Life of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a great German composer, was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, died on December 5, 1791 in Vienna.
The description of Mozart's youth is replete with details that we do not find in the biographies of other composers. His musical talent showed itself so early and so brightly that it involuntarily attracted attention. It is known, for example, according to the testimony of the court trumpeter Schachtner and Anna Maria Mozart, that at the age of four Mozart had already written a concerto and that he could not hear the sound of the trumpet without physical irritation. In 1761, as a five-year-old child, he took part in the choir during the performance of Eberlin’s “Sigismund, King of Hungary” at the University of Salzburg Liederspiel.
Portrait of Mozart. Artist I. G. Edlinger, ca. 1790
In 1762, six-year-old Mozart, with his eleven-year-old sister, went on a concert tour under the auspices of their father, first to Munich and then to Vienna. Further, there are well-known stories about how he delighted the monks of the Ips monastery with his magnificent playing of the organ, and the princesses and especially Marie Antoinette with his perfect piano playing. It is also mentioned that many wonderful poems were written in honor of the wonderful child. The success of this trip prompted my father to undertake something new the following year - to Paris. At the same time, stops were made along the way, visiting princely courts, residences, etc. In Mainz and Frankfurt they gave outstandingly successful concerts, visited Koblenz, Aachen and Brussels, and finally, on November 18, 1763, they arrived in Paris. Here they met the patronage of Baron Grimm, played at the royal court, in front of Marquise Pompadour and gave two of their own concerts with brilliant success. In Paris, four violin sonatas by the young Mozart appeared in print for the first time, two of which were dedicated to Princess Victoria of France and two to Countess Tessa. From here they went to London, where they played at the royal court and where the conductor J. C. Bach, son of Johann Sebastian, performed several Mozart pieces.
During this period of time, Mozart's art in improvisation, transposing to the most distant tunings, and accompaniment from sight was absolutely incomprehensible. In England he wrote six more violin sonatas dedicated to Queen Sophia Charlotte; Here, under his direction, the small symphonies he wrote were performed. From London they went to The Hague, at the invitation of the Princess of Nassau, to whom Mozart dedicated the next six sonatas. In Lille, Mozart became very ill almost simultaneously with his sister Marianne, and both lay in The Hague for about four months, to the great despair of their father. Upon recovery, they visited Paris again, where Grimm was delighted with Mozart’s successes, and then visited Bern, Dijon, Zurich, Ulm and Munich and, finally, after a three-year absence, at the end of November 1766 they returned to Salzburg.
Mozart. Best works
Here, as a ten-year-old boy, Mozart wrote his first oratorio (Mark the Evangelist). After a year of intense study, he went to Vienna. The smallpox epidemic forced them to move to Olmutz, which, however, did not save the children from chickenpox. Returning to Vienna, they played at the court of Emperor Joseph II, although they did not give their own concert. Having been slandered and suspected that the true author of his works was his father, the young composer refuted the slander through a brilliant public improvisation on the topics pointed out to him. At the king’s suggestion, Mozart wrote his first opera “La finta semplice” (now called “Apollo and Hyacinth”), which, due to intrigue, did not make it onto the Viennese stage, was first presented in Salzburg (1769). For 12 years, Mozart led the performance of his “Solemn Mass”, in honor of the illumination of the church of the orphanage. A year later, he was chosen as the archbishop's accompanist, shortly before his trip with his father to Italy.
This journey was triumphant: in all cities, churches and theaters where Mozart performed as a concertist (his sister was absent this time) were crowded with listeners, and tests carried out by the strictest judges, for example, Sammartini in Milan, Padre Martini in Bologna and Ballotti in Padua , went brilliantly. The Neapolitan court admired Mozart, and in Rome he received the Knight's Cross of the Golden Spur from the Pope. On his way back through Bologna, having passed the exam, he was accepted as a member of the Philharmonic Academy. Having made a stop in Milan, Mozart completed the opera Mithridates, Rex Pontus, commissioned from him, staged at the local theater in December 1770, after which it was performed 20 times in a row with brilliant success.
Returning to Salzburg in March 1771, Mozart wrote the oratorio “The Liberation of Betulia”, and in the fall of the same year he was again in Milan, where he wrote the serenade “Ascanius in Alba”, in honor of the marriage of Archduke Ferdinand to Princess Beatrice of Modena. This work completely eclipsed Hass's opera Ruggiero on stage. His next opera is “The Dream of Scipio,” dedicated to the successor of the deceased Archbishop of Salzburg, Count Hieronymus von Colloredo (1772). In December 1772, Mozart again visited Milan, where he staged the opera Lucius Sulla. Subsequently, he composed symphonies, masses, concertos and concert music. In 1775, the opera “The Imaginary Gardener,” commissioned from him, was staged with outstanding success in Munich. Soon after, his opera “The Shepherd King” was given in honor of the stay of Archduke Maximilian.
Despite all these successes, Mozart did not have a stable place, and his father began to think about touring again. The archbishop, however, refused leave, after which Mozart resigned. This time he went on a trip with his mother, passing through Munich, Augsburg and Mannheim, although here his artistic trip was not crowned with success. In addition, Mozart fell in love with the singer Aloise Weber in Mannheim, and it was only with difficulty that they could tear him away from this passion. Finally arriving in Paris, he had artistic satisfaction after the performance of one of his symphonies at the Concert spirituel. But here he also experienced grief: his mother died (1778). Deeply upset, having not achieved his goal, he returned to Salzburg, where he was forced to again take the same place under the archbishop.
In 1779, Mozart was appointed court organist here. In 1781, according to a new order, he wrote the opera Idomeneo, with which he begins classical direction of his further works. Soon after, he finally broke off his relationship with the archbishop and moved to Vienna. For some time, Mozart remained without a place here, until in 1789 he was appointed court composer, with a salary of 800 florins. But he had the opportunity to perform his great works, which he took advantage of. At the king’s suggestion, he wrote the vaudeville “The Abduction from the Seraglio,” and it was staged on stage by order of the king, despite the intrigues (1781). That same year, Mozart married Constance Weber, the sister of his first love.
In 1785 he created the opera The Marriage of Figaro, which, due to its poor performance by the Italians, almost failed on the Viennese stage, but was superbly performed in Prague. In 1787 his Don Giovanni appeared, staged first in Prague and then in Vienna, where the opera again met with failure. In general, in Vienna, the brilliant Mozart was haunted by misfortune and his works remained in the shadows, inferior to works of secondary importance. In 1789 Mozart left Vienna and, accompanied by Count Lichnowsky, visited Berlin, playing at court in Dresden, Leipzig and finally in Potsdam before Frederick II, who appointed him the position of first bandmaster with a salary of 3,000 thalers, but here Mozart's Austrian patriotism triumphed and became an obstacle for him to accept the proposed position. By order of the Austrian king, he composed the following opera, “This is what all (women) do” (1790). In the last year of his life he wrote two operas: La Clemenza di Titus for Prague, in honor of the coronation of Leopold II (September 6, 1791) and The Magic Flute for Vienna (September 30, 1791). His last creation was a requiem, which gave rise to the well-known fantastic story about Mozart’s death due to poisoning by a rival composer Salieri. This theme inspired A. S. Pushkin to create the “little tragedy” “Mozart and Salieri”. Mozart's burial was completely miserable: he was even buried in a common grave, so that to this day the exact location of his remains is unknown. In 1859, a monument to him was erected in this cemetery (St. Mark). In 1841, a magnificent monument was erected in his honor in Salzburg.
Works of Mozart
In his amazing creativity, Mozart mastered perfectly musical means and forms. His personality always contains the charm of purity, intimacy and charm. His humor is less bright than that of Haydn, and the austere grandeur of Beethoven is completely alien to him. His style is a combination of happy Italian melodicism with German depth and positivity. Similar traits are inherent in Schubert and Mendelssohn, especially in the sense of the fertility of their creativity and the short duration of their lives. Mozart's composer significance is undoubtedly global: in all types of music he took a major step forward and all his works are endowed with unfading beauty. The reformist spirit lived in him Gluck, which forced him to create unshakable types in the field of past and modern times. If the external musical setting of his works now forces them to be evaluated from a historical point of view, then in terms of their internal content and their inspired thoughts they are still not outdated.
According to the catalog of Breitkopf and Hertel (1870-1886), Mozart's works are divided as follows:
Church music. 15 masses, 4 litanies, 4 kyrie, 1 madrigal, 1 miserere, 1 Te Deum, 9 offertories, 1 De profundis, l motet for solo soprano, 1 four-voice motet, etc.
Stage works. 20 operas The most famous of them are: “Idomeneo”, “The Abduction from the Seraglio”, “The Marriage of Figaro”, “Don Giovanni”, “Cosi fan tutte” (“This is what all women do”), “The Mercy of Titus”, “The Magic Flute”.
Concert vocal music. 27 arias, duets, terzets, quartets, etc.
Songs (Lieder). 34 songs with piano accompaniment, 20 two- and polyphonic canons, etc.
Orchestral works. 41 symphonies, 31 divertissements, serenades, 9 marches, 25 dances, several pieces for wind and wood instruments, etc.
Concerts and solo plays with orchestra. 6 violin concertos, concertos for various individual instruments, 25 piano concertos, etc.
Chamber music. 7 bow quintets, two quintets for different instruments, 26 bow quartets, 7 piano trios, 42 violin sonatas.
For piano. For 4 hands: 5 sonatas and Andante with variations, for two pianos, one fugue and 1 sonata. In two hands: 17 sonatas, fantasy and fugue, 3 fantasies, 15 variation pieces, 35 cadenzas, several minuets, 3 rondos, etc.
For organ. 17 sonatas, mostly with two violins and cello, etc.
Mozart's father, Leopold, was a composer and court violinist, quite famous at that time. His father played a big role in Mozart's development as a composer.
Mozart's mother was Maria Anna, née Pertl. She gave birth to seven children, of whom only daughter Maria Anna and son Wolfgang survived. Both had extraordinary musical abilities.
