A virtuoso pianist with 30 years of performance experience lived only 35 years, yet by the age of 20, he had already become the most renowned composer in Europe, achieving recognition across all musical genres of his time. Just imagine how much more this unique talent could have contributed to humanity’s “eternal music” if he had spent his allotted time on immortal creativity rather than searching for those who needed it.
“A Miracle from God”
Out of seven children in this family, only two survived. The birth of a son on January 27, 1756, nearly cost his mother her life, and the newborn was so frail that he was hastily baptized on the second day. His father named the son, who clung to life, “God’s miracle” or “Beloved of God” – which is the meaning of his name Theophilus or Amadeus from the Greek and Latin versions (one in honor of his grandfather, the other for his baptism).
The son of a violinist and composer in the court chapel of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was indeed “kissed by God.” This left-handed prodigy learned to write and read music before he could distinguish letters. From a young age, Mozart had such a keen sense of hearing that the sound of trumpets caused him physical pain. By the age of three, the gifted child had mastered the clavier and harpsichord, and at four, he flawlessly played his violin part in a family string trio: he taught himself to play the violin by watching his older sister’s musical exercises. At just five years old, Mozart performed pieces on keyboard and string instruments with the skill of a professional, and by six, he was already touring the world with his sister, performing for nobility and royalty.
Father teaching young Wolfgang to play the piano. Artist: Ebenezer Crawford (19th century)
This extraordinary talent robbed the young genius of his childhood, as his early years were consumed by a grueling concert schedule, lengthy performances, and encounters with potential patrons and sponsors. During an extensive tour, young Mozart contracted scarlet fever, caught smallpox, which left unsightly scars on his pale face, and subsequently fell ill with typhoid fever after his sister. According to doctors, the excessive strain on his young body exacerbated the health issues of the naturally frail Mozart (he was small and slight), potentially pushing acute infections into chronic stages and hastening his premature death.
Music Without Borders
To accompany his son and daughter on their travels across various countries, their father, Leopold Mozart, even took a three-year leave from the archbishop. However, the journeys through the royal and princely courts of Europe stretched on for decades. The esteemed employer could not tolerate such insubordination and dismissed Leopold with the words: “Let him go; I no longer need him.”
In the geography of their months-long travels, the first major tour included Vienna (where, in a few decades, another great composer, Ludwig van Beethoven, would end his earthly journey; of whom our subject said in 1787: “Everyone will talk about this young man!”), Munich, Linz, Pressburg (Bratislava), Paris, London, The Hague, Lyon, Geneva, and Brno. The mentor’s strategy was to introduce influential people to the virtuoso performer for future promotion as a composer. The young talent astonished audiences with unprecedented performance feats: playing music in reverse note order from memory, flawlessly playing on covered keys with his eyes closed, facing away from the instrument, and even lying on a bench.
At the age of 13, after visiting the Sistine Chapel, Mozart reproduced the Miserere by Gregorio Allegri that he had heard in Rome, copying the Vatican’s closely guarded property from memory. Possessing phenomenal musical hearing, memory, and improvisational skills, he was a “world star” from childhood, and by 14, he became the youngest member of the Bologna Philharmonic Academy and a knight of the Order of the Golden Spur.
Half of all his symphonies were composed between the ages of 8 and 19. Yet, the author of musical masterpieces did not attend school: his father taught him everything he needed to know. Besides musical notation, the self-taught son knew almost all European languages, including German, English, Italian, Spanish, French, Polish, Bohemian (Czech), Dutch, Russian, Turkish, as well as Ancient Greek, Latin, and Biblical Hebrew. This helped him work not only in his homeland: Mozart spent half of his life (14 out of 35 years) outside Austria.
The Mozart family. On the wall – a portrait of the mother. Artist: Johann Nepomuk della Croce, 1780.
