Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was four years old when his father began teaching him minuets at the clavier, treating it as a game. The boy played them faultlessly, in perfect time, with delicacy. By five he was composing little pieces and playing them for his father, who wrote them down. He had already performed before European royalty. His father, Leopold, called him the miracle whom God allowed to be born in Salzburg. Over a life of just thirty-five years, Mozart completed more than 800 works. He died with his Requiem largely unfinished, on a calm and mild December night in Vienna, in 1791. He was interred in a common grave at the St. Marx Cemetery, and possibly no mourners attended. How does a court servant dismissed with a kick from a steward become an archetype of an entire era of music? What did he ask for in his final hours? And why do biographers, all working from the same letters and manuscripts, still argue over who he really was?
About 1500 pages of family letters survive, often vivid and entertaining, mostly written when travel separated Mozart from his kin. Early biographies drew on input from his sister Nannerl, his wife Constanze, and others who knew him well. Old newspaper stories and government records have been located in archives, annotated, and published. The composer's surviving manuscripts include sketches, drafts, dated autographs, and his own personal catalog. Biographers all work from these same materials, yet they often disagree on crucial points. Part of the trouble is judging how far to trust a source with a motive to bend the truth. The publisher Friedrich Rochlitz, once widely used, is now judged untruthful; he published false, vivid stories about Mozart to boost posthumous sales of his works. Over time, biographers have grown less credulous toward such tales, less sentimental, and more attentive to Mozart's own society. The same caution shapes how scholars treat the famous account of the boy in Rome, who heard Gregorio Allegri's Miserere twice in the Sistine Chapel and wrote it out from memory. Leopold reported it in a letter home, but the details are disputed.
Getreidegasse 9 in Salzburg was where Mozart was born on the 27th of January 1756, the youngest of seven children, five of whom died in infancy. His father Leopold, a native of Augsburg and a minor composer, had published a successful violin textbook in the very year of his son's birth. Leopold was the children's only teacher, instructing them in languages and academic subjects alongside music. Nannerl, his elder sister, later recalled how the three-year-old boy spent much time at the clavier, striking thirds and delighting that they sounded good. His first ink-spattered composition and his early efforts with the violin came on his own initiative and surprised his father. Leopold eventually gave up composing once his son's gifts became clear. An exhibition in 1762 at the court of Maximilian III of Bavaria in Munich opened a long concert tour, three and a half years through Munich, Mannheim, Paris, London, The Hague, Amsterdam, Utrecht, and back home. In London, the boy met Johann Christian Bach in 1764 and 1765, an influence that shaped him. Travel conditions were primitive. The family waited on the nobility for invitations and reimbursement, and endured near-fatal illnesses far from home: Leopold in London in the summer of 1764, then both children at The Hague in the autumn of 1765. Three trips to Italy followed, where Wolfgang wrote operas and, in Bologna, was accepted into the famous Accademia Filarmonica.
On the 13th of March 1773, Mozart returned from Italy and took up work as a court musician under the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, Hieronymus Colloredo. He had friends and admirers there and a chance to write across many genres. He composed his only five violin concertos, one in 1773 and four in 1775, each more sophisticated than the last; the final three are staples of the modern repertoire. His salary was 150 florins a year, and he longed to compose operas, which Salzburg rarely allowed. The closure of the court theatre in 1775 made the situation worse. Two long expeditions in search of work broke up the Salzburg years, to Vienna and to Munich, where his opera La finta giardiniera scored a popular success. In August 1777 Mozart resigned and set out again, this time with his mother, through Munich, Augsburg, Mannheim, and Paris. In Augsburg he met his first cousin Maria Anna Thekla Mozart, with whom he exchanged letters that have astonished and dismayed modern readers, mostly silly and scatological, full of mentions of what English translates as muck. In Mannheim he fell in love with the singer Aloysia Weber. The journey's worst moment came in Paris, where his mother fell ill and died on the 3rd of July 1778, the doctor called late, probably for lack of funds. Mozart returned to Salzburg on the 15th of January 1779 to a new post as court organist, his discontent undiminished.
A kick in the arse, administered by the archbishop's steward Count Arco, ended Mozart's service to Colloredo in 1781. He had been summoned to Vienna, required to dine with the valets and cooks, and forbidden to perform outside his employer's establishment. One such ban cost him a fee equal to half his yearly Salzburg salary. He tried to resign in May and was refused; permission came the next month, in grossly insulting fashion. His father sided against him, urging reconciliation, and the two exchanged intense letters until the dismissal freed Mozart of both employer and paternal demand. The biographer Solomon calls the resignation a revolutionary step that altered the course of his life. Mozart settled in Vienna as a freelance performer and composer, and his new career began well. On the 24th of December 1781 he competed before the Emperor against Muzio Clementi, and he soon stood as the finest keyboard player in the city. His opera Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail premiered on the 16th of July 1782 to considerable success and was soon performed throughout German-speaking Europe. The Emperor would later support his career with commissions and a part-time post.
