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Mozart’s Early Life
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Born Salzburg, January 27, 1756
Father: Leopold - violinist and
composer
Sister: Maria Anna “Nannerl” keyboard
By age 4 - playing short pieces on
the piano
By age 5-6 composing
Talent exploited by father
1762 - 1766 traveled to all important
cultural centers of Europe
Played and improvised everywhere
Mozart’s Early Life
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Traveled to England
and Netherlands
In 1766 returned to
Salzburg
The years 1766 1773 were spent
between Salzburg,
Vienna and Italy
His Early Adult Years
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By age 20 - one of the most skilled composers
of the day
He had composed symphonies, concertos,
piano pieces, serenades, arias, operas etc.
Between 1777 - 1778 he traveled with his
mother looking for a job
The important cities were not friendly
He composed little, was rejected by his first
love (Aloysia Weber), and his mother became
ill and died while in Paris
His Early Adult Years
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In 1779 he returned to
Salzburg but was underappreciated in his
hometown
He was ill treated by his
employer’ the PrinceArchbishop of Salzburg
In 1781 Mozart tried to
resign after a heated
exchange and was thrown
into the street
Vienna
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Vienna had about 1300 homes during Mozart’s
day but many of these were palaces or
substantial buildings in which many families
lived giving a population of about 50,000.
Many of the streets were very narrow and
three or four people would be killed each year
in accidents involving horses or horse drawn
vehicles.
The ground floors of buildings were used for
commercial purposes and the second floors
were used for residences.
His Life in Vienna
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Mozart became a
freelance musician
He fell in love with
Constanze Weber
(Aloysia Weber’s sister)
They were married in
August, 1782 over his
father Leopold’s
objections
His Life in Vienna
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Mozart was finally established as a pianist and composer
His career peaked between 1784 - 1786 and he was very
successful
However, in 1786 his opera “Marriage of Figaro” was
received indifferently
The expected court appointment failed to materialize
His music fell out of favor with the Viennese public
His professional life went into a tailspin
By 1787 he was begging for loans and suffering the loss
of his father
Mozart’s Home
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Mozart lived in 14 known different apartments,
two of which were in the suburbs and the
remainder in the Inner city.
The Figaro House where Mozart composed the
Marriage Of Figaro and where Leopold Mozart,
Joseph Haydn and possibly the young
Beethoven (who lived in 57 different Vienna
apartments) visited him is now a museum.
Mozart's last Vienna residence before his
death, City 970, was renumbered 876 and
then 934. The house was later rebuilt and the
site is now occupied by a department store.
Mozart’s Final Years
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By 1787 - 1790 there was a progressive decline in his
career.
His income dropped sharply.
Constanze began to have health problems and often
visited a spa in Baden.
In 1789 Mozart went to Berlin looking for work but could
find none.
By 1791 his fortunes at a low point.
His new opera “La Clemenza di Tito” was a failure.
The “Requiem Mass” was commissioned by Count
Walsegg, a wealthy nobleman, in July, 1791.
Mozart’s final year
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By November 20 Mozart
was seriously ill
Mozart dies on December 5,
1791
The “Requiem”, only
partially finished, was
completed by Mozart’s
pupil, Franz Xavier
Sussmayr
Mozart was 35 years old
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
January 27, 1756 - December 5, 1791
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Mozart was buried
in an unmarked
common grave in
St. Marx cemetery
The Reusable Coffin
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A reform introduced by Emperor Joseph
II was that each parish should retain a
supply of reusable coffins to be used for
simple funerals not accompanied by
mourners.
Corpses were to be buried in sacks to
speed up decomposition, but this proved
unpopular.
Medicine in the 18th century
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Medical standards were primitive at the time of
Mozart's death.
Nursing did not exist as a profession.
Eighteenth century infant mortality rates often
exceeded 50%.
Mozart and his sister, Nannerl, were the only two
survivors from seven children.
Four out of six of Mozart's children died in infancy.
Life Expectancy
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Average life expectancy was less than fifty years.
In December 1791 when Mozart died, there was no one
above the age of fifty-six who died in St. Stephen's
parish that same month.
The names, causes, symptoms or cures for many
diseases were completely unknown.
The diagnosis of illnesses was highly inaccurate.
Advances in medicine from the Middle Ages up to the
eighteenth century were limited and many primitive
beliefs and superstitions prevailed.
The belief that a swollen body was also a sign of death
by poison as in Mozart's case can be attributed to
ignorance.
The Final Trilogy
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Mozart’s last three symphonies (39, 40, 41)
are considered his greatest orchestral works
and the peak of symphonic music in the
Classical era
They were composed in a six - week period
during the summer of 1788
No one knows why they were written and
Mozart may have never heard them played
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
January 27, 1756 - December 5, 1791
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age 3: picked out tunes on the
piano
age 4: telling older players that
their violins are out of tune
age 5: playing the clavier quite
well
age 6: begins composing; on the
road with his father (Leopold) and
sister (Maria Anna “Nannerl”)
spent 14 of his 36 years away
from home
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
January 27, 1756 - December 5, 1791