent flirtation"[30] and Solomon treats as a more serious and more sexual encounter.[31] After Mozart departed Augburg, the two exchanged letters, of which Mozart's have survived. These are mostly devoid of news[32] and consistently silly. They contain some veiled sexual references, but mostly are scatological, with frequent mentions of what is translated in English as "muck". The letters have astonished, even dismayed, modern readers. While some scholars suggest some sort of mental disorder on the basis of Mozart's letters, cooler heads have noted the greater prevalence of scatological humor in Mozart's place and time, including among his own family members. For discussion, seeMozart and scatology.
Mozart and his mother reached Mannheim on 30 October.[33] There, Mozart became acquainted with members of thefamous orchestra in Mannheim, the best in Europe at the time. He also fell in love withAloysia Weber, one of four daughters of a musical family. There were prospects of employment in Mannheim, but they came to nothing,[34] and Mozart left for Paris on 14 March 1778[35] to continue his search. One of his letters from Paris hints at a possible post as an organist atVersailles, but Mozart was not interested in such an appointment.[36] He fell into debt and took to pawning valuables.[37] The nadir of the visit occurred when Mozart's mother was taken ill and died on 3July 1778.[38] There had been delays in calling a doctor—probably, according to Halliwell, because of a lack of funds.[39] Mozart stayed withMelchior Grimm atMarquise d'Épinay's residence, 5rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin.[40]
While Mozart was in Paris, his father was pursuing opportunities of employment for him in Salzburg.[41] With the support of the local nobility, Mozart was offered a post as court organist and concertmaster. The annual salary was 450 florins,[42] but he was reluctant to accept.[43] By that time, relations between Grimm and Mozart had cooled, and Mozart moved out. After leaving Paris in September 1778 forStrasbourg, he lingered in Mannheim and Munich, still hoping to obtain an appointment outside Salzburg. In Munich, he again encountered Aloysia, now a very successful singer, but she was no longer interested in him.[44] Mozart finally returned to Salzburg on 15 January 1779 and took up his new appointment, but his discontent with Salzburg remained undiminished.[45]
In January 1781 Mozart's operaIdomeneo premiered with "considerable success" in Munich.[48] The following March, Mozart was summoned to Vienna, where his employer, Archbishop Colloredo, was attending the celebrations for the accession ofJoseph II to the Austrian throne. For Colloredo, this was simply a matter of wanting his musical servant to be at hand (Mozart indeed was required to dine in Colloredo's establishment with the valets and cooks).[g] He planned a bigger career as he continued in the archbishop's service;[50] for example, he wrote to his father:
My main goal right now is to meet the emperor in some agreeable fashion, I am absolutely determined heshould get to know me. I would be so happy if I could whip through my opera for him and then play a fugue or two, for that's what he likes.[51]
Mozart did indeed soon meet the Emperor, who was to support his career substantially with commissions and a part-time position.[52]
In the same letter to his father just quoted, Mozart outlined his plans to participate as a soloist in the concerts of theTonkünstler-Societät, a prominent benefit concert series;[51] this plan as well came to pass after the local nobility prevailed on Colloredo to drop his opposition.[53]
Colloredo's wish to prevent Mozart from performing outside his establishment was in other cases carried through, raising the composer's anger; one example was a chance to perform before the Emperor atCountess Thun's for a fee equal to half of his yearly Salzburg salary.[citation needed]
The quarrel with the archbishop came to a head in May: Mozart attempted to resign and was refused. The following month, permission was granted, but in a grossly insulting way: the composer was dismissed literally "with a kick in the arse", administered by the archbishop's steward, Count Arco. Mozart decided to settle in Vienna as a freelance performer and composer.[54]
The quarrel with Colloredo was more difficult for Mozart because his father sided against him. Hoping fervently that he would obediently follow Colloredo back to Salzburg, Mozart's father exchanged intense letters with his son, urging him to reconcile with their employer. Mozart passionately defended his intention to pursue an independent career in Vienna. The debate ended when Mozart was dismissed by the archbishop, freeing himself both of his employer and of his father's demands to return. Solomon characterizes Mozart's resignation as a "revolutionary step" that significantly altered the course of his life.[55]
Early years
Mozart's new career in Vienna began well. He often performed as a pianist, notably in a competition before the Emperor withMuzio Clementi on 24 December 1781,[54] and he soon "had established himself as the finest keyboard player in Vienna".[54] He also prospered as a composer, and in 1782 completed the operaDie Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), which premiered on 16 July 1782 and achieved considerable success. The work was soon being performed "throughout German-speaking Europe",[54] and established Mozart's reputation as a composer.
