Who is Mozart? That is probably one question that you need not to answer because we all know who he is. Or do we? Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in full Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is a Austrian composer, widely recognized as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, right? Here we focus on providing you information about his early life.
Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria, to parents Leopold and Anna Maria. At the age of four he could learn a piece of music in half an hour. At five he was playing the clavier incredibly well. At six he began composing, writing his first symphonies at the age of eight. He was also started playing in public at the age of six.
He was also known to be constantly traveling all over Europe with his father, Leopold, a violinist, minor composer and Vice-Kapellmeister at the court of the Archbishop of Salzburg. Between the ages of seven and fifteen, he spent half of his time on tour too. During these tours, he heard, absorbed, and learned various European musical idioms, eventually crystallizing his own mature style.
Wolfgang, while on tour, met a number of accomplished musicians and became familiar with their works. Particularity important was his meeting with Johann Christian Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach’s youngest son, in London.
In 1769, Wolfgang and his father departed from Salzburg for Italy, leaving his mother and sister at home. The reason for the tour is that mastery of the Italian operatic style was a prerequisite for a successful international composing career, and the Austrian political dominion over northern Italy ensured that doors would be open there to Mozart. While in Rome, Wolfgang heard Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere performed once in the Sistine Chapel. He wrote out the entire score from memory, returning only to correct a few minor errors.
He developed a passion for violin concertos producing what came to be the only five he wrote. In 1776, he turned his efforts toward piano concertos, culminating in the Piano Concerto Number 9 in E flat major in early 1777. Wolfgang had just turned 21.
Over the years, he then composed hundreds of works that included sonatas, symphonies, masses, concertos, and operas. Want to know more about his adolescence and adult life? Stick around!
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