As a three-year-old child, Wolfgang is already selecting thirds and sextets on the harpsichord. A little later, at the age of about five years, the future great composer begins to compose minuets.
1762 - Leopold Mozart takes his children on their first “tour”. They play in Munich, Linz, Passau, and also in Vienna, where the family is twice honored with a reception from Empress Maria Theresa. The Mozarts' concert tours have been going on for about ten years.
1763 - 1766 - the second and longest concert trip. The family visits Munich, Ludwigsburg, Augsburg, Schwetzingen, Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris... Little Mozart already masterfully played not only the keyboards, but also on the violin. In Frankfurt he plays a violin concerto for the first time.
Winter 1763 - 1764 - the first works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were published in Paris, these were four violin sonatas.
1764 – 1765 – London. Immediately after their arrival, the Mozarts were received by King George III. At one of Wolfgang's concerts, composer Johann Christian Bach (son of the great Johann Sebastian Bach), whom Mozart considered his teacher many years later, noticed. In London, Wolfgang composed his first symphonies.
1766 - return to Salzburg.
1767 – 1768 – trip to Vienna, where Mozart wrote his first opera “The Imaginary Simpleton,” a mass for choir and orchestra, a trumpet concerto, and the symphony K. 45a.
1769 – 1771 – Italy. The Mozarts are received by the Pope, King Ferdinand IV of Naples, and the cardinal.
Summer 1770 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart receives the Order of the Golden Spur from the hands of Pope Clement XIV. At this time, Mozart studied with Padre Martini and worked on the opera “Mithridates, King of Pontus.” At the insistence of the teacher, Martini takes the exam at the Bologna Philharmonic Academy and becomes its member. The opera “Mithridates, King of Pontus” was completed for Christmas and was successfully shown in Milan.
1771 - the opera “Ascanius in Alba” was written and performed in Milan.
During the same period, Empress Maria Theresa, for some reason, was unhappy with the Mozart family. Because of this, Leopold's hopes of getting his son to serve in Milan were not realized.
1772 - In Salzburg, Mozart writes the dramatic serenade “The Dream of Spizio” for the inaugural celebrations of the new archbishop, Count Hieronymus Colloredo. The Count takes the talented composer into his service.
1773 - return from the last, third trip to Italy, where Mozart wrote another opera, Lucius Sulla. The family is unable to settle in Vienna; they live in Salzburg.
Second half of the 1770s - in Salzburg, Mozart wrote a number of symphonies, divertimentos, the first string quartet, and the opera “The Imaginary Gardener”.
1777 - Mozart leaves the service of the archbishop and goes with his mother to Paris. Along the way, in Mannheim, the composer falls in love with the singer Aloysia Weber.
1778 - having sent his mother back to Salburg, Wolfgang, secretly from his father, makes a small tour with his beloved to the court of Princess Nassau-Weilburg.
The same year, the planned trip to Paris did take place, but it was extremely unhappy. Mozart's mother dies in Paris royal court shows no interest in the composer. Wolfgang leaves France, and in Mannheim he learns that Aloysia is absolutely indifferent to him.
1779 - Mozart returns to his previous place of work, but now serves as an organist, composing mostly church music.
1781 - another opera written by Mozart was staged in Munich, it was “Idomeneo, King of Crete.” That same year, having quarreled with the archbishop, Mozart left his service.
1782 - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart marries Constance Weber, the sister of his first lover and also a singer. Constance gave birth to six children for Mozart, of whom two survived: sons Karl Thomas and Franz Xavier.
The first half of the 1780s - Mozart writes the opera “The Abduction from the Seraglio”, the Mass in C minor (not finished; one of the soprano solo parts was performed by the composer’s wife), and the Linz Symphony. The same period was marked in Mozart’s life as the beginning of his friendship with J. Haydn.
1784 - Mozart joins the Masonic lodge.
This time is considered the heyday of the famous composer’s career. At the same time, competitors appear. As a result, the struggle for glory is waged by two groups of composers, led by Mozart (who worked with the court librettist L. da Ponte) and the court composer A. Salieri, who worked with the librettist Abbot Casti, da Ponte’s rival.
October 1787 – the premiere of the opera “Don Giovanni” took place in Prague. This production was destined to become Mozart's last triumph.
After returning to Vienna, the composer was haunted by failures; he ended his life practically beggarly. "Don Juan" flops in Vienna. Mozart holds the position of composer and conductor at the court of Emperor Joseph II, who understood music so much that he could publicly say that Mozart’s compositions were “not to the taste of the Viennese.”
1789 - Mozart travels to Berlin. It was a concert trip with the goal, firstly, to make money (the composer already had large debts), and secondly, to try his luck at the court of King Frederick William II. None of the goals were achieved. The only result of the trip was several orders for string quartets and keyboard sonatas.
1791 - Mozart writes the opera in German “The Magic Flute”, the coronation opera “La Clemenza di Titus”. The premiere of the latter is not particularly successful, as is the premiere of The Magic Flute. In the same year, a concerto for clarinet and orchestra in A major was written.
1791 – the illness of Constance, then of Mozart himself, who was crippled by the unsuccessful premiere of The Magic Flute.
The same year - Count Walsegg-Stuppach orders Mozart a requiem in memory of his deceased wife. In general, this count was distinguished by the fact that he commissioned works from talented composers, which he later performed under his own name. This should have been the case with Requiem. Mozart worked until his strength left him, but the Requiem was never finished. At the end of November 1791, the composer finally fell ill, but even in this semi-delirious state he continued to mentally play the “Requiem”, and forced his friends who came to visit him to perform ready-made parts... The work was completed by Mozart’s student Süssmayer.
December 5, 1791 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart dies in Vienna. Constance had neither the strength nor the money to attend to the funeral; as a result, the great composer was buried in a pauper's grave in Vienna's St. Mark's Cemetery. Many years later they tried to find the grave, but to no avail.
There were many rumors regarding Mozart's death, the most common of which was the story of a slow-acting poison, and Mozart's main competitor, the composer Salieri, was suspected of poisoning. However, the fact of the crime was not proven.
Wolfgang Amadeus John Chrysostom Theophile Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 in Austria, in the city of Salzburg on the banks of the Salzach River. In the 18th century the city was considered the center musical life. Little Mozart early became acquainted with the music that sounded in the archbishop's residence, with the home concerts of wealthy townspeople and with the world of folk music.
Wolfgang's father, Leopold Mozart, was one of the most educated and outstanding teachers of his era and became his son's first teacher. At the age of 4, the boy already plays the piano perfectly and begins to compose music. According to one record from that time, he mastered playing the violin in just a few days and soon amazed his family and his father’s friends with the manuscript of a “piano concerto.”
At the age of six, he first performed in front of the general public, and a short time later, together with his sister Anna, also an outstanding performer, he went on a concert tour to Munich, Augsburg, Mannheim, Brussels, Vienna, Paris, and then his family went to London, where At that time, the greatest masters of the opera stage were located.
In 1763, Mozart's works (sonatas for piano and violin) were first published in Paris.
The history of music testifies to a number of wonderful performances with which Mozart amazed his listeners. The boy was only 10 years old when he took part in composing a collective oratorio. He was kept in virtual captivity for a whole week, the locked door being opened only to give him food or music paper. Mozart passed the test brilliantly, and soon after the oratorio, performed with great success, he amazes the audience with the opera Apolloni Hyacinth, and then with two more operas, The Imaginary Simpleton and Bastien and Bastienne.
In 1769, Mozart went on a tour of Italy. The great Italian musicians were at first distrustful and even suspicious of the legends surrounding the name of Mozart. But his genius talent conquers them too. VITALY Mozart studies with the famous composer and teacher J.B. Martini gives concerts and writes the opera “Mithridates - King of Pontus,” which is a great success.
At the age of 14 he became a member of the famous Bologna Academy and the Philharmonic Academy in Verona. Mozart reaches the pinnacle of fame in Rome. Having listened only once to Allegri’s “Miserere” in the Cathedral of St. Peter, he writes it down on paper from memory. Memories of the trip to Italy are the operas “Mithridates, King of Pontus” (1770), “Lucio Silla” (1772), and the theatrical serenade “Ascanio in Alba”.
After a trip to Italy, Mozart created quartets for string instruments, symphonic works, piano sonatas and works for a variety of combinations of instruments, the opera “The Imaginary Gardener” (1775), “The Shepherd King”.
The young composer, who until now knew only the brilliant side of life, now learns its inside out. The new prince-archbishop Jerome Coloredo does not like music, does not like Mozart, and more and more often makes him understand that Mozart is a servant who is entitled to no more respect than any cook or footman. Leaving Salzburg and court service, he settled in Mannheim. Here he meets the Weber family and makes several loyal and reliable friends among art lovers.
But heavy financial worries, humiliation and expectations in the hallways, begging and seeking patronage forced the young composer to return to Salzburg. At the request of Leopold Mozart, the archbishop accepts his former musician back, but gives strict instructions: his servants and lackeys (of course, and Mozart) are prohibited from public performances. However, in 1781, Mozart managed to get leave to stage a new opera, Idomeneo, in Munich. After a successful premiere, having decided not to return to Salzburg, Mozart submits his resignation and receives a stream of curses and insults in response. The cup of patience is full; the composer finally broke with his dependent position as a court musician and settled in Vienna, where he lived for the last 10 years of his life.
However, Mozart faces new difficulties. Aristocratic circles are turning away from the former prodigy, and those who until recently paid him with gold and applause now consider the musician’s creations to be overly heavy, confused and abstract. Meanwhile, Mozart creates masterpieces. In 1782, his first mature opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, was performed; in the summer of the same year he marries Constance Weber.
New creative stage in Mozart's life is associated with his friendship with Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). Under the influence of Haydn, Mozart's music takes on new wings. Mozart's first wonderful quartets are born. But besides the brilliance that has already become a proverb, a more tragic, more serious beginning is increasingly emerging in his works. human who sees life in all its fullness.
