ABC Wednesday-M

Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART
(27 January 1756 - 5 December 1791)

MOZART was a musical prodigy who started composing at the age of five. At six years of age, MOZART was playing before the Bavarian elector and the Austrian empress. Much of his childhood and adolescence was taken up with tours, which included performances before many of the royal courts of Europe.

MOZART at seventeen accepted a post as a court musician in Salzburg, but was unhappy with his low pay and limited opportunities. Over the next eight years, MOZART frequently traveled in search of a better position and composed abundantly. This situation continued until his dismissal from Salzburg in 1781 by his employer, the Prince-Archbishop, and his subsequent departure for Vienna.

MOZART spent the rest of his busy life in Vienna, where he achieved relative fame. However, his finances remained precarious, with periods of prosperity and poverty. In 1782, MOZART married Constanze Weber against the wishes of his family; six children were born, of whom two survived infancy.

Musically, this was a period of outstanding creativity which saw the production of many of his best known symphonic, concertante and operatic works, and his final, incomplete Requiem. MOZART died at the age of 35 from a feverish illness, although rumours surfaced that he had been poisoned. MOZART was buried in a Vienna suburb, with little ceremony and in an unmarked grave, in accordance with prevailing custom.

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