Mozart and Beethoven: A Comparison of Lives and Music In 1747 Leopold Mozart married Maria Anna Pertl. Leopold and Maria Anna would have seven children, two of who would survive. Maria Anna born in 1752 who the family called Nannerl . Then in 1756 Wolfgang Amadeus who was nicknamed Wolfgangerl. Wolfgang Amadeus was not his original birth name it was shortened to this from Joannes Chrisostomos Wolfgangus Gottlieb. It is little wonder even two of the children survived; “Given Leopolds insistence that they be brought up on a diet of water and gruel, the wonder is that any survived at all.” (Siepmann, Mozart His life and Music) Leopold Mozart was very musical himself and was a skilled violinist, composer and an author. He wrote a well received publication on the art of playing the violin. He began teaching Nannerl music when Mozart was 3 years old. Mozart would play after his sister’s lessons were finished and by the time he was four he could play pieces from memory. By the time Mozart was five years old he made his first debut at Salzburg University. Shortly following this debut Mozart and Nannerl would begin touring with their father. In 1762 the two children went to Munich to play for Elector Maximillian III and then to play in the royal court of Vienna. Wolfgang contracted scarlet fever while in Vienna and his father was noted at saying “This affair has cost me fifty ducats at least” (Siepmann, Mozart His life and Music) Wolfgang suffered a phobia of trumpets, when he was ten years old his father sought to cure young Wolfgang of this affliction by having Johann Schachtner blow one in his direction, Wolgang collapsed in fear. From 1763 to 1766 Leopold took his children on an extensive European tour starting in Salzburg... ... middle of paper ... ...ans. Listen to This. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2009. Canada, Arts Alive. "ArtsAlive.ca - Music : Great Composers." Arts Alive Canada. 01 June 2010 . Institute, California Technical. "CalTech." 01 June 2010 . Keys, Ivor. Mozart His Music in his Life. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1980. Robbins - Landon, H.C. Beethoven. New York: MacMillan, 1970. Siepmann, Jeremy. Beethoven His Life & Music. Napierville: Sourcebooks MediaFusion, 2006. —. Mozart His life and Music. Naperville: Sourcebooks MediaFusion, 2006. Think Quest. "Thinkquest.org." 29 May 2010 . ThinkQuest. "Thinkquest.org." 29 May 2010 .
On January 27th, 1756, at 9 Getreidegasse in Salzburg, Austria, a Jupiter among mere men and composers was born. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born the son of Anna Maria (1720-1778) and Leopold Mozart (1719-1787), a composer, teacher, and the fourth violinist for Count Leopold Anton von Firmian. Already learning to play the keyboard at a mere age of three years old, Mozart would learn by sight as he watched his seven year old sister took lessons from her music teacher. As Mozart got older and started to develop as a player and composer, his traveled with his father around Europe performing as a child ...
Mozart had begun to dislike being confined as an assistant concert master, so he decided to travel with his mother to places like Mannheim, Paris, and Munich. However, the jobs he tried to get never worked out, so he was running low on money. He had to start selling his personal belongings to pay for his trips. In 1778, his mother got sick and died so Mozart had to return home to a job as a court organist. When Mozart retuned home, he was summoned to Vienna by Archbishop von Colloredo where he treated Mozart as a servant. It took Mozart a while before he was able to
small pieces of music by himself. In 1762, Leopold took Nannerl and Mozart, ages 11 and 6
The result of Mozart's discovered genius was not only the praise of hundreds across Europe during his childhood tour, but also the ever-watchful eye of Leopold Mozart, his ambitious and needy father. Because of Leopold's need to protect and constantly supervise his prized instrument, Mozart, Leopold grew dependent on his son and never ceased to remind Mozart of it. Eventually, like most child prodigies, the greater the parent's anxiety and the greater the pressure he puts on the child, the more internally resentful and conflicted the child becomes, stunting his transition into a grown man. In Leopold's letter to his wife and Mozart on September 25, 1777 from Salzburg, Leopold reminds Mozart to "ask for letters of recommendation and especially for a letter from the Bishop of Chiemsee." Leopold knows exactly how to reap profits and network through Mozart and doesn't fail to capitalize on that fact, even when Leopold is in Salzburg while Mozart is miles away on tour in Europe. After the tragic death of Maria Anna, Leopold Mozart's letter to his son on August 3, 1778 in Salzburg puts a large weight on Mozart, and even goes as far as to blame his son for Maria Anna's death. Realizing Mozart is no longer under strict scrutiny of a family member in close proximity, Leopold goes on to say, "rest assured, my dearest son, that if you stay away, I shall die much sooner." The situation Leopold presents his son is a complex one. Mozart is a young man seeking independence and fame now that his family is not following his every footstep, but his father has grown more dependent on Mozart than ever. Mozart is more internally conflicted between his ambitions and family obligations as ever, as he writes to his friend Abbe Bullinger on August 7, 1778: "You say that I should now think only of my father and that I should disclose all my thoughts to him with entire frankness and put my trust in him.