The composer is moving further and further away from the demands of general taste that the salons of nobles and wealthy patrons of the arts place on obedient composers of music. During this period, the opera “The Marriage of Figaro” (1786) appeared. Mozart is beginning to be pushed out of the opera stage. Compared to the light works of Salieri and Paesiello, Mozart's works seem heavy and problematic.
Disasters and hardships increasingly come into the composer’s house; the young couple do not know how to manage their household economically. In these difficult conditions, the opera “Don Juan” (1787) was born, which brought the author worldwide success. While writing the last pages of the score, Mozart receives news of his father's death. Now the composer was truly left alone; he can no longer hope that his father’s advice, a smart letter, and maybe even direct intervention will help him in difficult times.
After the premiere of Don Juan in Prague, the imperial court was forced to make some concessions. Mozart is offered to take the place of court musician, which belonged to the recently deceased Gluck (1714-1787). However, this honorary appointment brings the composer some joy. The Viennese court treats Mozart as an ordinary composer of dance music and commissions him minuets, landlers, and country dances for court balls.
TO recent years Mozart's life includes 3 symphonies (E-flat major, G minor and C major), the operas “That's what everyone does” (1790), “La Clemenza di Tito” (1791), and “The Magic Flute” (1791).
Death found Mozart on December 5, 1791 in Vienna while working on the Requiem. The history of the creation of this work is told by all the biographers of the composer. An elderly stranger, decently dressed and pleasant, came to Mozart. He ordered Requiem for his friend and paid a generous advance. The gloomy tone and mystery with which the order was made gave the suspicious composer the idea that he was writing this “Requiem” for himself.
"Requiem" was completed by the composer's student and friend F. Süssmayer.
Mozart was buried in a common grave for the poor. His wife was sick at home on the day of the funeral; The composer's friends, who came out to see him off on his final journey, were forced to return home halfway due to terrible weather. It so happened that no one knows exactly where the great composer found his eternal rest...
Creative heritage Mozart consists of more than 600 works
Amadeus
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Biography
Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, which was then the capital of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, now this city is located in Austria. On the second day after birth, he was baptized in St. Rupert's Cathedral. The entry in the baptism book gives his name in Latin as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus (Gottlieb) Mozart. In these names, the first two words are the name of St. John Chrysostom, which is not used in everyday life, and the fourth varied during Mozart’s life: lat. Amadeus, German Gottlieb, Italian. Amadeo, meaning “beloved of God.” Mozart himself preferred to be called Wolfgang.
Mozart's musical abilities manifested themselves in very early age when he was about three years old. His father Leopold was one of the leading European music teachers. His book “The Experience of a Solid Violin School” (German: Versuch einer grundlichen Violinschule) was published in 1756, the year of Mozart’s birth, went through many editions and was translated into many languages, including Russian. Wolfgang's father taught him the basics of playing the harpsichord, violin and organ.
In London, the young Mozart was the subject of scientific research, and in Holland, where music was strictly banned during Lent, an exception was made for Mozart, since the clergy saw the finger of God in his extraordinary talent.
In 1762, Mozart's father took his son and daughter Anna, also a remarkable harpsichord performer, on an artistic journey to Munich and Vienna, and then to many other cities in Germany, Paris, London, Holland, and Switzerland. Everywhere Mozart aroused surprise and delight, emerging victorious from the most difficult tests that were offered to him by people both knowledgeable in music and amateurs. In 1763, Mozart's first sonatas for harpsichord and violin were published in Paris. From 1766 to 1769, living in Salzburg and Vienna, Mozart studied the works of Handel, Stradella, Carissimi, Durante and other great masters. By order of Emperor Joseph II, Mozart wrote the opera “The Imaginary Simpleton” (Italian: La Finta semplice) in a few weeks, but the members of the Italian troupe, into whose hands this work of the 12-year-old composer fell, did not want to perform the boy’s music, and their intrigues were so strong that his father did not dare to insist on performing the opera.
Mozart spent 1770-1774 in Italy. In 1771, in Milan, again with the opposition of theater impresarios, Mozart’s opera “Mithridates, King of Pontus” (Italian: Mitridate, Re di Ponto) was staged, which was received by the public with great enthusiasm. His second opera, “Lucio Sulla” (Lucius Sulla) (1772), was given the same success. For Salzburg, Mozart wrote “The Dream of Scipio” (Italian: Il sogno di Scipione), on the occasion of the election of a new archbishop, 1772, for Munich - the opera “La bella finta Giardiniera”, 2 masses, offertory (1774). When he was 17 years old, his works already included 4 operas, several spiritual poems, 13 symphonies, 24 sonatas, not to mention a host of smaller compositions.
In 1775-1780, despite worries about financial security, a fruitless trip to Munich, Mannheim and Paris, and the loss of his mother, Mozart wrote, among other things, 6 keyboard sonatas, a concerto for flute and harp, and the great symphony No. 31 in D major, called Paris, several spiritual choirs, 12 ballet numbers.
In 1779, Mozart received a position as court organist in Salzburg (collaborating with Michael Haydn). On January 26, 1781, the opera Idomeneo was staged in Munich with great success. The reform of lyrical and dramatic art begins with Idomeneo. In this opera, traces of the old Italian opera seria are still visible (a large number of coloratura arias, the part of Idamante, written for a castrato), but a new trend is felt in the recitatives and especially in the choruses. A big step forward is also noticeable in the instrumentation. During his stay in Munich, Mozart wrote the offertory “Misericordias Domini” for the Munich chapel - one of the best examples of church music of the late 18th century. With every new opera creative power and the novelty of Mozart’s techniques manifested itself more and more clearly. The opera "The Rape from the Seraglio" (German: Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail), written on behalf of Emperor Joseph II in 1782, was received with enthusiasm and soon became widespread in Germany, where it began to be considered the first national German opera. It was written during Mozart's romantic relationship with Constance Weber, who later became his wife.
Despite Mozart's success, his financial situation was not brilliant. Leaving the position of organist in Salzburg and taking advantage of the meager bounty of the Viennese court, Mozart, in order to provide for his family, had to give lessons, compose country dances, waltzes and even pieces for wall clocks with music, and play at the evenings of the Viennese aristocracy (hence his numerous piano concertos). The operas "L'oca del Cairo" (1783) and "Lo sposo deluso" (1784) remained unfinished.
In 1783-1785, 6 famous string quartets, which Mozart dedicated to Joseph Haydn, the master of this genre, and which he accepted with the greatest respect. His oratorio “Davide penitente” (Repentant David) dates back to the same time.
In 1786, Mozart's unusually prolific and tireless activity began, which was the main reason for the breakdown of his health. An example of the incredible speed of composition is the opera “The Marriage of Figaro”, written in 1786 in 6 weeks and, nevertheless, striking in its mastery of form, perfection of musical characteristics, and inexhaustible inspiration. In Vienna, The Marriage of Figaro went almost unnoticed, but in Prague it caused extraordinary delight. Before Mozart's co-author Lorenzo da Ponte had time to finish the libretto of The Marriage of Figaro, he had to rush, at the composer's request, to the libretto of Don Giovanni, which Mozart was writing for Prague. This great work, which has no analogues in the art of music, was published in 1787 in Prague and was even more successful than The Marriage of Figaro.
This opera had much less success in Vienna, which generally treated Mozart colder than other centers of musical culture. The title of court composer with a salary of 800 florins (1787) was a very modest reward for all of Mozart’s works. However, he was tied to Vienna, and when in 1789, having visited Berlin, he received an invitation to become the head of the court chapel of Frederick William II with a salary of 3 thousand thalers, he still did not dare to leave Vienna.
However, many researchers of Mozart's life claim that he was not offered a place at the Prussian court. Frederick William II only made an order for six simple piano sonatas for his daughter and six string quartets for himself. Mozart did not want to admit that the trip to Prussia was a failure, and pretended that Frederick William II had invited him to serve, but out of respect for Joseph II, he refused the place. The order received in Prussia gave his words the appearance of truth. There was little money earned during the trip. They were barely enough to pay a debt of 100 guilders, which were taken from the Freemason's brother Hofmedel for travel expenses.
After Don Giovanni, Mozart composed the 3 most famous symphonies: No. 39 in E-flat major (KV 543), No. 40 in G minor (KV 550) and No. 41 in C major “Jupiter” (KV 551), written within a month and a half in 1788; Of these, the last two are especially famous. In 1789, Mozart dedicated a string quartet with a concert cello part (in D major) to the Prussian king.
After the death of Emperor Joseph II (1790), Mozart's financial situation turned out to be so hopeless that he had to leave Vienna to escape the persecution of creditors and at least improve his affairs a little through an artistic journey. Mozart's last operas were "Cosi fan tutte" (1790), "La Clemenza di Titus" (1791), which contains wonderful pages, despite the fact that it was written in 18 days for the coronation of Emperor Leopold II, and finally, "The Magic flute" (1791), which had enormous success and spread extremely quickly. This opera, modestly called an operetta in old editions, together with The Abduction from the Seraglio, served as the basis for the independent development of national German opera. In Mozart's extensive and varied activities, opera occupies the most prominent place. In May 1791, Mozart accepted an unpaid position as assistant bandmaster of St. Stephen's Cathedral, expecting to take the place of bandmaster after the death of the seriously ill Leopold Hofmann; Hoffman, however, survived him.
A mystic by nature, Mozart worked a lot for the church, but he left few great examples in this area: except for “Misericordias Domini” - “Ave verum corpus” (KV 618), (1791) and the majestic and sorrowful Requiem (KV 626), on which Mozart worked tirelessly, with special love, in the last days of his life. The history of writing “Requiem” is interesting. Shortly before Mozart’s death, a mysterious stranger dressed all in black visited Mozart and ordered him a “Requiem” (funeral mass). As the composer's biographers established, it was Count Franz von Walsegg-Stuppach, who decided to pass off the purchased composition as his own. Mozart plunged into work, but bad feelings did not leave him. Mysterious stranger in black mask, the “black man” is relentlessly standing before his eyes. The composer begins to feel that he is writing this funeral mass for himself... The work on the unfinished “Requiem,” which still shocks listeners with its mournful lyricism and tragic expressiveness, was completed by his student Franz Xaver Süssmayer, who had previously taken some part in composing the opera “La Clemenza di Tito.”