A parlour game nearly broke the engagement: Constanze Weber had let another young man measure her calves, and a jealous Mozart briefly split from her in April 1782. He had moved in with the Weber family after his quarrels with Colloredo, his interest shifting from Aloysia, now married, to her third sister. Getting his father's permission for the marriage was a very difficult task. The wedding took place in an atmosphere of crisis. Writing to Baroness von Waldstatten on the 4th of August, Mozart asked whether the police could really enter a house in such a way, and wondered if it was only a ruse of Madame Weber to get her daughter back. He concluded he knew no better remedy than to marry Constanze tomorrow morning, or if possible today. The couple married that same day, the 4th of August 1782, in St. Stephen's Cathedral, one day before his father's consenting letter arrived. They had six children, of whom only two survived infancy: Karl Thomas, born in 1784, and Franz Xaver Wolfgang, born in 1791. The scholar Eisen judges the marriage basically happy, drawing on Mozart's letters to Constanze, generally affectionate, often funny, and occasionally erotic. In old age, Constanze described the marriage as completely happy.
I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute. Joseph Haydn said this to Leopold in 1785, at a gathering where three of Mozart's quartets were played. The two composers had become friends around 1784 and sometimes played chamber music together. Mozart dedicated six quartets to Haydn, written between 1782 and 1785, a response to Haydn's Opus 33 set. He sent them with a letter calling them his six children, entrusted to the protection and guidance of a famous man who was also his friend. From 1782 to 1785 Mozart mounted his own concerts as piano soloist, presenting three or four new concertos each season. With theatre space scarce, he booked unconventional venues, a large room in the Trattnerhof and the ballroom of the Mehlgrube restaurant. The concerts were very popular, and the concertos premiered there remain firm fixtures in the repertoire. The returns funded a luxurious life. He took an expensive apartment at 460 florins a year, bought a fortepiano from Anton Walter for about 900 florins and a billiard table for about 300, and sent Karl Thomas to a costly boarding school. On the 14th of December 1784 he became a Freemason, admitted to the lodge Zur Wohltatigkeit, and Freemasonry stayed essential to him for the rest of his life.
A 66 percent decline in income struck Mozart in 1788, measured against his best year of 1781. The Austro-Turkish War had brought economic decline; patrons could not afford ticket prices, and fewer could pay for commissions. He moved his family to the suburb of Alsergrund and began borrowing money, most often from his fellow mason Michael von Puchberg, leaving behind a pitiful sequence of letters pleading for loans. Solomon and others suggest he suffered from depression. Yet high points of his work continued: the last three symphonies, numbers 39, 40, and 41, all from the summer of 1788, and the last Da Ponte opera, Cosi fan tutte, premiered in 1790. His chamber-composer post, paying just 800 florins a year, required him only to write dances for the annual balls, but the modest income mattered when hard times came. In his final year, 1791, productivity was high and his finances finally began to improve. He composed Die Zauberflote, his last piano concerto, the Clarinet Concerto, and the unfinished Requiem. Mozart fell seriously ill on the 20th of November 1791, suffering swelling, pain, and vomiting, nursed by Constanze and her sister Sophie. By Sophie's account, he spent some of his final hours discussing with his student Sussmayr the problem of getting the Requiem completed. He died at home on the 5th of December 1791, at 12:55 in the morning. The official record listed hitziges Frieselfieber, a severe fever, but the cause is not known with certainty, and researchers have proposed more than a hundred possibilities. His student Johann Nepomuk Hummel, taken into the Mozart home for two years as a child, became his most famous pupil; Beethoven, his junior by fifteen years, was deeply influenced by his work.
Up next
Continue browsing
Updated
Common questions
Who was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a Classical composer and musician who lived from the 27th of January 1756 to the 5th of December 1791. He completed more than 800 works, including symphonies, concertos, chamber music, opera, and choral music.
Where was Mozart born and raised?
Mozart was born at Getreidegasse 9 in Salzburg on the 27th of January 1756. He was the youngest of seven children, five of whom died in infancy, and his father Leopold was his only teacher.
Why did Mozart leave Salzburg for Vienna?
Mozart grew discontented with Salzburg over his low salary of 150 florins a year and the rarity of opera commissions. His quarrel with Archbishop Colloredo ended in 1781 when he was dismissed with a kick administered by the steward Count Arco, after which he settled in Vienna as a freelance composer.
Who did Mozart marry?
