Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the most popular composer of all time, whose precocity and inspiration never cease to amaze, elevated the sonata, concerto, symphony and opera to the classical perfection of his time, synthesizing galant and savant styles, and endowing his works with harmonic audacity and humanistic expressivity that heralded Romanticism. Born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, in the Holy Roman Empire, Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart was the youngest of Leopold Mozart's seven children, and the only survivor along with his equally talented sister Maria Anna, known as "Nannerl". A composer and choirmaster, his father noticed his precocious talent at an early age, noting his mastery of the harpsichord from the age of four. Gifted with an absolute ear and an eidetic memory, little Mozart composed his first pieces at the age of five, including minuets, and went on to learn the violin, organ and composition. Eager to promote his children's talents, Leopold Mozart obtained a leave of absence from the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg and organized a "Grand Tour" across Europe from 1762 to 1766, visiting Munich, Vienna, Augsburg, Mannheim, Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris, Versailles, London, The Hague, Amsterdam, Dijon, Lyon, Geneva and Lausanne. During this tour, the prodigy improvised on the harpsichord, played blindfolded and composed on demand. In London, Johann Christian Bach introduced him to the fortepiano and Italian opera. By the time he returned, the young Mozart had already amassed a collection of sonatas for violin and keyboard, written eleven symphonies and set to work on his first opera, Apollo and Hyacinthus (1767), followed by Bastien and Bastienne (1768) and La finta semplice (1769). Appointed Konzertmeister at the age of thirteen by his father's employer, Sigismund de Schrattenbach, the young Mozart held this position for eleven years. From 1770 to 1773, his father took him on three trips to Italy. In Rome, he transcribed Allegri's Miserere from memory after a single performance, and Pope Clement XIV made him a knight of the Order of the Golden Spur. Mozat studies counterpoint in Bologna with Padre Martini, who admits him to the Accademia Filarmonica. His study of Italianopera seria led him to compose Mitridate, re di Ponto (1770) and Lucio Silla (1772). In Salzburg, Mozart, who was now in the service of the new Prince-Archbishop Hyeronimus von Colloredo-Mansfeld, imposing a certain rigor on his official compositions, redoubled his activity and asserted his own style, notably in the dazzling Symphony no. 25 in G minor (1773), the "Milanese" String Quartets (1772-1773), the five Violin Concertos (1773-1775), the Piano Concerto No. 9 "Jeunehomme" (1777), the Concerto for flute and harp (1778), the Piano Sonatas of 1774-1775, and the operas La finta giardiniera and Il re pastore (1775). His friendship with Joseph Haydn in Vienna was tinged with mutual admiration, and the master of classical form was effusive in his praise. On August 1, 1777, fed up with the rules imposed on him, Mozart sent his resignation to Colloredo, who immediately dismissed him for his repeated absences. In search of a position, he canvassed Munich and Augsburg, then Mannheim, where he fell in love with the singer Aloysia Weber, and finally Paris, where his mother, who had been accompanying him, died in July 1778. The Piano Sonata no. 8 in A minor evokes her death. In vain, Mozart returned to Salzburg in January 1779, where his father had persuaded Colloredo to take him back into his service, adding to his job as Konzertmeister the functions of organist and composer of religious and secular music. In addition to the Coronation Mass (1779), he showed great maturity in works such as the Symphonie concertante for violin and viola (1779), the Sérénade n° 10 "Gran Partita" for winds (1781) and his last choral score, the Vêpres solennelles d'un confesseur (1780) with its Laudate Dominum. In November 1780, he travelled to Munich at the request of the Elector of Bavaria, who commissioned his opera Idomeneo, re di Creta, completed in January 1781. He then left for Vienna, where he had yet another confrontation with Colloredo, who forbade him to perform outside of his duties and asked him to return to Salzburg, which Mozart refused to do. Dismissed by a kick in the posterior, Mozart spent the last ten years of his life in Vienna as an independent composer, giving concerts and lessons and publishing his scores. He wrote variations on the French song "Ah! vous dirais-je, maman" and composed the German-language opera The Abduction from the Seraglio (1782) for Emperor Joseph II, which proved a success. In August 1782, he married Aloysia Weber's younger sister, Constance, who bore him six children, two of whom survived beyond childhood: Karl Thomas and Franz Xaver Wolfgang, who also became a composer. Influenced by Bach, he wrote the Grande Messe in C minor (1783), which he left unfinished, before paying tribute to Haydn with a series of six string quartets. Other major works followed in rapid succession, including Symphony no. 35 "Haffner " (1782), no. 36 "Linz " (1783) and no. 38 "Prague" (1786); Piano Concertos no. 20 and no. 21 (1785), no. 23 (1786) and no. 26 "Coronation " (1788); Piano Sonatas no. 11 "alla Turca" (1783), no. 14 (1784) and no. 16 "Sonate facile" (1788); Fantasy no. 4 in C minor (1785); Serenade no. 13 "Une petite musique de nuit" (1787); Horn Concertos from 1782 to 1786. In December 1784, sensitive to the ideas of the Enlightenment, Mozart joined Freemasonry and attained the rank of Master; he composed a Maurerische Trauermusik(Masonic Funeral March, 1785), before the references for the opera The Magic Flute. He met the Venetian poet and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, with whom he collaborated on the trilogy of operas and masterpieces Le nozze di Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787) - influenced by the death of his father - and Così fan tutte (1790). Despite his success in Prague, where he was more highly regarded than in Vienna and appointed musician to the imperial and royal chambers until the death of Joseph II, Mozart accumulated debts and lost his position with the arrival of Leopold II. The year 1788 was the year of his last symphonies, forming a trilogy with n° 39, n° 40 in G minor and, as an apotheosis, n° 41 "Jupiter". Financial difficulties were compounded by illness in a last year that was still very productive, with the singspiel (half-sung, half-spoken opera), The Magic Flute, commissioned by his friend Emmanuel Schikaneder for his popular theater on the outskirts of Vienna, followed by La Clemenza di Tito for Leopold II, a final Piano Concerto no. 27; the Clarinet Concerto in A major and a final commission from Count Walsegg for the famous Requiem, left unfinished when Mozart died of a fever on the night of December 5, 1791, aged thirty-five years, ten months and eight days. In 1862, Austrian musicologist Ludwig von Köchel drew up a chronological catalog of Mozart's works, listed with the abbreviation K. or KV, up to the Requiem (KV 626). This inventory, which still serves as a reference, has since been extended to include variants and fragments up to KV 721 in 2024, bringing the total to 893 works.