Near the height of his quarrels with Colloredo, Mozart moved in with the Weber family, who had moved to Vienna from Mannheim. The family's father, Fridolin, had died, and the Webers were now taking in lodgers to make ends meet.[56] Mozart had previously wooed the second daughter of the family,Aloysia Weber, who was now a successful singer in Vienna, married to the actor and artistJoseph Lange. Mozart's interest shifted to the third daughter,Constanze. As his interest became clear, Constanze's motherCäcilia insisted that Mozart move out in the interest of propriety.
Mozart's courtship of Constanze did not go entirely smoothly; surviving correspondence indicates that the couple briefly broke up in April 1782, over an episode involving jealousy: Constanze had permitted another young man to measure her calves in a parlour game.[57] Mozart also faced a very difficult task getting permission for the marriage from his father.[58]
The marriage took place in an atmosphere of crisis. A letter from Mozart to Leopold from 31 July 1782 has been interpreted as suggesting that Constanze had moved in with him, which would have placed her in disgrace by the mores of the time.[59] Mozart wrote: "All the good and well-intentioned advice you have sent fails to address the case of a man who has already gone so far with a maiden. Further postponement is out of the question."[60]Heartz relates, "Constanze's sisterSophie had tearfully declared that her mother would send the police after Constanze if she did not return home [presumably from Mozart's apartment]."[60] On 4 August, Mozart wrote to Baroness von Waldstätten, asking: "Can the police here enter anyone's house in this way? Perhaps it is only a ruse of Madame Weber to get her daughter back. If not, I know no better remedy than to marry Constanze tomorrow morning or if possible today."[60] The couple were finally married on 4August 1782 inSt. Stephen's Cathedral, the day before his father's consenting letter arrived in the mail.
The couple had six children, of whom only two survived infancy:[61]
Eisen judges that the marriage was basically happy,[62] based in part on Mozart's letters to Constanze, which are generally very affectionate, often funny, and occasionally erotic.[63] There is one letter that suggests the family's precarious finances may have been a source of matrimonial tension. In a letter she wrote in old age Constanze described her marriage to Mozart as having been "completely happy."[64]
In 1783 Mozart and his wife visited his family in Salzburg, for the first and only time after their marriage. It is possible that the visit was tense, since Leopold had been sharply opposed to the marriage, and Mozart's sisterNannerl had evidently snubbed Constanze in correspondence.[65] Nannerl's diary records a busy agenda of socializing and tourism, but no information remains about how the family members got along.[66] The visit prompted the composition of one of Mozart's great liturgical pieces, theMass in C minor K. 527. Though not completed, it was premiered in Salzburg, with Constanze singing a solo part.[67]
Mozart metJoseph Haydn in Vienna around 1784, and the two composersbecame friends. When Haydn visited Vienna, they sometimes playedchamber music together with other friends. Mozart'ssix quartets dedicated to Haydn (K. 387, K. 421, K. 428, K. 458, K. 464, and K. 465) date from the period 1782 to 1785, and are judged to be a response toHaydn's Opus 33 set from 1781,[68] and are today considered key works of the string quartet literature. Both Haydn and Mozart's father Leopold (visiting from Salzburg) were present in 1785 at a gathering where three of the quartets were played, and Haydn remarked to Leopold, "I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute, he has taste and what is more the greatest skill in composition."[69]
