FREE ESSAY ON MOZART

MOZART

Yekaterina Todika
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was baptized in Salzburg Cathedral on the day after his birth as
Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus. The first and last given names come from his
godfather Joannes Theophilus Pergmayr, although Mozart preferred the Latin form of this
last name, Amadeus, more often Amade, or the Italiano Amadeo. Whatever the case may be,
he rarely-if ever-used Theophilus in his signature. The name Chrysostomus originates from
St. John Chrysostom, whose feast falls on the 27th of January. The name Wolfgang was
given to him in honor of his maternal grandfather, Wolfgang Nikolaus Pertl.
He was the seventh and last child born to musical author, composer and violinist, Leopold
Mozart and his wife Anna Maria Pertl. Only Wolfgang and Maria Anna (whose nickname was
'Nannerl') survived infancy. He was born in a house in the Hagenauersches Haus in
Salzburg, Austria, on the 27th of January, 1756.
The paternal ancestry of the family has been traced back with some degree of certainty to
Fndris Motzhart, who lived in the Augsburg area in 1486; the name is first recorded, for
a Heinrich Motxhart in Fischach, in 1331, and appears in other villages south-west of
Augsburg, notably Heimberg, from 14th century. The surname was spelled in variety of
forms, including Moxarth, Mozhrd and Mozer. His mother's family came mainly from the
Salzburg region, but one branch may be traced to Krems-Stein and Wien. They mostly
followed lower middle-class occupations; some were gardeners.
2
Though Mozart did not walk until he was three years old, he displayed musical gifts at
extremely early age. At the age of four, he could reproduce on the piano a melody played
to him; at five, he could play violin with perfect intonation. According to Norbert
Elias, it took all of thirty minutes for Mozart to master his first musical composition.
The work , a scherzo by Georg Christoph Wagenseiil, had been copied by his father into
Nannerl's notebook. Below it Leopold jotted: "This piece was learned by Walfgangerl on 24
January 1791, 3 days before his 5th birthday, between 9 and 9:30 in the evening". (68) 
Mozart and his sister never attended school because their father dedicatedly and
instructed them at home. Besides music, he taught them German, Italian, Latin, history
science, mathematics and law. According to Ruth Halliwell, recognizing his children's
special abilities, Leopold began to devote extra effort to their education-with an
emphasis on musical instruction. He became a loving, but exacting, taskmaster. Some time
later, he would somewhat ruefully describe to correspondent how from a very early age
Nannerl and Wolfgang had learned to wear the "iron shirt" of discipline. The children
themselves probably never relaxed that life could be any different. Wolfgang, no doubt,
enjoyed the extra attention and found great pleasure in learning-and in pleasing his
father. It was the start of relationship that he would never quite break free of, and the
beginning of a career that would consume him altogether.(38}
When the six-year-old Wolfgang had provided his extraordinary talents at the keyboard,
Leopold was keen to exhibit those talents along with those of his gifted pianists'
daughter, Nannerl. Thus Leopold undertook a four month tour to Vienna and the 
3
surrounding area, visiting every noble house and palace he could find, taking the entire
family with him. Mozart's first know public appearance was at Salzburg University in
September of 1761, when he took part in theatrical performance with music by Eberlin.
Like other parents of this time, Leopold Mozart saw nothing wrong in exhibiting, or in
exploiting, his son's God-given genius for music. He took Walfgang and Nannerl to
Munchen, for about three weeks from January 12th, 1762, where they played the harpsichord
before the Elector of Bavaria. No documentation survived for that journey. Later ones are
better served-Leopold was a prolific correspondent and also kept travel diaries. The next
started on September 18th, 1762, when the entire family set off for Wein; they paused at
Passau and Linz where the young Wolfgang gave his firs public recital at The Trinity Inn,
Linz, on October 1st, 1762. Soon afterwards, he amazed the Empress at Schonbrunn Castel
and all her royal guests with fascinating keyboard tricks; playing with the keys covered
with a cloth, with his hands behind his back, and so on. (Anderson 120). There is also
one funny statistic about Mozart , while in Vienna age the age of six, Mozart appeared
before the Empress Theresa. When he slipped on the floor, the empress's daughter Marie
Antoinette, who was only two month older then Mozart, helped him up, whereupon he
immediately proposed to marry her. She apparently waited for better offer.
As young Mozart's reputation grew, his father realized the financial opportunities then
could arise from increased exposure of his son's talents. From than time on, Wolfgang and
his sister spent much of their childhood traveling through Europe. The 
4
rulers of Europe and England were astounded by Wolfgang's abilities of composition,
improvisations, and sight reading. During a large European concert tour (1763-66) the
Mozart children displayed their talents to audiences in Germany, in Paris, at court in
Versailles, and in London (where Wolfgang wrote his first symphonies and was befriend by
Johann Christian Bach, whose musical influence on Wolfgang was profound). In Paris,
Wolfgang published his first works, four sonatas for clavier with accompanying violin
(1764). In 1768 he composed his first opera, La finta semplice, for Vienna, but intrigues
prevented its performance, and it was first presented a year later at Salzburg.