Mozart married Constanze Weber on the 4th of August 1782 at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. The couple had six children, of whom only two, Karl Thomas and Franz Xaver Wolfgang, survived infancy.
What works did Mozart compose in his final year?
In 1791 Mozart composed the opera Die Zauberflote, his last piano concerto, the Clarinet Concerto, and the unfinished Requiem. He fell ill on the 20th of November 1791 and died on the 5th of December.
How did Mozart die?
Mozart died at his Vienna home on the 5th of December 1791 at 12:55 in the morning, at the age of thirty-five. The official record listed a severe fever, but the cause is not known with certainty, and researchers have suggested more than a hundred possible causes.
What was Mozart's relationship with Joseph Haydn?
Mozart and Haydn became friends around 1784 and sometimes played chamber music together in Vienna. Mozart dedicated six quartets to Haydn, and in 1785 Haydn told Leopold that his son was the greatest composer known to him by person and repute.
All sources
99 references cited across the entry
- 1Stafford (2003)Stafford — 2003
- 2Stafford (2003) p. 211Stafford — 2003
- 3Solomon, 1991b
- 4BookAustriaRosemarie Arnold et al. — Baedeker — 2009
- 6JournalLondon Mozartiana: Wolfgang's disputed age & early performances of Allegri's MiserereIlias Chrissochoidis — Summer 2010
- 7Halliwell (1998)Halliwell — 1998
- 8Die 'Mannheimer Schule'—ein Zentrum der vorklassischen Musik und MozartGerald Drebes — 1992
- 10BookHistoire de la musique occidentaleFayard — 1983
- 11Discovery of an unpublished autograph manuscript by Mozart in the BnF Music DepartmentBibliothèque nationale de France — 19 June 2026
- 12Spaethling (2000) p. 237Spaethling — 2000
- 13Heartz (2009) p. 5Heartz — 2009
- 14Heartz (2009) p. 47Heartz — 2009
- 15Spaethling (2000)Spaethling — 2000
- 165 December 1829, to Friedrich Schaan.
- 17For details, including quotations from the letters, see Maria Anna Mozart.
- 18Halliwell (1998) p. ch. 23Halliwell — 1998
- 19Barry (2000)Barry — 2000
- 20Mozart, Mozart (1966) p. 1331Mozart, Mozart — 1966
- 21BookMozart: An Extraordinary LifeJulian Rushton — Associated Board of the Royal School of Music — 2005
- 22NewsCzech Museum of Music to display "Mozart" pianoPavla Horáková — 31 January 2007
- 23These were Lo sposo deluso and L'Oca del Cairo, abandoned when it became clear that there was no opportunity for performance.
- 24NewsSymphony guide: Mozart's 38th – PragueTom Service — 1 October 2013
- 26From Ignaz von Seyfried, given in Beethoven, L. v., and Seyfried, I. v. Louis van Beethoven's Studies in Thorough-Bass, Counterpoint and the Art of Scientific Composition. Translated and edited by Pie
- 27Solomon (1995)Solomon — 1995
- 28Mozart's final year and death—1791Classic FM (UK)
- 30NewsFoul play ruled out in death of Wolfgang Amadeus MozartFranklin Crawford — American Association for the Advancement of Science — 14 February 2000
- 31NewsVoorlopig is Mozart bezweken aan streptokokSander Becker — 20 August 2009
- 32NewsWhat Really Killed Mozart? Maybe StrepNicholas Bakalar — 17 August 2009
- 33JournalSpecial Article: What Killed Mozart?Jan V. Hirschmann — 11 June 2001
- 34JournalEditor's Correspondence: Trichinellosis Is Unlikely to Be Responsible for Mozart's DeathJean Dupouy-Camet — 22 April 2002
- 35JournalEditor's Correspondence: Trichinellosis Is Unlikely to Be Responsible for Mozart's Death—ReplyJan V. Hirschmann — 22 April 2002
- 36Zegers, 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.
- 37NewsDiscovered, new Mozart portrait that shows musician without his wig11 January 2013
- 40Book101 Amazing Mozart FactsJack Goldstein — Andrews UK Limited — 2013
- 42NewsSymphony Guide: Mozart's 41st ('Jupiter')Tom Service
- 43Solomon (1995) p. ch. 8Solomon — 1995
- 44Halliwell (1998) p. ch. 34Halliwell — 1998
- 46Smith (1993) p. 47Smith — 1993
- 48Smith (1993) p. 48Smith — 1993
- 49Smith (1993)Smith — 1993
- 50JournalMozart and the pianos of Gabriel Anton WalterMichael Latcham — 1997
- 51BookEarly Keyboard Instruments in European MuseumsEdward Kottick et al. — Indiana University Press — 1997
- 52The date reflects the first fortepiano made by the pioneering builder Philip Belt.
