Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was one of the most significant and influential of all composers of Western classical music. His works are loved by many and are frequently performed.
But Mozart is more than just a composer. Many have claimed that Mozart was tapping in to the very essence of life itself, through his ingenious, subtle yet brilliant and often humorous compositions. His music has been known to heal plants, animals and humans, coining the phrase, "the Mozart effect".
Mozart was born in Salzburg in modern-day Austria, but at the time was the capital of a small independent Archbishopric within the Holy Roman Empire. He was baptized on the day after his birth at St. Rupert's Cathedral as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart.
Mozart's musical ability started to become apparent when he was a toddler. He was the son of Leopold Mozart, one of Europe's leading musical pedagogues, whose influential textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule ('Essay on the fundamentals of violin playing') was published in 1756, the same year as Mozart's birth.
Young Mozart received intensive musical training from his father, including instruction in both the piano and violin. Musically, he developed very rapidly and began to compose his own works at the age of five.
Leopold soon realized that he could earn a substantial income by showcasing his son as a Wunderkind in the courts of Europe. Mozart's older sister, Maria Anna, nicknamed 'Nannerl', was a talented pianist and often accompanied her brother on Leopold's tours. Mozart wrote a number of piano pieces, in particular duets and duos, to play with her. On one occasion when Mozart became ill, Leopold expressed more concern over the loss of income than over Mozart's well-being. Constant travel and cold weather may have contributed to his subsequent illness later in life.
Mozart is unusual among composers for being the subject of many legends and myths. An example is the story that Mozart composed his Requiem with the belief it was for himself. Some of these myths may be based in fact, but sorting out fabrications from real events is a vexing and continuous task for Mozart scholars. Dramatists and screenwriters, free from responsibilities of scholarship, have found excellent material amongst these legends.
An especially popular case is the supposed rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri; this is the subject of Aleksandr Pushkin's play Mozart and Salieri, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Mozart et Salieri, and Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus; the last of these has been made into a feature-length film of the same name. In fact, Salieri admired Mozart. Shaffer's play attracted criticism for portraying Mozart as vulgar and loutish, a characterization felt by many to be unfairly exaggerated. Indeed, Salieri does very well out of the play and even better out of the magnificent portrayal of himself by F. Murray Abraham in the film of the play. Most people hadn't heard of him. The attendent at the cemetery where Mozart's memorial lies responded 'Who?' when asked 'What about Salieri, where is he buried?'
One thing is for sure, no musical library could ever be complete without copious recordings of the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
