Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria on January 27th, 1756. He
was born to Leopold and Anna Maria Pertl. Leopol was a very successful composer,
voilinist, and the assistant concertmaster at the Salzburg court. Mozart showed
musical talent at a very young age. By age five he was composing minuets.And at
age six he played before the Bavarian Elector and the Austrian Empress.His
father taught him, but said teahcing Wolfgang was hard because he knew so much
already. His father was also his largest influence. In 1763 Wolfgang’s father,
Leopold, took him and his sister, Maria Anna, on a concert tour of Europe. The
children performed in many courts and large cities including Paris, London, and
Germany. They astonished their audiences wherever they performed. In London
Wolfgang wrote his first symphonies and met Johann Christian Brahm, who had a
very large influence on him. In Paris Wolfgang published his first works, four
sonatas for clavier with accompanying voilin. In 1768 he composed his first
opera, La Finta Semplice, which was presented for the first time a year later in
his home town of Salzburg. In 1769 Wolfgang and his father set out on another
tour of Italy. Here Wolfgang wrote a new opera, Mitridate ri de Ponto. He also
wrote two more operas for Milan, Ascanio in Alba and Lucio Silla. Three years
later in 1772 Wolfgang was appointed concertmaster to the archbishop of
Salzburg, his home town. He composed many works while he was concertmaster. But
this job was not good for him and he did not get anolg with most of the people
around him. So, he soon quit this job to travel to Paris with his mother and
look for a new job. In 1777 Wolfgana and his mother, Maria Anna, went to Paris,
France. While here Wolfgang composed many works including The Paris Symphony
(1778). But, he could not find a permanent job there. His mother died in Paris
this year and this upset Wolfgang very much. He returned to Salzburg in 1779 and
was made the court organist. He wrote many church works then, including the
famous Coronation Mass. He was supposed to write a new opera for Munich,
Idomeneo. In 1781 he was called to Vienna by von Colloredo. His career in Vienna
started out wonderfully. He was soon assigned to write The Abduction from the
Seralio (1782). The emporer loved his music, and later got him the job of court
composer. Mozart was now very popular in Vienna. That year he married Constenze
Weber, from Germany. His father was not happy with this decision. In 1783 the
newly married couple visited Salzburg. During this period many of Mozart’s
pieces that were composed in Vienna were played. (Such as Mass in C Minor and
his greatest success, The Marriage of Figaro, which was composed for the Vienna
opera.) After The Marriage of Figaro Mozarts career began doing very poorly, and
he was in great debt. The most successful piece after Figaro was Don Giovonni
(1787), which was composed for Prauge. After this he composed Cosi Fotte (1790)
and The Magic Flute (1791). He also composed his last three symphonies, E Flat,
G Minor, and the Jupiter in C. In 1791 Mozart was assigned to write a requiem.
His health was in bad shape at the time, but he still worked hard on the
requiem. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died on December 5th, 1791 in Vienna, leaving
the requiem unfinished. Some people think he dies of poisoning, but the most
likely reasoning of his death is kidney failure. After his funeral he was buried
in a pauper’s grave at Saint Marx Cemetary. Mozart was a very large influence
on the Classical Music Era, and will never be forgotten.