- 53JournalHummel and the RomanticsMark Kroll — Summer 2007
- 54JournalMozart's Influence on English MusicNicholas Temperley — October 1961
- 55BookThe Life of MozartOtto Jahn et al. — Novello, Ewer & Co. — 1882
- 56The final edition (2010) of The 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).
- 57See Mozart's birthplace and Tanzmeisterhaus Salzburg
- 58Golden Record ContentsNASA
- 59BookW. A. MozartHermann Abert — Yale University Press — 2007
- 60BookThe Letters of Mozart & His FamilyMacmillan — 1938
- 61BookThe Philosopher's Stone: Essays in the Transformation of Musical StructureBarbara R. Barry — Pendragon Press — 2000
- 62Wolfgang Amadeus MozartDavid Buch — Oxford University Press — 2017
- 63BookMozart: A Documentary BiographyOtto Erich Deutsch — Stanford University Press — 1965
- 64ThesisMozart's Viennese CopyistsDexter Edge — University of Southern California — 2001
- 65BookMozart: New Documents19 February 2022
- 66BookMozart: His Character, His WorkAlfred Einstein — Oxford University Press — 1965
- 67BookNew Mozart Documents: A Supplement to O. E.Deutsch's Documentary BiographyCliff Eisen — Palgrave Macmillan — 1991a
- 68BookMozart StudiesClarendon Press — 1991b
- 69BookThe Cambridge Mozart EncyclopediaCambridge University Press — 2006
- 70Mozart, Wolfgang AmadeusCliff Eisen et al. — Oxford University Press — 2001
- 71Wolfgang Amadeus MozartEnglish National Opera
- 72BookThe Well-Tempered Announcer: A Pronunciation Guide to Classical MusicRobert A Fradkin — Indiana University Press — 1996
- 73BookMozart in PragueDaniel E. Freeman — Calumet Editions — 2021
- 74BookGrove's Dictionary of Music and MusiciansMacmillam Press — 1954
- 75BookMozart: A Cultural BiographyRobert Gutman — Harcourt Brace — 2000
- 76BookThe Mozart Family: Four Lives in a Social ContextRuth Halliwell — Clarendon Press — 1998
- 77JournalBeethovens erste Reise nach Wien: die Datierung seiner Schülerreise zu W.A. MozartDieter Haberl — 2006
- 78BookMusic in European Capitals: The Galant Style, 1720–1780Daniel Heartz — W. W. Norton & Company — 2003
- 79BookMozart, Haydn and early Beethoven, 1781–1802Daniel Heartz — W. W. Norton — 2009
- 80BookThe Cambridge Companion to MozartSimon P. Keefe — Cambridge University Press — 2003
- 81BookThe National Court Theatre in Mozart's Vienna: Sources and Documents, 1783–1792Dorothea Link — Clarendon Press — 1998
- 82Mozart's Apartment on the AlsergrundMichael Lorenz — 9 August 2010
- 83BookThe Letters of Mozart and his FamilyWolfgang Mozart et al. — Macmillan — 1966
- 84BookThe Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, BeethovenCharles Rosen — W. W. Norton & Company — 1998
- 85MagazineThe Storm of Style: Listening to the Complete MozartAlex Ross — July 17, 2006
- 86BookThe New Grove Dictionary of OperaGrove's Dictionaries of Music — 1998
- 87BookThe New Grove Dictionary of Music and MusiciansMacmillan — 1980
- 88BookThe Lives of the Great ComposersHarold C. Schonberg — W. W. Norton — 1981
- 89BookMozart in Revolt: Strategies of Resistance, Mischief, and DeceptionDavid P. Schroeder — Yale University Press — 1999
- 90BookMozart: A LifeMaynard Solomon — HarperCollins — 1995
- 91BookMozart's Letters, Mozart's Life: Selected LettersW. W. Norton — 2000
- 92BookThe Mozart–Da Ponte Operas: The Cultural and Musical Background to Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutteAndrew Steptoe — Clarendon Press — 1990
- 93JournalFive Mozart sonatas revisited K. 279–283/189d–hLaura Rhoades Smith — 1993
- 94BookThe Indispensable Composers: A Personal GuideAnthony Tommasini — Penguin Press — 2018
- 96NewsAfter Mozart's Death, an Endless CodaDaniel J. Wakin — 24 August 2010
- 97BookThe Holy Roman Empire, 1495–1806Peter Hamish Wilson — MacMillan — 1999
- 98BookMozart at the Gateway to His Fortune: Serving the Emperor, 1788–1791Christoph Wolff — Norton — 2012
- 99BookOn MozartNeal Zaslaw — Cambridge University Press — 1994