Mozart died on December 5 at 00-55 o'clock in the morning 1791 from an unspecified illness. His body was found swollen, soft and elastic, as happens with poisoning. This fact, as well as some other circumstances related to the last days of the great composer’s life, gave researchers grounds to defend this particular version of the cause of his death. Mozart was buried in Vienna, in St. Mark's cemetery in a common grave, so the burial place itself remained unknown. In memory of the composer, on the ninth day after his death in Prague, in front of a huge crowd of people, 120 musicians performed Antonio Rosetti’s “Requiem”.
Creation
A distinctive feature of Mozart's work is the amazing combination of strict, clear forms with deep emotionality. The uniqueness of his work lies in the fact that he not only wrote in all the forms and genres that existed in his era, but also left works of lasting significance in each of them. Mozart's music reveals many connections with different national cultures (especially Italian), nevertheless it belongs to the national Viennese soil and bears the stamp creative individuality great composer.
Mozart is one of the greatest melodists. Its melody combines the features of Austrian and German folk songs with the melodiousness of the Italian cantilena. Despite the fact that his works are distinguished by poetry and subtle grace, they often contain melodies of a masculine nature, with great dramatic pathos and contrasting elements.
Mozart attached particular importance to opera. His operas represent a whole era in the development of this type of musical art. Along with Gluck, he was the greatest reformer of the opera genre, but unlike him, he considered music to be the basis of opera. Mozart created a completely different type of musical dramaturgy, where operatic music is in complete unity with the development stage action. As a result, in his operas there are no clearly positive and negative characters; the characters are lively and multifaceted; the relationships between people, their feelings and aspirations are shown. The most popular operas were “The Marriage of Figaro”, “Don Giovanni” and “The Magic Flute”.
Mozart paid great attention to symphonic music. Due to the fact that throughout his life he worked in parallel on operas and symphonies, his instrumental music It is distinguished by the melodiousness of an operatic aria and dramatic conflict. The most popular were the last three symphonies - No. 39, No. 40 and No. 41 (“Jupiter”). Mozart also became one of the creators of the classical concert genre.
Mozart's chamber instrumental work is represented by a variety of ensembles (from duets to quintets) and works for piano (sonatas, variations, fantasies). Mozart abandoned the harpsichord and clavichord, which have a weaker sound compared to the piano. Mozart's piano style is distinguished by elegance, clarity, and careful finishing of melody and accompaniment.
The composer created many spiritual works: masses, cantatas, oratorios, as well as the famous Requiem.
The thematic catalog of Mozart's works, with notes, compiled by Köchel (Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichniss sammtlicher Tonwerke W. A. Mozart?s, Leipzig, 1862), is a volume of 550 pages. According to Kechel's calculation, Mozart wrote 68 sacred works (masses, offertories, hymns, etc.), 23 works for the theater, 22 sonatas for harpsichord, 45 sonatas and variations for violin and harpsichord, 32 string quartets, about 50 symphonies, 55 concertos and etc., a total of 626 works.
About Mozart
Perhaps there is no name in music before which humanity bowed so favorably, rejoiced and was so touched. Mozart is a symbol of music itself.
- Boris Asafiev
Incredible genius elevated him above all the masters of all arts and all centuries.
- Richard Wagner
Mozart has no strain, because he is above the strain.
- Joseph Brodsky
His music is certainly not just entertainment, it contains the whole tragedy of human existence.
- Benedict XVI
Works about Mozart
The drama of Mozart's life and work, as well as the mystery of his death, have become a fruitful topic for artists of all types of arts. Mozart became the hero of numerous works of literature, drama and cinema. It is impossible to list them all - below are the most famous of them:
Dramas. Plays. Books.
* “Little tragedies. Mozart and Salieri." - 1830, A. S. Pushkin, drama
* "Mozart on the way to Prague." - Eduard Mörike, story
* "Amadeus". - Peter Schaeffer, play.
* “Several meetings with the late Mr. Mozart.” - 2002, E. Radzinsky, historical essay.
* "The Murder of Mozart." - 1970 Weiss, David, novel
* “The sublime and the earthly.” - 1967 Weiss, David, novel
* "The Old Cook." - K. G. Paustovsky
* “Mozart: the sociology of one genius” - 1991, Norbert Elias, a sociological study of the life and work of Mozart in the conditions of his contemporary society. Original title: “Mozart. Zur Sociologie eines Genies"
Movies
* Mozart and Salieri - 1962, dir. V. Gorikker, in the role of Mozart I. Smoktunovsky
* Little tragedies. Mozart and Salieri - 1979, dir. M. Schweitzer As Mozart V. Zolotukhin, I. Smoktunovsky as Salieri
* Amadeus - 1984, dir. Milos Forman as Mozart T. Hulse
* Enchanted by Mozart - 2005 documentary, Canada, ZDF, ARTE, 52 min. dir. Thomas Wallner and Larry Weinstein
* Famous art critic Mikhail Kazinik about Mozart, film “Ad Libitum”
* “Mozart” is a two-part documentary film. Broadcast on September 21, 2008 on the Rossiya channel.
* “Little Mozart” is a children's animated series based on the real biography of Mozart.
Musicals. Rock operas
*Mozart! - 1999, music: Sylvester Levi, libretto: Michael Kunze
* Mozart L"Opera Rock - 2009, creators: Albert Cohen/Dove Attia, as Mozart: Mikelangelo Loconte
Computer games
* Mozart: Le Dernier Secret ( The Last Secret) - 2008, developer: Game Consulting, publisher: Micro Application
Works
Operas
* “The Duty of the First Commandment” (Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebotes), 1767. Theater oratorio
* “Apollo and Hyacinthus” (Apollo et Hyacinthus), 1767 - student musical drama based on Latin text
* “Bastien and Bastienne” (Bastien und Bastienne), 1768. Another student piece, Singspiel. German version of the famous comic opera by J.-J. Rousseau - “The Village Sorcerer”
* “The Feigned Simpleton” (La finta semplice), 1768 - an exercise in the opera buffe genre with a libretto by Goldoni
* “Mithridates, King of Pontus” (Mitridate, re di Ponto), 1770 - in the tradition of Italian opera seria, based on Racine’s tragedy
* “Ascanio in Alba”, 1771. Serenade opera (pastoral)
* Betulia Liberata, 1771 - oratorio. Based on the story of Judith and Holofernes
* “Scipio’s Dream” (Il sogno di Scipione), 1772. Serenade opera (pastoral)
* “Lucio Silla”, 1772. Opera seria
* “Thamos, King of Egypt” (Thamos, Konig in Agypten), 1773, 1775. Music for Gebler’s drama
* “The Imaginary Gardener” (La finta giardiniera), 1774-5 - again a return to the traditions of opera buffe
* “The Shepherd King” (Il Re Pastore), 1775. Serenade opera (pastoral)
* “Zaide”, 1779 (reconstructed by H. Chernovin, 2006)
* “Idomeneo, King of Crete” (Idomeneo), 1781
* “The Abduction from the Seraglio” (Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail), 1782. Singspiel
* “The Cairo Goose” (L’oca del Cairo), 1783
* “The Deceived Spouse” (Lo sposo deluso)
* “The Theater Director” (Der Schauspieldirektor), 1786. Musical comedy
* “The Marriage of Figaro” (Le nozze di Figaro), 1786. The first of 3 great operas. In the opera buffe genre.
* “Don Giovanni” (Don Giovanni), 1787
* “Everyone does this” (Cosi fan tutte), 1789
* “The Mercy of Tito” (La clemenza di Tito), 1791
* “The Magic Flute” (Die Zauberflote), 1791. Singspiel
Other works
* 17 masses, including:
* "Coronation", KV 317 (1779)
* “Great Mass” C minor, KV 427 (1782)
* "Requiem", KV 626 (1791)
* about 50 symphonies, including:
* "Parisian" (1778)
* No. 35, KV 385 "Haffner" (1782)
* No. 36, KV 425 "Linzskaya" (1783)
* No. 38, KV 504 “Prazhskaya” (1786)
* No. 39, KV 543 (1788)
* No. 40, KV 550 (1788)
* No. 41, KV 551 "Jupiter" (1788)
* 27 concertos for piano and orchestra
* 6 concertos for violin and orchestra
* Concerto for two violins and orchestra (1774)
* Concerto for violin and viola and orchestra (1779)
* 2 concertos for flute and orchestra (1778)
* No. 1 G major K. 313 (1778)
* No. 2 D major K. 314
* Concerto for oboe and orchestra in D major K. 314 (1777)
* Concerto for clarinet and orchestra in A major K. 622 (1791)
* Concerto for bassoon and orchestra in B-flat major K. 191 (1774)
* 4 concertos for horn and orchestra:
* No. 1 D major K. 412 (1791)
* No. 2 E-flat major K. 417 (1783)
* No. 3 E-flat major K. 447 (between 1784 and 1787)
* No. 4 E-flat major K. 495 (1786) 10 serenades for string orchestra, including:
* "Little Night Serenade" (1787)
* 7 divertimentos for orchestra
* Various wind instrument ensembles
* Sonatas for various instruments, trios, duets
* 19 piano sonatas
* 15 cycles of variations for piano
* Rondo, fantasies, plays
* More than 50 arias
* Ensembles choirs, songs
Notes
1 All about Oscar
2 D. Weiss. “The Sublime and the Earthly” is a historical novel. M., 1992. Page 674.
3 Lev Gunin
4 Levik B.V. “Musical literature of foreign countries,” vol. 2. - M.: Music, 1979 - p.162-276
5 Mozart: Catholic, Master Mason, favorite of the pope (English)
Literature
* Abert G. Mozart: Trans. with him. M., 1978-85. T. 1-4. Part 1-2.
* Weiss D. Sublime and earthly: A historical novel about the life of Mozart and his time. M., 1997.