Toward the close of 1769, the Mozarts made their first journey to Italy by horse
carriage, a journey crowned with glory and partly financed by Prince Archbishop of
Salzburg. In Mantua, they attended a concert of the Philharmonic orchestra, which
performed a few of Wolfgang's compositions in his honor. In Milano, Wolfgang was
commissioned to compose an opera seria for the following year. Their next stop, Bologna
brought Mozart into contact with the great Martini, who welcomed the young genius with
open arms of admiration and respect. Martini gave the young boy lessons in counterpoint
and he also becomes a member of the Society Academia Philharmonic. In Roma, there took
place that phenomenal proof of Mozart's genius, which has frequently been quoted. Young
Mozart attended a performance of the celebrated Miserere of Allegri, which could be heard
only in Roma during Holy Week performed by the papal choir. By papal decree it was
forbidden to sing the work elsewhere, and its only existing copy was guarded slavishly by
the papal choir. Any attempt to copy the song or reproduce it in any form 
5
was punishable by excommunication. Mozart, however, had heard the work only ones when,
returning home, he reproduced it in its entirety upon paper (this pies is long and
extremely complex, with double-orchestra, organ and conflicting choral parts.) No one has
ever been able to dream of duplicating this feat, even on a much smaller scale. This
incomparable feat soon became the subject of awed whispers in Roma. The Pope summoned
Mozart, but instead of punishing the young genius, he showed praise upon him and gave him
handsome gift. A few months later, Pope Clemens XIV bestowed upon Mozart the Cross of the
Order of the Golden Spur. Although he achieved much fame and even become honorary
conductor in Verona, his father's efforts for employment in Italy fail. (Schenk 189).
Also, during his tour in Italy Mozart met an English boy Thomas Linley, they were much
alike and felt like brothers. Thomas too was prodigy, whose father manage his and his
older sister's music career. Thomas and Walfgang become very closed. They were very
famous in Italy and called "The young Geniuses of the Age". Thomas played the violin so
brilliant that Wolfgang often dreamed of them touring together as adults. Tragically,
Wolfgang's friend drowned in a boating accident when he was only fourteen years old. 
After returning home for a short stay, Mozart were back in Italy to fulfill his
commission for Milano and bring to complete his opera seria, Mitridate, re di Ponte. At
the performance of Mitridate, re di Ponte on Christmas day of 1770, the work was a
phenomenal success. According to Otto Erich Deutsch, one of the soprano arias, contrary
to all precedent, was encored. Cheers greeted the diminutive composer as he reached the 
6
stage. The newspapers commented upon then "rarest musical grace" and that "studied
beauty" which seemed to be Wolfgang's intuitive idiom. (44).
Except for two brief intermissions, Mozart remained in Salzburg whose limited
intellectual world chafed him considerably. The political and social changes resulting
from the installation of the new Archbishop of Salzburg forced Mozart to lead a highly
restricted life, which in turn generated friction between the young compositor and the
strict Archbishop. Moreover, his musical labor at the Court of the Archbishop was an
endless humiliation. He was the principal composer and virtuoso at the Court, but his
salary was so meager and his work so unappreciated that each day was a test of his
patience and willingness to tolerate insult. His fellow musicians at the Court were
dissolute scoundrels, whose musical tastes were vulgar and whose interests centered upon
gambling and drink. 
Mozart traveled for third time to Italy, mainly because of the premier of the opera
"Lucio Silla" in Milan. During the carnival of 1773 the work was performed a staggering
26 times. After this the family returned to Vienna, as the Mozart still could not obtain
a secure position at court. Disappointed and downtrodden, the Mozart return home to
Salzburg, where he wrote countless symphonies, serenades, divertimento, five concertos
for violin, "II Re pastor", as well as part of "Idomeneo". (Zaslaw 281) 
In the fall of 1774 Mozart composed the opera buffa "La finita giardiniera". The work was
premiered in Munich on January 13, 1775 under Mozart's baton: however, there were only
two more performances. It was, therefore, with a yearning heart that 
7
Wolfgang dream of escaping from Salzburg. A new extensive tour was planned for Mozart in
1776, but the music world was this time not so easily conquered by Mozart. He was now
twenty years old-child prodigy no longer. The music world had in the past lavished its
adoration upon a little pug-nosed child who could achieve miraculous musical feast and
dazzle them with specially crafted parlor ticket. Now that child had entered manhood, he
had lost his great apparel. 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was one of the greatest composers the world has ever see. Mozart
is much in evidence today. His music is heard in TV commercials and he has entered our
pop mythology as the crass innocent of Peter Schaeffer's Amadeus. His music is reputed to
make one smarter.
8
List of Bibliography.
Anderson, Emily, ed. The Letters of Mozart and His Family. New York, 1985
Deutsch, Otto Erich. Mozart: A Documentary Biography. Stanford, 1965
Elias, Norbert. Mozart: Portrait of a Genius. Berkeley, 1993
Halliwell, Ruth. The Mozart Family: Four Lives in a Social Context. Oxford, 1998
Schenk, Erich. Mozart and His Times. New York, 1959
Zaslaw, Neal. Mozart's Symphonies. Oxford, 1989