From 1782 to 1785 Mozart mounted concerts with himself as piano soloist, presenting three or four new concertos in each season. Since space in the theatres was scarce, he booked unconventional venues: a large room in the Trattnerhof apartment building, and the ballroom of the Mehlgrube restaurant.[70] The concerts were very popular, andhis concertos premiered there are still firm fixtures in the repertoire. Of these works, Solomon writes that 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".[70]
With substantial returns from his concerts and elsewhere, Mozart and his wife adopted a more luxurious lifestyle. They moved to an expensive apartment, with a yearly rent of 460 florins.[71] Mozart bought a finefortepiano fromAnton Walter for about 900 florins, and abilliard table for about 300.[71] The Mozarts sent their sonKarl Thomas to an expensive boarding school[72][73] and kept servants. During this period Mozart saved little of his income.[74]
On 14 December 1784 Mozart became aFreemason, admitted to the lodge Zur Wohltätigkeit ("Beneficence").[75] Freemasonry played an essential role in the remainder of Mozart's life: he attended meetings, a number of his friends were Masons, and on various occasions he composed Masonic music, e.g. theMaurerische Trauermusik.[76]
1786–1787: Return to opera
Fortepiano played by Mozart in 1787, Czech Museum of Music, Prague[77]
Despite the great success ofThe Abduction from the Seraglio, Mozart did little operatic writing for the next four years, producing only two unfinished works[78] and the one-actDer Schauspieldirektor. He focused instead on his career as a piano soloist and writer of concertos. Around the end of 1785, Mozart moved away from keyboard writing[79] and began his famous operatic collaboration with thelibrettistLorenzo Da Ponte. The year 1786 saw the successful premiere ofLe nozze di Figaro in Vienna. The work was then produced in Prague, with an invitation to Mozart to attend and give concerts. It was on this occasion that Mozart premiered his38th symphony, now known as the "Prague Symphony".[80] Both the opera and the symphony were received enthusiastically, and the visit was an unusually happy episode in Mozart's life; for details seeMozart and Prague.
The success ofLe Nozze di Figaro led to a commission for an opera to be performed by the resident opera company of Prague; the work thus spawned wasDon Giovanni, Mozart's second collaboration with Da Ponte. It premiered in October 1787 to acclaim in Prague, and was produced again, though without the same degree of success, in Vienna during 1788.[81]Le Nozze di Figaro andDon Giovanni are among Mozart's most famous works and are mainstays of operatic repertoire today, though at their premieres their musical complexity caused difficulty both for listeners and for performers.
In December 1787, Mozart finally obtained a steady post under aristocratic patronage. Emperor Joseph II appointed him as his "chamber composer", a post that had fallen vacant the previous month on the death ofChristoph Willibald Gluck. It was a part-time appointment, paying just 800 florins per year, and required Mozart only to compose dances for the annual balls in theRedoutensaal (seeMozart and dance). This modest income became important to Mozart when hard times arrived. Court records show that Joseph aimed to keep the esteemed composer from leaving Vienna in pursuit of better prospects.[82]It is a biographical tradition to view this position as a mere sinecure; but a more recent view, put forth by Wolff (2012), is that Mozart's position was a more substantial one and that some of Mozart's chamber music from this time was written as part of his imperial duties.
In 1787 the youngLudwig van Beethoven spent several weeks in Vienna, hoping to study with Mozart.[83] Beethoven almost certainly heard Mozart perform,[84] but (despite a widely told anecdote to this effect)[85] it is not certain that the two actually met in person; seeBeethoven and Mozart.