* Chigareva E. Mozart’s operas in the context of the culture of his time. M.: URSS. 2000
* Chicherin G. Mozart: Research etude. 5th ed. L., 1987.
* Steinpress B.S. Last pages biographies of Mozart // Steinpress B. S. Essays and etudes. M., 1980.
* Shuler D. If Mozart kept a diary... Translation from Hungarian. L. Balova. Kovrin Publishing House. Typogr. Athenaeum, Budapest. 1962.
* Einstein A. Mozart: Personality. Creativity: Transl. with him. M., 1977.
Biography
Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria, and was baptized as Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Theophilus. Mother - Maria Anna, née Pertl, father - Leopold Mozart, composer and theorist, since 1743 - violinist in the court orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg. Of the seven Mozart children, two survived: Wolfgang and his older sister Maria Anna. Both brother and sister had brilliant musical abilities: Leopold began giving his daughter harpsichord lessons when she was eight years old, and the music book with easy pieces composed by her father in 1759 for Nannerl was later useful in teaching little Wolfgang. At the age of three, Mozart was picking up thirds and sixths on the harpsichord, and at the age of five he began composing simple minuets. In January 1762, Leopold took his miracle children to Munich, where they played in the presence of the Bavarian Elector, and in September to Linz and Passau, from there along the Danube to Vienna, where they were received at court, in the Schönbrunn Palace, and twice received a reception from Empress Maria Theresa. This trip marked the beginning of a series of concert trips that continued for ten years.
From Vienna, Leopold and his children moved along the Danube to Pressburg, where they stayed from December 11 to 24, and then returned to Vienna on Christmas Eve. In June 1763, Leopold, Nannerl and Wolfgang began the longest of their concert tours: they did not return home to Salzburg until the end of November 1766. Leopold kept a travel diary: Munich, Ludwigsburg, Augsburg and Schwetzingen, the summer residence of the Elector of the Palatinate. On August 18, Wolfgang gave a concert in Frankfurt. By this time, he had mastered the violin and played it fluently, although not with such phenomenal brilliance as on keyboard instruments. In Frankfurt, he performed his violin concerto, among those present in the hall was 14-year-old Goethe. Brussels and Paris followed, where the family spent the entire winter between 1763 and 1764. The Mozarts were received at the court of Louis XV during the Christmas holidays at Versailles and enjoyed great attention in aristocratic circles throughout the winter. At the same time, Wolfgang's works were published for the first time in Paris - four violin sonatas.
In April 1764, the family went to London and lived there for more than a year. A few days after their arrival, the Mozarts were solemnly received by King George III. As in Paris, children gave public concerts during which Wolfgang demonstrated his amazing abilities. Composer Johann Christian Bach, a favorite of London society, immediately appreciated the child’s enormous talent. Often, having put Wolfgang on his knees, he would perform sonatas with him on the harpsichord: they would play in turns, each playing a few bars, and they would do it with such precision that it seemed as if one musician was playing. In London, Mozart composed his first symphonies. They followed the examples of the gallant, lively and energetic music of Johann Christian, who became the boy's teacher, and demonstrated an innate sense of form and instrumental color. In July 1765, the family left London and headed to Holland; in September, in The Hague, Wolfgang and Nannerl suffered severe pneumonia, from which the boy recovered only by February. They then continued their tour: from Belgium to Paris, then to Lyon, Geneva, Bern, Zurich, Donaueschingen, Augsburg and finally to Munich, where the Elector again listened to the play of the miracle child and was amazed at the successes he had made. As soon as they returned to Salzburg, on November 30, 1766, Leopold began making plans for his next trip. It began in September 1767. The whole family arrived in Vienna, where at that time a smallpox epidemic was raging. The disease overtook both children in Olmutz, where they had to stay until December. In January 1768 they reached Vienna and were again received at court. Wolfgang at this time wrote his first opera, “The Imaginary Simpleton,” but its production did not take place due to the intrigues of some Viennese musicians. At the same time, his first large mass for choir and orchestra appeared, which was performed at the opening of the church at the orphanage in front of a large and friendly audience. A trumpet concerto was written by order, but unfortunately has not survived. On the way home to Salzburg, Wolfgang performed his new symphony, “K. 45a", in the Benedictine monastery in Lambach.
The goal of the next trip Leopold planned was Italy - the country of opera and, of course, the country of music in general. After 11 months of study and preparation for the trip, spent in Salzburg, Leopold and Wolfgang began the first of three journeys through the Alps. They were absent for more than a year, from December 1769 to March 1771. The first Italian journey turned into a chain of continuous triumphs - for the pope and the duke, for King Ferdinand IV of Naples and for the cardinal and, most importantly, for the musicians. Mozart met with Niccolò Piccini and Giovanni Battista Sammartini in Milan, and with the heads of the Neapolitan opera school Niccolò Yomelli and Giovanni Paisiello in Naples. In Milan, Wolfgang received a commission for a new opera seria to be presented during the carnival. In Rome, he heard Gregorio Allegri's famous Miserere, which he later wrote down from memory. Pope Clement XIV received Mozart on July 8, 1770 and awarded him the Order of the Golden Spur. While studying counterpoint in Bologna with the famous teacher Padre Martini, Mozart began work on a new opera, Mithridates, King of Pontus. At Martini's insistence, he underwent an examination at the famous Bologna Philharmonic Academy and was accepted as a member of the academy. The opera was successfully performed at Christmas in Milan. Wolfgang spent the spring and early summer of 1771 in Salzburg, but in August father and son went to Milan to prepare the premiere of the new opera Ascanius in Alba, which was successfully held on October 17. Leopold hoped to convince Archduke Ferdinand, for whose wedding a celebration was organized in Milan, to take Wolfgang into his service, but by a strange coincidence, Empress Maria Theresa sent a letter from Vienna, in which she stated in strong terms her dissatisfaction with the Mozarts, in particular, she called their "useless family". Leopold and Wolfgang were forced to return to Salzburg, unable to find a suitable duty station for Wolfgang in Italy. On the very day of their return, December 16, 1771, Prince-Archbishop Sigismund, who was kind to the Mozarts, died. He was succeeded by Count Hieronymus Colloredo, and for his inaugural celebrations in April 1772, Mozart composed the “dramatic serenade” “The Dream of Scipio.” Colloredo accepted the young composer into the service with an annual salary of 150 guilders and gave permission to travel to Milan. Mozart undertook to write a new opera for this city, but the new archbishop, unlike his predecessor, did not tolerate the Mozarts’ long absences and was not inclined to admire them art. The third Italian voyage lasted from October 1772 to March 1773. Mozart's new opera, Lucius Sulla, was performed the day after Christmas 1772, and the composer received no further opera commissions. Leopold tried in vain to gain the patronage of the Grand Duke of Florence, Leopold. Having made several more attempts to settle his son in Italy, Leopold realized his defeat, and the Mozarts left this country so as not to return there again. For the third time, Leopold and Wolfgang tried to settle in the Austrian capital; they remained in Vienna from mid-July to the end of September 1773. Wolfgang had the opportunity to become acquainted with the new symphonic works of the Viennese school, especially the dramatic symphonies in minor keys of Jan Vanhal and Joseph Haydn, the fruits of which are evident in his symphony in G minor, “K. 183". Forced to remain in Salzburg, Mozart devoted himself entirely to composition: at this time symphonies, divertimentos, works of church genres, as well as the first string quartet appeared - this music soon secured the author’s reputation as one of the most talented composers in Austria. Symphonies created at the end of 1773 - beginning of 1774, “K. 183", "K. 200”, “K. 201”, are distinguished by high dramatic integrity. A short break from the Salzburg provincialism that he hated was given to Mozart by an order that came from Munich for a new opera for the carnival of 1775: the premiere of The Imaginary Gardener was a success in January. But the musician almost never left Salzburg. A happy family life to some extent compensated for the boredom of everyday life in Salzburg, but Wolfgang, who compared his current situation with the lively atmosphere of foreign capitals, gradually lost patience. In the summer of 1777, Mozart was dismissed from the archbishop's service and decided to seek his fortune abroad. In September, Wolfgang and his mother traveled through Germany to Paris. In Munich, the Elector refused his services; On the way, they stopped in Mannheim, where Mozart was friendly received by local orchestra players and singers. Although he did not receive a place at the court of Karl Theodor, he stayed in Mannheim: the reason was his love for the singer Aloysia Weber. In addition, Mozart hoped to make a concert tour with Aloysia, who had a magnificent coloratura soprano; he even went with her secretly to the court of the Princess of Nassau-Weilburg in January 1778. Leopold initially believed that Wolfgang would go to Paris with a company of Mannheim musicians, sending his mother back to Salzburg, but having heard that Wolfgang was madly in love, he strictly ordered him to immediately go to Paris with his mother.