Horse, Bowling, Minuet
Unlike his sister, the pianist who stopped performing upon marriage, Wolfgang Amadeus actively played and conducted. At the height of his fame, the distinguished composer and instrumentalist had no shortage of students and fees: income from published works and concert subscriptions allowed him to rent expensive housing and maintain staff (the household included a maid, cook, and hairdresser). Mozart acquired a luxurious piano, a billiard table, and even his own carriage. His favorites included a horse, a dog, a starling, and a canary. The composer enjoyed horseback rides in the park, played bowling, danced the minuet well, and sang confidently. The tenor wanted to tie his life to an opera singer, the daughter of a double bassist with whom he once lodged, but she married someone else, and Mozart married her younger sister.
In his marriage to Constanze Weber, the daughter of a theatrical double bassist, six children were born over eight years, but four infants died (unfortunately, those named after Mozart’s father and mother: it is known that Leopold Mozart disapproved of his son’s choice and did not consent to the union). The two surviving sons, Karl Thomas and Franz Xaver, also became musicians but lived their lives without wives and did not continue the Mozart lineage. The elder son Wolfgang Amadeus managed to pay for prestigious schooling in Perchtoldsdorf, while his younger brother had to be raised by his widow alone (she would remarry only after 18 years).
Wolfgang and Constanze. 19th-century postcard.
In his attempts to bring his works to the opera stage, Mozart worked on individual arias for the operas of colleagues and eventually secured an imperial commission for his own opera. Although his “The Marriage of Figaro” was not appreciated by opera lovers in Vienna, the composer found satisfaction in Prague, where the production was a success. After the triumphant return to Vienna, the emperor offered him support, and Mozart found himself in the position of imperial musician (which had become vacant after the death of his predecessor). For an annual salary of 800 florins, the composer was to write masquerade and dance music. And this was the last good news in his career.
The theater in Prague, where the world premieres of the operas “Don Giovanni” and “La Clemenza di Tito” took place.
From Major to Minor
Starting in 1787, the number of the composer’s “academies” rapidly declined, and the following year, due to a lack of subscribers, they disappeared altogether. Finances began to “sing romances” also due to the public’s rejection of Mozart’s second opera on the Vienna stage – “Don Giovanni.” Two moves to cheaper housing (including suburban areas) indicated Mozart’s growing financial difficulties. The tragedy of the situation was compounded by the death of his newborn daughter and his wife’s illness, for which she was prescribed recovery at a resort (she would live to 80 years and, unlike her husband, would be buried next to his father, who never reconciled with such a daughter-in-law during his lifetime).
Mozart addressed a series of bitter pleas for help to a wealthy friend and brother in the Masonic lodge, while in just a year and a half during the summer of 1788, he created three of his best symphonies: the 39th, 40th, and 41st. However, they brought no money, as timely concert performances could not be organized. By the end of the year, the composer arranged others’ works for home performances at the request of his patron Baron van Swieten. It was he who buried Mozart in a common grave without marking his name, making it impossible to find the composer’s remains just seven years after his burial.
After the death of Emperor Joseph II in 1790, Mozart offered himself to the new monarch Leopold II for the position of second Kapellmeister (deputy to Antonio Salieri), emphasizing his extensive experience with sacred music. The composer never received a response. Later, Mozart requested an unpaid position as assistant to the gravely ill Kapellmeister of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, with the prospect of eventually taking over the Kapellmeister position, but the ailing Kapellmeister outlived Mozart.
“The Last Hours of Mozart,” painting by H. N. O’Neil, 1860s.
At the end of his life, the “national pride of Austria” had only two students left. Mozart was not invited to perform for King Ferdinand or at the coronation of Leopold II, which felt humiliating. In the fall, Wolfgang Amadeus went on concert tours to Frankfurt am Main, and on the way back, he performed in Mainz, Mannheim, and Munich. During this time, his wife was moving their belongings to a new address, where she soon remained alone with their two sons and the debts of her deceased husband. On December 5, 1791, Mozart passed away.