The same year was marked by the death of Mozart's father on 28 May 1787 -- in a way, six months too early, since Leopold would never learn that his lifetime goal for his son, a paid court position, was finally achieved. Despite longstanding tensions with his father, Mozart had remained in contact by correspondence to the end of Leopold's life, and Leopold's death was likely a blow to him. Eisen suggests that the death "triggered a fallow period for the composer," noting that Mozart was similarly unproductive following the death of his mother in July 1778.[86] The task of dealing with Leopold's estate was one of the last matters of mutual concern for Mozart and his sister Nannerl; not long after, they became estranged and ceased to correspond.[87]
Later years
1788–1790
Drawing of Mozart insilverpoint, made byDora Stock during Mozart's visit to Dresden, April 1789
Toward the end of the decade, Mozart's circumstances worsened. Around 1786, he ceased to appear frequently in public concerts, and his income shrank.[88] This was a difficult time for musicians in Vienna because of theAustro-Turkish War: both the general level of prosperity and the ability of the aristocracy to support music had declined. According to Solomon, in 1788, Mozart saw a 66% decline in his income compared to his best years in 1781.[89]
By mid-1788, Mozart and his family had moved from central Vienna to the suburb ofAlsergrund.[88] Although it has been suggested that Mozart aimed to reduce his rental expenses by moving to a suburb (he said this in a letter to his friend and fellow masonMichael von Puchberg), later research has shown that Mozart had not actually reduced his expenses but merely increased the housing space at his disposal.[90] Around this time, Mozart began to borrow money, most often from Puchberg; "a pitiful sequence of letters pleading for loans" survives.[91] Solomon and others have suggested that Mozart was suffering from depression, and his musical output may have slowed.[92] Yet the production of works considered as high points of Mozart's oeuvre continued, with work including the last three symphonies (Nos. 39,40, and41, all from the summer of 1788), theClarinet Quintet of 1789, and the last of the three Da Ponte operas,Così fan tutte, premiered in 1790.
Around this time, Mozart made two long journeys hoping to improve his fortunes, visiting Leipzig, Dresden, and Berlin in the spring of 1789 (seeMozart's Berlin journey), andFrankfurt, Mannheim, and other German cities in 1790. Wolff (2012) emphasizes how these journeys improved Mozart's contacts and broadened his reputation, but they also involved setbacks and frustrations, and probably did not achieve the goals, particularly financial, that Mozart had set for them.
1791
Mozart's last year was, until his final illness struck, a time of high productivity—and by some accounts, one of personal recovery.[93][h] He composed a great deal, including some of his most admired works: the operaThe Magic Flute; the final piano concerto (No. 27, K. 595 in B♭); theClarinet Concerto K. 622; the last in his series of string quintets (K. 614 in E♭); the motetAve verum corpus K. 618; and the unfinishedRequiem K. 626.
Mozart's financial situation, a source of anxiety in 1790, finally began to improve. Although the evidence is inconclusive, it appears that wealthy patrons in Hungary and Amsterdam pledged annuities to Mozart in return for the occasional composition.[94] He is thought to have benefited from the sale of dance music written in his role as Imperial chamber composer.[94] Mozart no longer borrowed large sums from Puchberg and began to pay off his debts.[94]
He experienced great satisfaction in the public success of some of his works, notablyThe Magic Flute (frequently performed to packed houses in Mozart's lifetime and hundreds of times thereafter)[95] and theLittle Masonic Cantata K. 623, premiered on 17 November 1791.[i]
Mozart fell seriously ill on 20 November 1791, and took to (what turned out to be) his deathbed; he suffered from swelling, pain, and vomiting.[96] There is a serious controversy about whether his illness had started earlier, with a long and demoralizing period of decline, or was sudden; for discussion seeDeath of Mozart. Mozart was nursed in his final days by his wife and her younger sisterSophie and was attended by the family doctor, Thomas Franz Closset. By Sophie's testimony Mozart spent some of his final hours in conversation with his student and friendSüssmayr, discussing the problem of getting hisRequiem completed.[97]
Mozart died in his home on 5 December 1791(1791-12-05) (aged 35) at 12:55 am.[98] TheNew Grove describes his funeral:
Mozart was interred in a common grave, in accordance with contemporary Viennese custom, at theSt. Marx Cemetery outside the city on 7December. If, as later reports say, no mourners attended, that too is consistent with Viennese burial customs at the time; laterOtto Jahn (1856) wrote thatSalieri,Süssmayr,van Swieten and two other musicians were present. The tale of a storm and snow is false; the day was calm and mild.[99]
The expression "common grave" refers to neither a communal grave nor a pauper's grave, but an individual grave for a member of the common people (i.e., not the aristocracy). Common graves were subject to excavation after ten years; aristocrats' graves were not.[100]