His stay in Paris, which lasted from March to September 1778, turned out to be extremely unsuccessful: Wolfgang’s mother died on July 3, and Parisian court circles lost interest in the young composer. Although Mozart successfully performed two new symphonies in Paris and Christian Bach came to Paris, Leopold ordered his son to return to Salzburg. Wolfgang delayed his return as long as he could and especially lingered in Mannheim. Here he realized that Aloysia was completely indifferent to him. It was a terrible blow, and only his father’s terrible threats and pleas forced him to leave Germany. Mozart's new symphonies in G major, “K. 318", B-flat major, "K. 319", C major, "K. 334" and instrumental serenades in D major, "K. 320" are marked by crystal clarity of form and orchestration, richness and subtlety of emotional nuances and that special warmth that placed Mozart above all Austrian composers, with the possible exception of Joseph Haydn. In January 1779, Mozart resumed his duties as organist at the archbishop's court with an annual salary of 500 guilders. The church music that he was obliged to compose for Sunday services was much higher in depth and variety than what he had previously written in this genre. Particularly notable are the “Coronation Mass” and “Solemn Mass” in C major, “K. 337". But Mozart continued to hate Salzburg and the archbishop, and therefore happily accepted the offer to write an opera for Munich. “Idomeneo, King of Crete” was staged at the court of Elector Karl Theodor, his winter residence in Munich, in January 1781. Idomeneo was a magnificent result of the experience acquired by the composer in the previous period, mainly in Paris and Mannheim. The choral writing is especially original and dramatically expressive. At that time, the Archbishop of Salzburg was in Vienna and ordered Mozart to immediately go to the capital. Here the personal conflict between Mozart and Colloredo gradually assumed alarming proportions, and after Wolfgang's resounding public success in a concert given for the benefit of the widows and orphans of Viennese musicians on April 3, 1781, his days in the service of the archbishop were numbered. In May he submitted his resignation, and on June 8 he was kicked out. Against his father's will, Mozart married Constance Weber, the sister of his first lover, and the bride's mother managed to get very favorable terms of the marriage contract from Wolfgang, to the anger and despair of Leopold, who bombarded his son with letters, begging him to change his mind. Wolfgang and Constanze were married in Vienna's Cathedral of St. Stephen on August 4, 1782. And although Constanza was as helpless in financial matters as her husband, their marriage apparently turned out to be a happy one. In July 1782, Mozart's opera The Rape from the Seraglio was staged at the Vienna Burgtheater; it was a significant success, and Mozart became the idol of Vienna, not only in court and aristocratic circles, but also among concert-goers from the third estate. Within a few years, Mozart reached the heights of fame; life in Vienna encouraged him to engage in a variety of activities, composing and performing. He was in great demand, tickets for his concerts (the so-called academy), distributed by subscription, were completely sold out. For this occasion, Mozart composed a series of brilliant piano concertos. In 1784, Mozart gave 22 concerts over six weeks. In the summer of 1783, Wolfgang and his bride paid a visit to Leopold and Nannerl in Salzburg. On this occasion, Mozart wrote his last and best mass in C minor, “K. 427", which was not completed. The Mass was performed on October 26 in Salzburg's Peterskirche, with Constanze singing one of the soprano solo parts. Constanza, by all accounts, was a good professional singer, although her voice was in many ways inferior to that of her sister Aloysia. Returning to Vienna in October, the couple stopped in Linz, where the Linz Symphony, “K. 425". In February of the following year, Leopold paid a visit to his son and daughter-in-law in their large Viennese apartment near cathedral. This beautiful house has survived to this day, and although Leopold was never able to get rid of his hostility towards Constanze, he admitted that his son’s business as a composer and performer was very successful. The beginning of many years of sincere friendship between Mozart and Joseph Haydn dates back to this time. At a quartet evening with Mozart in the presence of Leopold, Haydn, turning to his father, said: “Your son is greatest composer of everyone I know personally or have heard of.” Haydn and Mozart were significant influences on each other; as for Mozart, the first fruits of such influence are evident in the cycle of six quartets that Mozart dedicated to a friend in a famous letter in September 1785.
In 1784, Mozart became a Freemason, which left a deep imprint on his life philosophy. Masonic ideas can be traced in a number of Mozart's later works, especially in The Magic Flute. In those years, many well-known scientists, poets, writers, and musicians in Vienna were members of Masonic lodges, including Haydn, and Freemasonry was also cultivated in court circles. As a result of various opera and theater intrigues, Lorenzo da Ponte, the court librettist, heir to the famous Metastasio, decided to work with Mozart as opposed to the clique of the court composer Antonio Salieri and da Ponte's rival, the librettist Abbot Casti. Mozart and Da Ponte began with Beaumarchais's anti-aristocratic play The Marriage of Figaro, and by that time the ban on the German translation of the play had not yet been lifted. Using various tricks, they managed to obtain the necessary permission from the censor, and on May 1, 1786, “The Marriage of Figaro” was first shown at the Burgtheater. Although this Mozart opera was later a huge success, when first staged it was soon supplanted by Vicente Martin y Soler's new opera, A Rare Thing. Meanwhile, in Prague, The Marriage of Figaro gained exceptional popularity, melodies from the opera were heard in the streets, and arias from it were danced to in ballrooms and coffee houses. Mozart was invited to conduct several performances. In January 1787, he and Constanza spent about a month in Prague, and it was the happiest time in the life of the great composer. The director of the Bondini opera troupe ordered him a new opera. It can be assumed that Mozart himself chose the plot - the ancient legend of Don Giovanni; the libretto was to be prepared by none other than Da Ponte. The opera Don Giovanni was first performed in Prague on October 29, 1787.
In May 1787, the composer's father died. This year generally became a milestone in Mozart’s life, as regards its external course and state of mind composer. His thoughts were increasingly colored by deep pessimism; The sparkle of success and joy of youth are forever a thing of the past. The pinnacle of the composer's path was the triumph of Don Juan in Prague. After returning to Vienna at the end of 1787, Mozart began to be haunted by failures, and at the end of his life - by poverty. The production of Don Giovanni in Vienna in May 1788 ended in failure: at the reception after the performance, the opera was defended by Haydn alone. Mozart received the position of court composer and conductor of Emperor Joseph II, but with a relatively small salary for this position, 800 guilders per year. The Emperor understood little about the music of either Haydn or Mozart. About Mozart's works, he said that they were “not to the taste of the Viennese.” Mozart had to borrow money from Michael Puchberg, his fellow Mason. In view of the hopelessness of the situation in Vienna, a strong impression is made by documents confirming how quickly the frivolous Viennese forgot their former idol, Mozart decided to take a concert trip to Berlin, April - June 1789, where he hoped to find a place for himself at the court of the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm II. The result was only new debts, and even an order for six string quartets for His Majesty, who was a decent amateur cellist, and six keyboard sonatas for Princess Wilhelmina.
In 1789, the health of Constance, then Wolfgang himself, began to deteriorate, and the family’s financial situation became simply threatening. In February 1790, Joseph II died, and Mozart was not sure that he could maintain his post as court composer under the new emperor. The coronation celebrations of Emperor Leopold took place in Frankfurt in the fall of 1790, and Mozart went there at his own expense, hoping to attract public attention. This performance was performed by "Coronation" keyboard concert, "TO. 537”, took place on October 15, but did not bring any money. Returning to Vienna, Mozart met with Haydn; London impresario Zalomon came to invite Haydn to London, and Mozart received a similar invitation to the English capital for the next winter season. He wept bitterly as he saw off Haydn and Zalomon. “We will never see each other again,” he repeated. The previous winter, he invited only two friends to the rehearsals of the opera “That’s What Everybody Do” - Haydn and Puchberg.
In 1791, Emanuel Schikaneder, a writer, actor and impresario, a longtime acquaintance of Mozart, commissioned him a new opera in German for his Freihaustheater in the Vienna suburb of Wieden, and in the spring Mozart began work on The Magic Flute. At the same time, he received an order from Prague for the coronation opera, La Clemenza di Titus, for which Mozart’s student Franz Xaver Süssmayer helped write some spoken recitatives. Together with his student and Constance, Mozart went to Prague in August to prepare the performance, which took place on September 6 without much success; later this opera enjoyed enormous popularity. Mozart then left hastily for Vienna to complete The Magic Flute. The opera was performed on September 30, and at the same time he completed his last instrumental work - a concerto for clarinet and orchestra in A major, “K. 622". Mozart was already ill when, under mysterious circumstances, a stranger came to him and ordered a requiem. This was the manager of Count Walsegg-Stuppach. The count commissioned a composition in memory of his deceased wife, intending to perform it under his own name. Mozart, confident that he was composing a requiem for himself, feverishly worked on the score until his strength left him. On November 15, 1791, he completed the Little Masonic Cantata. Constance was being treated in Baden at that time and hastily returned home when she realized how serious her husband’s illness was. On November 20, Mozart fell ill and a few days later felt so weak that he took communion. On the night of December 4–5, he fell into a delirious state and, in a semi-conscious state, imagined himself playing the timpani on the “Day of Wrath” from his own unfinished requiem. It was almost one in the morning when he turned to the wall and stopped breathing. Constanza, broken by grief and without any means, had to agree to the cheapest funeral service in the chapel of the Cathedral of St. Stefan. She was too weak to accompany her husband's body on the long journey to the cemetery of St. Mark, where he was buried without any witnesses except the gravediggers, in a pauper's grave, the location of which was soon hopelessly forgotten. Süssmayer completed the requiem and orchestrated large unfinished text fragments left by the author. If during Mozart's life his creative power was realized only by a relatively small number of listeners, then already in the first decade after the death of the composer, recognition of his genius spread throughout Europe. This was facilitated by the success that The Magic Flute had among a wide audience. German publisher Andre acquired the rights to most of of Mozart's unpublished works, including his wonderful piano concertos and all of his late symphonies, none of them were published during the composer's lifetime.
In 1862, Ludwig von Köchel published a catalog of Mozart's works in chronological order. From this time on, the titles of the composer's works usually include the Köchel number - just as the works of other authors usually contain the opus designation. For example, the full title of Piano Concerto No. 20 would be: Concerto No. 20 in D minor for piano and orchestra or “K. 466". Köchel's index was revised six times. In 1964, Breitkopf and Hertel, Wiesbaden, Germany, published a thoroughly revised and expanded Köchel index. It includes many works for which Mozart's authorship has been proven and which were not mentioned in earlier editions. The dates of the essays have also been clarified in accordance with scientific research data. In the 1964 edition, changes were made to the chronology, and therefore new numbers appeared in the catalogue, but Mozart’s works continue to exist under the old numbers of the Köchel catalogue.
Biography
The biography of the great composer confirms the well-known truth: facts are absolutely meaningless. Having facts, you can prove any fable. Which is what the world does with the life and death of Mozart. Everything is described, read, published. But they still say: “He didn’t die a natural death—he was poisoned.”
Divine gift
King Midas from the ancient myth received a wonderful gift from the god Dionysus - everything he did not touch turned into gold. Another thing is that the gift turned out to have a catch: the unfortunate man almost died of hunger and accordingly begged for mercy. The insane gift was returned to God - in myth it’s easy. But if a real person is given an equally spectacular gift, only a musical one, what then?