So when the six-year-old Wolfgang had proved his extraordinary talents at the keyboard, Leopold was keen to exhibit those talents along with those of his gifted pianist daughter, Nannerl. Thus Leopold undertook a four month tour of Vienna and the surrounding area, visiting every noble house and palace he could find, taking the entire family with him. Mozart's first known public appearance was at Salzburg University in September of 1761, when he took part in a theatrical performance with music by Eberlin. Like other parents of his time, Leopold Mozart saw nothi...
Wolfgang never attended school; his father took him to concert tours through much of Europe. Wolfgang composed, gave public performances, met many musicians and played the organ in many churches. In 1769, like his father before him, he began working for the archbishop of Salzburg, who also ruled the province. The Mozarts often quarreled with the archbishop, partly because Wolfgang was often absent from Salzburg. The archbishop dismissed young Mozart in 1781. Mozart was actually glad to leave Salzburg, a small town, and seek his fortune in Vienna , one of the music capitals in Europe. By this time people tool less notice of him because he was no longer a child prodigy. However, he was a brilliant performer and active as an orchestrator. Much to his father’s dismay, Mozart married Constanze Weber from Germany in 1782. He did not have a regular job in Vienna and tried to earn a living by selling his compositions, giving public performances, and giving music lessons. None of these activities produced enough income to support his family. He even traveled to Germany for the coronation of a new emperor, but his concerts there did not attract as much attention as he had hoped. He died in poverty on December 5, 1791. He was given a cheap funeral at ...
Mozart was born to a deputy Kapellmeister to the court orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg. Leopold, Mozart’s father, was also a minor composer and teacher. Mozart’s musical abilities were first noticed when he showed great interest in the music lessons of his older sister. By the age of five, the Mozart family was touring European courts. The young Mozart showed great ability in the playing and composition of small pieces, many of which were transcribed by his father, and survive today. Eventually, Leopold gave up his own composing to concentrate on the talents of his young son. Leopold was also the early teacher of all of Mozart’s studies. After extensive touring from 1762 to 1773, Mozart was given employ at the Salzburg court at the age of 17. There, he had the op...
Wolfgang started learning music at a very early age from his dad Leopold, who was a violin player. At the age of six he began composing and by eight he had written symphonies. His father toured Mozart and his sister around for the entertainment of nobles across Europe. From 1963 to 1973 Mozart went on tour with his father and family. He performed both publicly and privately for nobles of the time and often was asked to write music for weddings and other special occasions. While his father was often inflexible and hard to deal with, the tours that he went on were mostly improvised. “In 1777 Wolfgang went on a tour with his mother to Munich, Mannheim, and Paris. It was in Paris that his mother died suddenly in July, 1778. With no prospects of a job, Mozart dejectedly returned to Salzburg in 1779 and became court organist to the Archbishop.”(Sherrane, 1.2)
Mozart’s father Leopold Mozart was a somewhat know composer and violinist who recognized Wolfgang’s talent for the piano early in his life. The father quit his job to make sure that his son could meet the best musical education possible, however he was not only thinking of the well-being of his son, he was also focusing on the financial benefits that could come from his young prodigy son. Wolfgang also had a very musically talented sister, Maria Anna; their father took them both on concert tours all over Europe, starting when Wolfgang was six years old. Maria Anna eventually decided to quit touring, possibly because she lived under her brothers shadow, and realized that, because she was a woman, her musical opportunities were limited. While Wolfgang was touring Europe, his mother became very ill...