The cause of Mozart's death is not known with certainty. The official record ofhitziges Frieselfieber ("severe miliary fever", referring to a rash that looks likemillet seeds) is more a symptomatic description than a diagnosis. Researchers have suggested more than a hundred causes of death, including acuterheumatic fever,[101][102]streptococcal infection,[103][104]trichinosis,[105]influenza,mercury poisoning, and a rare kidney ailment.[101] The contemporary Viennese public health officialEduard Guldener von Lobes [Wikidata], who consulted with Mozart's doctors at the time, insisted that Mozart most likely died in anepidemic, asserting that many people in Vienna had died at the same time with the same symptoms.[106] Modern work by Zegers et al., tracing death records of the time, found a modest spike in the death rate for late 1791, supporting Guldener's claim.[107]
Mozart's modest funeral did not reflect his standing with the public as a composer, but memorial services and concerts in Vienna and Prague were well attended. In the period immediately after his death, his reputation rose substantially. Solomon describes an "unprecedented wave of enthusiasm"[108] for his work;biographies were written first byFriedrich Schlichtegroll,Franz Xaver Niemetschek, andGeorg Nikolaus von Nissen, and publishers vied to produce complete editions of his works.[108]
Detail of Mozart's portrait by his brother-in-lawJoseph Lange
Mozart's physical appearance was described by the tenorMichael Kelly in hisReminiscences: "a remarkably 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 hischildhood case of smallpox.[109] Of his voice, his wife 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."[110]
He loved elegant clothing. Kelly remembered him at a rehearsal:"[He] was on the stage with his crimsonpelisse and gold-lacedcocked hat, giving the time of the music to the orchestra." Thesurviving portraits suggest that Mozart often wore apowdered wig tied in aqueue in line with thestyle of the 18th century for formal occasions.
Mozart usually worked long and hard, finishing compositions at a tremendous pace as deadlines approached. He often wrotesketches, from small snippets to extensive drafts, for his compositions. Though many of these were destroyed by his widow,[111] about 320 sketches and drafts survive, covering about 10 percent of the composer's work.[111]
Mozart lived at the centre of the Viennese musical world and knew a significant number and variety of people: fellow musicians, theatrical performers, fellow Salzburgers, and aristocrats, including some acquaintance with EmperorJoseph II. Solomon considers his three closest friends to have been Gottfried von Jacquin, Count August Hatzfeld, and Sigmund Barisani; others included his elder colleagueJoseph Haydn, the singersFranz Xaver Gerl andBenedikt Schack, and the horn playerJoseph Leutgeb. Leutgeb and Mozart carried on a kind of friendly mockery, often with Leutgeb as the butt of Mozart'spractical jokes.[112]
He enjoyedbilliards,dancing, and kept pets, including a canary, astarling, a dog, and a horse for recreational riding.[113] He had a startling fondness forscatological humour, which is preserved in his surviving letters, notably those written to his cousinMaria Anna Thekla Mozart around 1777–1778, and in his correspondence with his sister and parents.[114] Mozart also wrote scatological music, a series ofcanons that he sang with his friends.[j] He had an ear for languages, and having travelled all over Europe as a boy, was fluent in Latin, Italian, and French in addition to his native Salzburg dialect of German. He possibly also understood and spoke some English, having jokingly written "You are an ass" after his 19-year-old studentThomas Attwood made a thoughtless mistake on his exercise papers.[115][116]
Both performed by the Fulda Symphonic Orchestra, conductor: Simon Schindler
Mozart's music, with Haydn's, stands as an archetype of theClassical style. At the time he began composing, European music was dominated by thestyle galant, a reaction against the highly evolved intricacy of theBaroque. The emerging classical style constituted a major reconception of how music ought to be composed, largely replacingpolyphonic withhomophonic textures, and it took some time for the new style to achieve the musical weight that had been attained by the Baroque masters; indeed, the period following the deaths of Bach and Handel produced rather little music that still commands the attention of modern listeners.[citation needed] Mozart, despite his genius, was a man of his time, and most of the music he wrote early in his career is influenced strongly by its models and is little performed today (the few exceptions are noted above). HisPiano Concerto in E Flat, K. 271, from 1777, is sometimes described as a breakthrough work; it is characterized byCharles Rosen as "perhaps the first unequivocal masterpiece in [the] classical style."[120] Mozart's musical language continued to increase in its scope and complexity, notably in the use of chromatic harmony and reintroduction of counterpoint, partly inspired by the composer's relationship with Gottfried van Swieten noted above.