Mozart received a chosen gift from the Lord - all the notes he touched turned into musical gold. The desire to criticize his work is doomed to failure in advance: it wouldn’t even occur to you to say that Shakespeare was not successful as a playwright. Music that stands above all criticism was written without a single false note! Mozart had access to any genres and forms of composition: operas, symphonies, concerts, chamber music, sacred works, sonatas (more than 600 in total). Once the composer was asked how he always manages to write such perfect music. “I don’t know any other way,” he replied.
However, he was also a magnificent “golden” performer. How can one not remember that his concert career began on a “stool” - at the age of six, Wolfgang played his own compositions on a tiny violin. On tours organized by his father in Europe, he delighted the audience by playing four hands together with his sister Nannerl on the harpsichord - then this was a novelty. Based on melodies suggested by the public, he composed enormous plays on the spot. People could not believe that this miracle was happening without any preparation, and they performed all sorts of tricks on the child, for example, covering the keyboard with a piece of cloth, waiting for him to get into trouble. No problem - the golden child solved any musical puzzle.
Preserving his cheerful disposition as an improviser until death, he often surprised his contemporaries with his musical jokes. Let me give you just one famous anecdote as an example. Once at a dinner party, Mozart offered his friend Haydn a bet that he would not immediately play the etude he had composed. If he doesn’t play, he’ll give his friend half a dozen champagne. Finding the topic easy, Haydn agreed. But suddenly, already playing, Haydn exclaimed: “How can I play this? Both my hands are busy playing passages at different ends of the piano, and meanwhile, at the same time I have to play notes in the middle keyboard - this is impossible!” “Let me,” said Mozart, “I’ll play.” Having reached a seemingly technically impossible place, he bent down and pressed the necessary keys with his nose. Haydn had a snub nose, and Mozart had a long nose. Those present “cryed” with laughter, and Mozart won champagne.
At the age of 12, Mozart composed his first opera and by this time had also become an excellent conductor. The boy was small in stature and it was probably funny to watch how he found common language with orchestra members whose age exceeded his own by three or more times. He stood on the “stool” again, but the professionals obeyed him, understanding that there was a miracle in front of them! In fact, it will always be like this: musical people did not hide their admiration, they recognized the divine gift. Did this make Mozart's life easier? Being born a genius is wonderful, but his life would probably have been much easier if he had been born like everyone else. But ours is not! Because we wouldn't have his divine music.
Everyday vicissitudes
The little musical “phenomenon” was deprived of a normal childhood; endless travel, associated with terrible inconveniences at that time, undermined his health. All further musical work required the highest tension: after all, he had to play and write at any time of the day or night. More often at night, although music apparently always sounded in his head, and this was noticeable by the way he was absent-minded in communication, and often did not react to conversations around him. But, despite the fame and adoration of the public, Mozart constantly needed money and accumulated debts. As a composer, he earned good money, however, he did not know how to save. Partly because he was distinguished by his love of entertainment. He organized luxurious dance evenings at home (in Vienna), bought a horse and a billiard table (he was a very good player). He dressed fashionably and expensively. Family life also required large expenses.
The last eight years of my life have become a complete “money nightmare”. Constanza's wife was pregnant six times. Children were dying. Only two boys survived. But the health of the woman herself, who married Mozart at the age of 18, had seriously deteriorated. He was forced to pay for her treatment at expensive resorts. At the same time, he did not allow himself any indulgences, although they were necessary. He worked harder and harder, and the last four years were the time of creation of the most brilliant works, the most joyful, bright and philosophical: the operas “Don Giovanni”, “The Magic Flute”, “La Clemenza di Titus”. I actually wrote the last one in 18 days. It would take most musicians twice as long to transcribe these notes! It seemed that he instantly responded to all the blows of fate with music of wondrous beauty: Concert No. 26 – Coronation; the 40th symphony (undoubtedly the most famous), the 41st “Jupiter” - with a victorious-sounding finale - a hymn to life; “Little Night Serenade” (last No. 13) and dozens of other works.
And all this against the background of depression and paranoia that took hold of him: it seemed to him that he was being poisoned with a slow-acting poison. Hence the appearance of the legend of poisoning - he himself launched it into the light.
And then they ordered “Requiem”. Mozart saw some kind of omen in this and worked hard on it until his death. I finished only 50% and did not consider it the main thing in my life. The work was completed by his student, but this unevenness of the plan is heard in the work. Therefore, the Requiem is not included in the list of Mozart’s best creations, although it is passionately loved by listeners.
Truth and slander
His death was terrible! At just over 35 years of age, his kidneys began to fail. His body became swollen and began to smell terrible. He suffered madly, realizing that he was leaving his wife and two tiny children with debts. On the day of death, they say, Constanza went to bed next to the deceased, hoping to catch a contagious disease and die with him. It didn't work out. The next day, a man, whose wife was allegedly pregnant with Mozart’s child, attacked the unfortunate woman with a razor and injured her. This was not true, but all kinds of gossip spread throughout Vienna, and the man committed suicide. We remembered Salieri, who was intrigued by the appointment of Mozart to a good position at court. Many years later, Salieri died in a mental hospital, tormented by accusations of murdering Mozart.
It is clear that Constance could not attend the funeral, and this later became the main accusation of all her sins and dislike for Wolfgang. The rehabilitation of Constance Mozart occurred quite recently. The slander that she was an incredible spender was dropped. Numerous documents report, on the contrary, the prudence of a business woman who is ready to selflessly defend her husband’s work.
Slander is indifferent to nonentity, and, having grown old, gossip becomes legends and myths. Moreover, when no less great people take on the biographies of the great. Genius versus genius – Pushkin versus Mozart. Captured the gossip, rethought it romantically and made it the most beautiful artistic myth, scattered with quotes: “Genius and villainy are incompatible,” “I don’t find it funny when a worthless painter / Raphael’s Madonna gets dirty for me,” “You, Mozart, God doesn’t even know it,” and so on. Mozart became a recognizable hero of literature, theater, and later cinema, eternal and modern, a “man from nowhere” not tamed by society, an ungrown chosen boy...
Biography
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus (27.1.1756, Salzburg, - 5.12.1791, Vienna), Austrian composer. Among the greatest masters of music, M. stands out for the early flowering of a powerful and comprehensive talent, the unusual destiny of life - from the triumphs of a child prodigy to the difficult struggle for existence and recognition in adulthood, the unparalleled courage of the artist, who preferred the insecure life of an independent master to the humiliating service of a despot-nobleman, and , finally, the comprehensive significance of creativity, covering almost all genres of music.
Game on musical instruments and M.’s composition was taught to him by his father, the violinist and composer L. Mozart. From the age of 4 M. played the harpsichord, from the age of 5-6 he began to compose (at the age of 8-9 M. created the first symphonies, and at 10-11 - the first works for musical theater). In 1762, M. and his sister, pianist Maria Anna, began touring in Austria, then in England and Switzerland. M. performed as a pianist, violinist, organist, and singer. In 1769-77 he served as accompanist, in 1779-81 as organist at the court of the Salzburg prince-archbishop. Between 1769 and 1774 he made three trips to Italy; in 1770 he was elected a member of the Philharmonic Academy in Bologna (he took composition lessons from the head of the academy, Padre Martini), and received the Order of the Spur from the Pope in Rome. In Milan, M. conducted his opera “Mithridates, King of Pontus.” By the age of 19, the composer was the author of 10 musical and stage works: the theatrical oratorio “The Debt of the First Commandment” (1st part, 1767, Salzburg), the Latin comedy “Apollo and Hyacinth” (1767, University of Salzburg), the German singspiel “Bastien and Bastienne" (1768, Vienna), Italian opera buffa "The Feigned Simpleton" (1769, Salzburg) and "The Imaginary Gardener" (1775, Munich), Italian opera seria "Mithridates" and "Lucius Sulla" (1772, Milan), serenade operas (pastorals) “Ascanius in Alba” (1771, Milan), “The Dream of Scipio” (1772, Salzburg) and “The Shepherd King” (1775, Salzburg); 2 cantatas, many symphonies, concertos, quartets, sonatas, etc. Attempts to settle in any significant musical center or Paris were unsuccessful. In Paris, M. wrote music for J. J. Nover's pantomime "Trinkets" (1778). After the production of the opera “Idomeneo, King of Crete” in Munich (1781), M. broke with the archbishop and settled in Vienna, earning his livelihood through lessons and academies (concerts). A milestone in the development of the national musical theater was M.'s Singspiel "The Abduction from the Seraglio" (1782, Vienna). In 1786, the premieres of M.'s short musical comedy "Theater Director" and the opera "The Marriage of Figaro" based on the comedy by Beaumarchais took place. After Vienna, “The Marriage of Figaro” was staged in Prague, where it met with an enthusiastic reception, as did M.’s next opera, “The Punished Libertine, or Don Giovanni” (1787). From the end of 1787, M. was a chamber musician at the court of Emperor Joseph with the responsibility of composing dances for masquerades. How opera composer M. was not successful in Vienna; only once did M. manage to write music for the Vienna Imperial Theater - the cheerful and graceful opera “They Are All Like That, or the School of Lovers” (otherwise known as “That’s What All Women Do,” 1790). The opera "La Clemenza di Titus" based on an ancient plot, timed to coincide with the coronation celebrations in Prague (1791), was received coldly. M.'s last opera, “The Magic Flute” (Viennese suburban theater, 1791), found recognition among the democratic public. The hardships of life, need, and illness brought the tragic end of the composer’s life closer; he died before reaching 36 years of age and was buried in a common grave.
M. is a representative of the Viennese classical school, his work is the musical pinnacle of the 18th century, the brainchild of the Enlightenment. The rationalistic principles of classicism were combined in it with the influences of the aesthetics of sentimentalism and the Sturm and Drang movement. Excitement and passion are just as characteristic of M.'s music, as are endurance, will, and high organization. M.'s music retains the grace and tenderness of the gallant style, but the mannerism of this style is overcome, especially in mature works. M.'s creative thought is focused on an in-depth expression of the spiritual world, on a truthful reflection of the diversity of reality. With equal force, M.'s music conveys the feeling of the fullness of life, the joy of being - and the suffering of a person experiencing the oppression of an unjust social system and passionately striving for happiness, for joy. Grief often reaches tragedy, but a clear, harmonious, life-affirming structure prevails.
