Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a prodigal. When he was five he could
play the violion and the piano and he started composing. In
1762 he performed before Maria Theresia. In 1764 and 1765 he
visited Johann Christian Bach in London. When he was seventeen
years old he became a court musician in Salzburg.
But
he was restless and travelled a lot. In 1777 he visited Mannheim
where he met the Weber familly. He fell in love with their oldest
daughter Aloisia, but she rejected him. They moved on to Paris
where his mother died on 3 Jul 1778. In Paris Mozart met J.S.
Bach again. They had met before when Mozart was still a child.
In
1781 he visited Vienna and at that time he was dismissed from
his position in Salzburg after a quarrel that also turned his
father Leopold against him. In Vienna he stayed with the Weber
family and this time he courted the third daughter, Constanze.
They married on 4 Aug 1782 after Leopold reluctantly consented.
His opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" was an instant success
in 1782.
IIn Vienna he befriended Joseph Haydn. Between
1782 and 1785 he gave successful piano concerts and he rented
an expensive appartment. In 1784 he became a freemason.
His
opera's "The Marriage of Figaro" (1786) and "Don Giovanni" (1787)
were both successful. By 1788 his financial position had worsened.
Austria was at war and the aristocracy spent little money on
music. They moved from central Vienna to Alsergrund, but Mozart
continued spending money and had to borrow from others. In 1789
and 1790 he gave concerts all over Germany but his financial
circumstances hardly improved.
Constanze took over
the financial dealings of the household and by 1791 things finally
improved. Mozart composed "The Magic Flute" and he was reducing
his debts. When he was in Prague for the premiere of "La clemenza
di Tito" he fell ill. He was able to conduct the premiere on
30 Sep 1791, but in November his condition worsened. He was
nursed by Constanze and her sister Sophie, but he died on 5
Dec 1791 in Vienna. The exact nature of the illness that killed
him is unknown.
He was buried in a common grave, but
this was not because he was very poor. It was simply customary
in middle class families at the time. After his death Constanze
managed to publish his work and opganised memorial concerts.
By the time his star was rising again it was no longer possible
to trace the exact spot of his burial. A memorial was erected
near the place in later years.
Family
• Son: Mozart, Carl Thomas
• Wife: Weber, Constanze (1782-1791, Wien: Stephansdom)
Related persons
• had work performed by Artôt de Padilla, Lola
• was a friend of Dusek, Frantisek Xaver
• was a friend of Duskova, Josefina
• visited Farinelli
• has a connection with Haibel-Weber, Sophie
• was admired by Hanslick, Eduard
• was a friend of Haydn, Joseph
• was teacher of Hummel, Johann Nepomuk
• was written about by Kolb, Annette
• was written about by Nissen, Georg Nikolaus
• was written about by Paumgartner, Bernhard
• met Pichler, Karoline
• knew Salieri, Antonio
• was sculpted by Schwanthaler, Franz Xaver
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