Mozart was a versatile composer, and wrote in every major genre, includingsymphony, opera, the solo concerto, chamber music includingstring quartet andstring quintet, and the pianosonata. These forms were not new, but Mozart advanced their technical sophistication and emotional reach. From his earliest years to his last, he composed a varied number of vocal works –concert arias, songs and canons. He almost single-handedly developed and popularised the Classicalpiano concerto. He wrote a great deal ofreligious music, including large-scalemasses, as well as dances,divertimenti,serenades, and other forms of light entertainment.[121]
The central traits of the Classical style are all present in Mozart's music. Clarity, balance, and transparency are the hallmarks of his work, but simplistic notions of its delicacy mask the exceptional power of his finest masterpieces, such as thePiano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491; theSymphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550; and the operaDon Giovanni.Charles Rosen makes the point forcefully:
It is only through recognising the violence and sensuality at the centre of Mozart's work that we can make a start towards a comprehension of his structures and an insight into his magnificence. In a paradoxical way,Schumann's superficial characterisation of theG minor Symphony can help us to see Mozart's daemon more steadily. In all of Mozart's supreme expressions of suffering and terror, there is something shockingly voluptuous.[122]
During his last decade, Mozart frequently exploitedchromatic harmony. A notable instance is hisString Quartet in C major, K. 465 (1785), whose introduction abounds in chromatic suspensions, giving rise to the work's nickname, the "Dissonance" quartet.
Mozart had a gift for absorbing and adapting the valuable features of others' music. His travels helped in the forging of a unique compositional language.[123] In London as a child, he metJohann Christian Bach and heard his music. In Paris, Mannheim, and Vienna he met with other compositional influences, as well as the avant-garde capabilities of theMannheim orchestra. In Italy, he encountered theItalian overture andopera buffa, both of which deeply affected the evolution of his practice. In London and Italy, thegalant style was in the ascendent: simple, light music with a mania forcadencing; an emphasis on tonic, dominant, and subdominant to the exclusion of other harmonies; symmetrical phrases; and clearly articulated partitions in the overall form of movements.[124] Some of Mozart's early symphonies areItalian overtures, with three movements running into each other; many arehomotonal (all three movements having the same key signature, with the slow middle movement being in therelative minor). Others mimic the works of J. C. Bach, and others show the simplerounded binary forms turned out by Viennese composers.[citation needed]
Facsimile sheet of music from the Dies Irae movement of theRequiem Mass in D minor (K. 626) in Mozart's handwriting (Mozarthaus, Vienna)
As Mozart matured, he progressively incorporated more features adapted from the Baroque. For example, theSymphony No. 29 in A major K. 201 has a contrapuntal main theme in its first movement, and experimentation with irregular phrase lengths. Some of his quartets from 1773 have fugal finales, probably influenced by Haydn, who had included three such finales in his recently publishedOpus 20 set. The influence of theSturm und Drang ("Storm and Stress") period in music, with its brief foreshadowing of theRomantic era, is evident in the music of both composers at that time. Mozart'sSymphony No. 25 in G minor K. 183 is another excellent example.[citation needed]
Mozart would sometimes switch his focus between operas and instrumental music. He produced operas in each of the prevailing styles:opera buffa, such asLe nozze di Figaro,Don Giovanni, andCosì fan tutte;opera seria, such asIdomeneo; andSingspiel, of whichThe Magic Flute is the most famous example by any composer. In his later operas, he employed subtle changes in instrumentation, orchestral texture, andtone colour, for emotional depth and to mark dramatic shifts[citation needed]. Here, his advances in opera and instrumental composing interacted: his increasingly sophisticated use of the orchestra in the symphonies and concertos influenced his operatic orchestration, and his developing subtlety in using the orchestra to psychological effect in his operas was in turn reflected in his later non-operatic compositions.[125]
Editions, catalogues, and recordings
Shortly after Mozart's death in 1791, it became a goal of publishers to produce a complete printed edition of everything that he had written. BothBreitkopf & Härtel andJohann Anton André negotiated with Mozart's widow Constanze to this purpose,[126] and both of them issued multiple works, though falling far short of completeness. The publication of this music helped rescue Constanze and her two children from poverty, enabling them to live in comfort.
