Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791, Austrian)

Mozart came from a very musical family. His father, Leopold, was a well-respected composer, so he took it upon himself to teach Wolfgang piano, violin, and music theory at a very young age. He wrote his first piano concerto at age 4 and was writing symphonies and operas by the time he turned 11. In addition to his compositional skills, Mozart was considered a musical prodigy performing concerts at the piano all across Europe.

For 12 years Mozart worked for the Archbishop of Salzburg and then moved on to Vienna where he befriended and studied with Haydn. Composition was easy for Mozart, musical ideas were in his head fully formed, and it was just a matter of writing them down. He could write a minuet and trio in a matter of minutes.

Listen to the example below:

 

Mozart composed over 600 works including:

• 21 stage and opera works
• 15 Masses
• 50+ symphonies
• 25 piano concertos
• 12 violin concertos
• 27 concert arias
• 17 piano sonatas
• 26 string quartets
• Many other pieces

Mozart’s style was unique for his time. His music, like his contemporaries, was not understood to the level we understand it today.

Listen to the following examples below:

Mozart: Serenade No. 13 for Strings in G Major: “A Little Night Music” (2 minute clip).

 

 

Attribution: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons The Al Goldstein collection in the Pandora Music repository at ibiblio.org. Selections from the season 05-06 of the Advent Chamber Orchestra, Roxanna Pavel Goldstein, Musical Director, Elias Goldstein, Managing Director.

 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Clarinet Concerto - 1. Allegro (3 minute clip)

 

 

Attribution: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. The Al Goldstein collection in the Pandora Music repository at ibiblio.org. Performance: William McColl, using a basset clarinet of his own construction, and the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra conducted by Abraham Kaplan.

 

Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C Major, “Jupiter,” Movement 1 (2 minute clip)

 

 

Attribution: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons The open source audio collection 78 RPMs & Cylinder Recordings.