All About Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is considered by many to be a genius in the history of Western music. Wolfgang was born in Salzburg, Austria, in 1756 to the composer Leopold Mozart, and his wife Anna Maria Pertl. His father was already a highly successful music teacher who published a violin textbook in the year that Wolfgang was born.
Wolfgang began his career early. His father began giving him violin, organ, and clavier lessons when he was three years old, and by four he could play a few pieces on his own. When he was five, Wolfgang began composing minutes, and by the age of nine he had composed symphonies.
Wolfgang Mozart was named Konzertmeister in 1769 by the archbishop, and made three tours of Italy that year with his family. He then began studying Italian opera, and produced the
Lucio Silla and
Mitridate. By 1773, he came back to Austria and composed new material for the next couple of years. All of his violin concertos were written between 1774 and 1777. During this time he also wrote masses, chamber works, and symphonies. A timeline of his accomplishments can be found at
Google. You can also find his works listed at
Caltech,
Classical,
The Mozart Lover's Page, and
About.com.
Mozart composed some of his best pieces during the year of his death, 1791. These include the Ave Verum K614, La Clemenza di Tito, and the Clarinet Concerto K622. That July, Mozart was asked for a Requiem by an anonymous person, and was convinced he was writing this for his own death. On the 5th of December of that year, he died, and his pupil Sussmayer completed the piece. Mozart was buried in a Vienna suburb.
You can find sheet music for the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on the Internet. Check
8 Notes,
Music Scores, and
Great Scores for music for free or for purchase.
For some fun and quick facts about Mozart, you can visit the following websites: