Mozart Essay

1067 Words3 Pages

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
By Daniel Bessonov

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Germany. Born to Leopold Mozart, a violinist and a minor composer, learning music was a must for Amadeus. He was the youngest of seven children, even though most of his brothers and sisters died in early childhood. His eldest sister, Maria “Nannerl” Anna, began keyboard lessons at the age of seven with her father, while three-year-old Amadeus watched and listened. This acted as the first footstep for young Mozart’s long musical journey.

At the mere age of four, Amadeus was already able to learn complicated pieces in under a half hour, and play the clavier (keyboard) extremely well. As his musical and composing skills developed further and further, at the mere age of eight, he wrote his first couple symphonies. Now constantly traveling all over Europe with his father (starting in Munich in 1762), Amadeus started to make a name for himself as a young, musical prodigy. However, not only did Mozart make a name for himself on these tours, he also absorbed and learned various European musical playing and composing styles, which eventually had great effect on his mature playing and composing styles.
In the mid-1763, Mozart’s father, Leopold, decided to leave his position as deputy Kapellmeister (which was quite well paying) , so he and his family could set out on a prolonged tour across Europe. Not surprisingly, soon the Mozarts’ set out on the tour, where Amadeus and his sister played at almost all the main musical centers of Western Europe: Munich, Stuttgart, Augsburg, Mannheim, Brussels, Frankfurt, Mainz, Paris, and London (where the Mozart’s spent 15 months). They returned to Salzburg only in November 1766, being ...

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... passed away. The reason for his death is unidentified, however an extremely popular hypothesis is that he died of a severe rheumatic fever, something he suffered many times during his life.

Mozart left behind a legacy that can not be measured by simply words. Even at the time of his death, he was already considered one of the greatest composers of all time, not mentioning he wrote 626 pieces in only 35 years. Hundreds of his works also later influenced composers like Beethoven, Kuhalu, Hadyn, and many others. Not only that, Mozart also developed the forms of operas, symphonies, string ensembles, and concertos that we know today. Many of Mozart’s compositions, including short pieces, sonatas, sonatinas, operas, and etudes are used today on television, in plays, and even in modern music. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart impacted the musical world for eternity and beyond.

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