During the first decades of the 19th century, the desire for a truly complete edition became apparent, and with extensive scholarly contributions (including fromJohannes Brahms) this led to what is today called the "Alte Mozart-Ausgabe", or "old Mozart edition," issued 1877-1883. With time, the shortcomings of this edition became evident, and over a period of five decades (1956-2007) a new team of Mozart scholars collaborated to create theNeue Mozart-Ausgabe, which sets the current standard. Thanks to grant support, the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe is available today on line.[127]
Along with the creation of complete editions, musical scholarship has aspired to createmusical catalogues, which provide descriptions,incipits, and the estimated date of completion for each work. A catalogue also provides information about works attributed to the composer that are actually not authentic, such as Mozart's putative37th Symphony.The earliest catalog of Mozart’s works was created by the composer himself, and covers the years 1784 to 1791. After Mozart‘s death, scholars such as Johann Anton André attempted to create a complete catalogue, but this was only accomplished in 1862 whenLudwig Ritter von Köchel completed the first edition of what is now called theKöchel catalogue. His "Köchel numbers", marked with K or KV,[128] are a standard way to identify a work of Mozart unambiguously. Since Köchel's time, the catalog has gone through several editions. 2024 marked the completion of the current, ninth edition, edited byNeal Zaslaw. In this edition, many works have been redated, thanks to progress in the use of handwriting analysis (notably work ofWolfgang Plath), and the study of watermarks (Alan Tyson). These practices have provided concrete evidence for dating in cases where earlier scholars could only speculate.
The goal of a complete Mozart edition is shared by recording companies, several of whom who have issued massive recorded compilations (170-250 compact disks), aspiring to cover all of Mozart’s work.
Instruments
Although some of Mozart's early pieces were written for harpsichord, he also became acquainted in his early years with fortepianos made byRegensburg builderFranz Jakob Späth. Later when Mozart was visiting Augsburg, he was impressed byJohann Andreas Stein's fortepianos and shared this in a letter to his father.[129] On 22 October 1777 Mozart had premieredhis triple-piano concerto, K. 242, on instruments provided by Stein. TheAugsburg Cathedral organist Demmler was playing the first, Mozart the second and Stein the third part.[130] In 1783, when he was living in Vienna, he purchased an instrument byAnton Walter.[131] Leopold Mozart confirmed the attachment which Mozart had with his Walter fortepiano: "It is impossible to describe the hustle and bustle. Your brother's pianoforte has been moved at least twelve times from his house to the theatre or to someone else's house."[132] Mozart's Walter piano is exhibited in the main hall of theTanzmeisterhaus (the former Mozart family residence) in Salzburg.[133]
Legacy
Mozart's statue dominates theMozartplatz in Salzburg
His most famous pupil wasJohann Nepomuk Hummel,[134] atransitional figure between the Classical and Romantic eras whom the Mozarts took into their Vienna home for two years as a child.[135] More important is the influence Mozart had on composers of later generations. Ever since the surge in his reputation after his death, studying his scores has been a standard part of a classical musician's training.[136] Beethoven, Mozart's junior by fifteen years, was deeply influenced by his work; seeBeethoven and Mozart.[137]
Mozart's legacy is widely apparent in modern life, particularly in concert programming, broadcasts, recordings,[138] and items ofpopular culture. The city of Salzburg, abandoned by Mozart in frustration in 1781, has today become pilgrimage destination for Mozart lovers: both of Mozart's homes have been converted into museums,[139] there is a renowned music festival (seeSalzburg Festival), and the city hosts a leading scholarly institute, theInternational Mozarteum Foundation, for the study of Mozart's life and works.