In 1790, Mozart received money for his published works. Mozart was asked to compose a comic opera, asked to write requiem mass and asked to write opera to celebrate coronation where Mozart accepted all three requests. The comic opera was a great success, however the coronation opera was not a great success for Mozart. For the requiem, it was unfinished because he died writing it. Mozart had a tragic death, he became increasingly unwell with visions of his own death. Mozart was obsessed with the requiem. Mozart became ill while in Prague in September but was in good spirits and optimistic about the future. In November of 1791, Mozart became more ill and was confined to the bed. Mozart lived until age 35. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died on December 5, 1791 at 1:00am in Vienna. “Severe miliary fever” was the certified cause and later “rheumatic inflammatory fever” was named. He had a simple funeral and buried in a multiple grave which is the normal thing at the time in Vienna. After death, Constanze got music finished and published. Mozart had many different accomplishments throughout his life. He became a freemason in December of 1784, because accepted by Joseph Haydn and Joseph the 2nd, Mozart also earned his father’s
In 1762 the Mozart children played at court in Vienna; the Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor Francis I, received them cordially. Later the Mozart children displayed (1763-66) their talents to audiences in Germany, in Paris, at court in Versailles, and in London (where Wolfgang wrote his first symphonies and was befriended by Johann Christian Bach, whose musical influence on Wolfgang was profound). In Paris the young Mozart 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. In 1769-70, Leopold and Wolfgang undertook a tour through Italy. This first Italian trip culminated in a new opera, Mitridate, re di Ponto, composed for Milan. In two further Italian journeys he wrote two more operas for Milan, Ascanio in Alba (1771) and Lucio Silla (1772).
He was a great young composer that transformed into a genius that was able to write music in the short periods of time he had during the day and was able to rewrite the musical rules. After being very successful in his early years, Mozart grew little older and started looking at things in a bigger picture. He tried to fit in on many different things including languages of others. The “Magic Flute” that was written at the end of his short life is known as the ultimate expression of Mozart’s ambition to connect with the human life and the human emotion through music as well as theater. At 25 years old, Mozart is no longer a prodigy but has not proved to be an amateur composer. In Provincial Salzburg is where Mozart is still living with his father and sister. Mozart is going to Munich because they have commissioned him to write an Italian opera in a serious style. Mozart’s father said he gave Wolfgang the advice to never neglect the popular style for the unmusical public as the musical ones. Leopold agreed to be Mozart’s middle man between the poets but he didn’t know that this would be his last detailed involvement in one of Mozart’s projects. Mozart’s father said they worked every day on the poems but Mozart was determined about something totally different than his father. He had problems with everything his father done. Whether it was too long or not dramatic enough, it would never suit his needs. His
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was undoubtedly one of the greatest composers of not only the classical era, but of all time. On January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria, Mozart was born into an already musically talented family. His father Leopold, a composer and musician, and sister Nannerl toured parts of Europe giving many successful performances, including some before royalty. At the young age of 17, Mozart was appointed Konzertmeister at the Salzburg Court. It was there that young Mozart composed two successful operas: “Mitridate” and “Lucio Silla”. In 1981 he was dismissed from his position at the Salzburg Court. He went on to compose over 600 works including 27 piano Concertos, 18 Masses (including his most famous, the Requiem), and 17 piano sonatas. Mozart was not often known for having radical form or harmonic innovation but rather, most of his music had a natural flow, repetition and simple harmonic structure.
Mozart was born on Jan. 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria. His father was Leopold Mozart, a composer and a popular violinist. Mozart received his early musical training from his father. At the early age of 3 Mozart showed signs of being a musical genius. Then, at the age of five Mozart started composing. Beginning in 1762 Mozart’s father took young Mozart and his older sister, Maria Anna, on tours in Europe where they played the piano, harpsichord, violin, and organ, together and separately. Mozart learned to play the piano, harpsichord, and violin from his father. He gave public concerts and played at numerous courts and received several commissions.