Mozart Essay, Research Paper

The Life of Wolfgang Amadeus

Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) is regarded as the

greatest composer who ever lived. He began writing minuets

at the age of 5,and by the time he died in 1791 at the age

of 35, he had produced 626 cataloged works. “ Mozart has

enriched the concerto form with a larger number of

masterpieces than any other composer.”1

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is said to be the greatest

genius in western music history. Wolfgang Amadeus was born

in Salzburg, Austria January 27, 1756 his parents were

Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria Pertl. Wolfgang Amadeus

Mozart’s father was a successful composer, violinist, and

assistant concertmaster at the Salzburg court. The

Archbishop Sigismund von Schratten told Leopold Mozart to

encourage the kids musical abilities.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Life

By the age of four Wolfgang had great musical memory

and a great ear for music. Due to Wolfgang’s talent his

father signed him up for Harpsichord lessons. After a few

lessons Wolfgang’s talent was noticed by many. Wolfgang

also had a sister Maria Anna she was a musician and they

toured Munich and Vienna. At the time of the tour Wolfang

was only six years old, but he began composing at the age of

five. Because of this early start Wolfgang composed for the

rest of his life he never stopped performing or composing

music. While on the tour Wolfgang became a violin virtuoso.

By Wolfgang’s early teens he had mastered playing the piano,

violin, and harpsichord. Also he had composed keyboard

pieces, oratorios, symphonies, and operas. He performed his

first major opera when he was fourteen it was staged in

Milan in 1770 the style of the opera was opera seria,

Mitriade.

In 1762 he and his sister performed in the courts of

Vienna for the Emperor Francis I and the Empress Maria

Theresa. During the time of (1763-1766) the children

performed in Germany, Paris at the court of Versailles ,and

in London

Mozart’s Compositional Style

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s style unlike anyone else.

Mozart was a master of counterpoint, fugue, and the other

traditional compositional points of his day. He is also

considered the best melody writer the world has ever known.

Wolfgang perfected the grand forms of symphony, opera string

quartet, and concerto made the classical period. “Mozart’s

music is characterized by lucid ease and distinction of

style….”2 Wolfgang wrote over 600 works which consisted

of 21 stage and opera works, 15 masses, over 50 symphonies,

25 piano concertos, 12 violin concertos,27 concert arias, 17

piano sonatas, 26 string quartets, and many more. His

operas range from comic baubles to tragic pieces. In his

Requiem it illustrates the supreme vocal sounds in any of

his work.

Wolfgang’s musical influence and preparation

Wolfgang did not have much preparation because he was a

child prodigy. Wolfgang did take a few music lessons on the

Harpsichord and he thought himself how play the violin.

While in London on tour Wolfgang meet Johann Bach and it is

found evident that Bach influenced the young composer. His

father a great composer-musician also influenced his son.

Also another composer that influenced the young composer was

Josef Haydn it said that Mozart dedicated six string

quartets to Haydn.

The review of Marriage of Figaro

The Marriage of Figaro was composed for Viennese court

in 1786. The Marriage of Figaro was a very controversial

piece of music it contained revolutionary ideas that made

the Viennese court nervous. The opera is an opera buffa or

called by some as opera comedy. The opera is based upon

real human life as Jacob’s says “ It is an opera about

masters and servants and the complications in that

relationship caused by sex.”3 On the musical side of Figaro

the opera has a monophonic texture with vocal timbres

consisting of sopranos and baritones. The form of this

piece is a ternary form ABA or the De Capo style. The type

of music is a secular style.

Bibliography

1.Grabbe, Paul The Story of One Hundred Symphonic

Favorites p.129 1986.

2.Gridlestone, Cuthbert Mozart and His Piano Concertos

p.13 164.

3.Jacobs, Arthur Greatest Composers in Synopsis p.26

1966.