^Source:Wilson 1999, p. 2. The many changes of European political borders since Mozart's time make it difficult to assign him an unambiguous nationality; for discussion, seeMozart's nationality.
^Eisen & Keefe 2006, p. 268: "You ask me to take the young Salzburger into your service. I do not know why not believing that you have need for a composer or of useless people.... What I say is intended only to prevent you from burdening yourself with useless people and giving titles to people of that sort. In addition, if they are at your service, it degrades that service when these people go about the world like beggars."
^Archbishop Colloredo responded to the request by dismissing both Mozart and his father, though the dismissal of the latter was not actually carried out.
^Mozart complains of this in a letter to his father, dated 24 March 1781.[49]
^More recently,Wolff 2012 has forcefully advocated a view of Mozart's career at the end of his life as being on the rise, interrupted by his sudden death.
^And not as previously stated on 15 November; seeAbert 2007, p. 1307, fn 9
^Chrissochoidis, Ilias (Summer 2010). "London Mozartiana: Wolfgang's disputed age & early performances of Allegri'sMiserere".The Musical Times. Vol. 151, no. 1911. pp. 83–89. Provides new information on this episode.
^Jean Massin;Brigitte Massin, eds. (1983).Histoire de la musique occidentale. Paris:Fayard. p. 613.He wrote during that period that, whenever he or someone else played one of his compositions, it was as if the table and chairs were the only listeners.
^Heartz (2009:5) suggests that the Emperor remembered Mozart from his earlier visits to Vienna, was aware of the success ofIdomeneo in Munich, and was responsible for the opera commission (eventuallyThe Abduction from the Seraglio) that was soon to come Mozart's way. The part-time position Joseph awarded to Mozart in 1787 is described below.
^For discussion see Heartz (2009:47) and Halliwell (1998:383). The alternative, given for example in Spaethling (2000), is that Constanze had moved in with Mozart's friend Baroness von Waldstätten.
^For a substantial selection, with translations into vernacular English, see Spaethling (2000). Online, some excerpts are available, for example,The Marginalian,Interlude, andLondon Review of Books.
^Sophie wrote in 1825 to the Mozart biographerGeorg Nikolaus von Nissen (Constanze's second husband): "Süssmayr was at Mozart's bedside. The well-known Requiem lay on his quilt and Mozart was explaining to him how, in his opinion, he ought to finish it, when he was gone." Source: Anderson (1938:1449-1450)
^Zegers, Richard H. C., Andreas Weigl, and Andrew Steptoe (2009). "The Death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: An Epidemiologic Perspective".Annals of Internal Medicine. 151 (4): 274–278.
^The final edition (2010) ofThe Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music devoted 81 pages to recordings of works by Mozart, far more than for any other composer (Beethoven was second at 56).
Anderson, Emily, ed. (1938)The Letters of Mozart & His Family (3 Volumes). London: Macmillan and Co. This work may be downloaded from theInternet Archive.
Barry, Barbara R. (2000).The Philosopher's Stone: Essays in the Transformation of Musical Structure. Hillsdale, New York: Pendragon Press.ISBN978-1-57647-010-7.OCLC466918491.
Fradkin, Robert A (1996).The Well-Tempered Announcer: A Pronunciation Guide to Classical Music. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.ISBN978-0-253-21064-7.
Haberl, Dieter (2006). "Beethovens erste Reise nach Wien: die Datierung seiner Schülerreise zu W.A. Mozart".Neues Musikwissenschaftliches Jahrbuch (in German) (14).OCLC634798176.
Baumol, William J., and Hilda Baumol. "On the economics of musical composition in Mozart's Vienna."Journal of Cultural Economics 18.3 (1994): 171–198.online
Reisinger, Elisabeth. "The Prince and the Prodigies: On the Relations of Archduke and Elector Maximilian Franz with Mozart, Beethoven, and Haydn."Acta Musicologica 91.1 (2019): 48–70excerpt.
Schroeder, David.Experiencing Mozart: A Listener's Companion (Scarecrow, 2013).excerpt
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