M.'s operas are a synthesis and renewal of previous genres and forms. M. gives primacy in opera to music - the vocal element, ensemble of voices and symphony. At the same time, he freely and flexibly subordinates musical composition logic of dramatic action, individual and group characteristics of characters. M. developed in his own way some of the techniques of K. V. Gluck’s musical drama (in particular, in “Idomeneo”). Based on the comic and partly “serious” Italian opera, M. created the opera-comedy “The Marriage of Figaro”, which combines lyricism and fun, liveliness of action and completeness in the depiction of characters; The idea of this social opera is the superiority of people from the people over the aristocracy. Opera-drama (“fun drama”) “Don Juan” combines comedy and tragedy, fantastic convention and everyday reality; the hero of an ancient legend, the Seville seducer, embodies in the opera vital energy, youth, freedom of feeling, but the self-will of the individual is opposed by firm principles of morality. The national fairy tale opera "The Magic Flute" continues the traditions of the Austro-German Singspiel. Like The Abduction from the Seraglio, it combines musical forms with spoken dialogue and is based on a German text (most of M.'s other operas are written on an Italian libretto). But her music is enriched various genres- from opera arias in the styles of opera buffa and opera seria to chorale and fugue, from a simple song to Masonic musical symbols (the plot is inspired by Masonic literature). In this work, M. glorified brotherhood, love and moral fortitude.
Based on the classical norms of symphonic and chamber music developed by I. Haydn, M. improved the structure of the symphony, quintet, quartet, and sonata, deepened and individualized their ideological and figurative content, introduced dramatic tension into them, sharpened internal contrasts, and strengthened the stylistic unity of sonata-symphonic music. cycle (later Haydn adopted a lot from M.). An essential principle of Mozart's instrumentalism is expressive cantability (melody). Among M.'s symphonies (about 50), the most significant are the last three (1788) - a cheerful symphony in E-flat major, combining sublime and everyday images, a pathetic symphony in G minor, filled with sorrow, tenderness and courage, and a majestic, emotionally multifaceted symphony in C major, which later it was given the name "Jupiter". Among the string quintets (7), the quintets in C major and G minor (1787) stand out; among the string quartets (23) there are six dedicated to “father, mentor and friend” I. Haydn (1782-1785), and three so-called Prussian quartets (1789-90). M.'s chamber music includes ensembles for different compositions, including those with the participation of piano and wind instruments.
M. - creator classic shape concerto for solo instrument and orchestra. While maintaining the wide accessibility inherent in this genre, M.'s concerts acquired a symphonic scope and a variety of individual expression. The concertos for piano and orchestra (21) reflected the brilliant skill and inspired, melodious style of performance of the composer himself, as well as his high art improvisation. M. wrote one concerto for 2 and 3 pianos and orchestra, 5 (6?) concertos for violin and orchestra, and a number of concertos for various wind instruments, including the Symphony Concertante with 4 solo wind instruments (1788). For his performances, and partly for his students and acquaintances, M. composed piano sonatas (19), rondos, fantasies, variations, works for piano for 4 hands and for 2 pianos, sonatas for piano and violin.
The everyday (entertaining) orchestral and ensemble music of M. - divertissements, serenades, cassations, nocturnes, as well as marches and dances - has great aesthetic value. Special group consists of his Masonic compositions for orchestra ("Masonic Funeral Music", 1785) and choir and orchestra (including "Little Masonic Cantata", 1791), similar in spirit to "The Magic Flute". M. wrote church choral works and church sonatas with organ mainly in Salzburg. The Viennese period includes two unfinished major works- Mass in C minor (the written parts were used in the cantata “Penitent David”, 1785) and the famous Requiem, one of M.’s deepest creations (commissioned anonymously in 1791 by Count F. Walsegg-Stuppach; completed by M.’s student, composer F. K. Süssmayr ).
M. was among the first to create classical examples of chamber songs in Austria. Many arias and vocal ensembles with orchestra (almost all in Italian), comic vocal canons, 30 songs for voice and piano, including “Violet” to the words of J. V. Goethe (1785), have been preserved.
True fame came to M. after his death. The name M. has become a symbol of the highest musical talent, creative genius, unity of beauty and truth of life. Lasting value Mozart's creations and their huge role in the spiritual life of mankind are emphasized by the statements of musicians, writers, philosophers, scientists, starting with I. Haydn, L. Beethoven, J. V. Goethe, E. T. A. Hoffmann and ending with A. Einstein, G. V. Chicherin and modern cultural masters. "What depth! What courage and what harmony!" - this apt and capacious description belongs to A. S. Pushkin (“Mozart and Salieri”). P. I. Tchaikovsky expressed his admiration for the “luminous genius” in a number of his musical compositions, including in the orchestral suite "Mozartiana". There are Mozart societies in many countries. In Mozart's homeland, Salzburg, a network of Mozart memorial, educational, research and educational institutions has been created, headed by the International Mozarteum Institution (founded in 1880).
Catalog of works by M.: ochel L. v. (edited by A. Einstein), Chronologischthematisches Verzeichnis samtlicher Tonwerke. A. Mozarts, 6. Aufl., Lpz., 1969; in another, more complete and corrected edition - 6. Aufl., hrsg. von. Giegling, A. Weinmann und G. Sievers, Wiesbaden, 1964(7 Aufl., 1965).
Works: Briefe und Aufzeichnungen. Gesamtausgabe. Gesammelt von. A. Bauer und. E. Deutsch, auf Grund deren Vorarbeiten erlautert von J. . Eibl, Bd 1-6, Kassel, 1962-71.
Lit.: Ulybyshev A.D., New biography of Mozart, trans. from French, vol. 1-3, M., 1890-92; Korganov V.D., Mozart. Biographical sketch, St. Petersburg, 1900; Livanova T.N., Mozart and Russian musical culture, M., 1956; Chernaya E. S., Mozart. Life and creativity, (2 ed.), M., 1966; Chicherin G.V., Mozart, 3rd ed., Leningrad, 1973; Wyzewa. de et Saint-Foix G. de, . A. Mozart, t. 1-2, ., 1912; continuation: Saint-Foix G. de, . A. Mozart, t. 3-5, ., 1937-46; Abert., . A. Mozart, 7 Aufl., TI 1-2, Lpz., 1955-56 (Register, Lpz., 1966); Deutsch. E., Mozart. Die Dokumente seines Lebens, Kassel, 1961; Einstein A., Mozart. Sein Charakter, sein Werk, ./M., 1968.
B. S. Steinpress.
Works musical genius Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were able to make Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky immerse himself in his sensual world so much that they caused awe and tears of delight. The famous composer considered Mozart’s music to be almost ideal, able to open and show him what music really is.
The composer's childhood
Amadeus was born at the beginning of 1756; on January 27, a son was born into the family of Leopold Mozart, who later glorified the family and left an indelible mark on the history of music, being a true talent and genius.
The boy's father, a violinist and teacher who, among other things, played the organ, managed to notice his son's perfect pitch in time and develop his abilities to perfection. Of Wolfgang's six siblings, only his older sister survived. It was from her that Leopold first began to study music with children, teaching the girl to play the clavier. Being with them all the time, little Mozart occupied himself with a selection of melodies he heard. Noticing this, the father considered his child's unique gift. First lessons of father and son began to take place in the form of a game.
Further development was not long in coming:
- at four years old the boy begins to write a harpsichord concerto on his own;
- at the age of five, the young musician is fluent in composing small plays;
- and by the age of six he is capable of good performance complex essays.
The father, who supports music studies, wanting a better life for his son, organizes a tour with the boy’s performances in the hope of his further prosperous and interesting life.
The young musician had a unique musical memory, allowing him to accurately record any piece he hears. It is generally accepted that already at the age of six the composer wrote his first work.
Tour with concert program
Taking both children with them on tour, the family visits many European cities, including the capital of Austria. Among those who listened to the speeches young musician there were residents of the capitals of France and England, as well as many other cities of old Europe. The listeners, admired by his virtuoso playing on the harpsichord, were also amazed by his mastery of the violin as well as the organ. Long performances lasted five hours, which affected fatigue. However, the father did not stop his son’s training and continued studying with him.
At the age of ten, Mozart and his family returned to their native Salzburg, but did not stay there for long. The young genius became full-fledged rivals to the city’s musicians, which could not have a positive effect on their attitude towards the boy. By the father’s decision, the two of them go to Italy, where Leopold expects to receive true recognition and appreciation of his son’s genius.
Italy and Mozart
The four-year period of stay in Italy had a good effect on improving the talent of the hardworking musician. Classes with masters who met the boy in a new country gave tangible results. It was in this country that several of the composer's operas were staged. The young performer becomes the first member of the Bologna Academy at such a young age. The father hoped for a further good fate for his son. However, the Italian beau monde remained wary of the young genius and was unable to find work in the new country.
And again Salzburg
Upon returning to their homeland, the family did not feel the delight of the residents. The heir to the deceased count was a cruel man who did not hesitate to humiliate Mozart and oppress him in every possible way. Without giving his permission for Wolfgang to participate in concerts, he forced the young musician to write only church music and some entertainment works. Using his long-awaited vacation to travel to Paris, Mozart does not receive the impressions he expected to find - the composer's mother dies from deprivation and life's hardships.
The musician endured the next couple of years with difficulty when he returned to his homeland. At the same time, the triumph of his opera, staged in Munich, makes young man give up his dependent position and go to Vienna. This city becomes the last refuge of the great musician.
Mozart and Vienna
In the capital of Austria, a musician marries the girl he loves without obtaining the consent of her parents. At first, life in a new city was very difficult for Mozart. However, after the success of the next work, the composer’s circle of acquaintances and connections expanded significantly. And then the long-awaited success came again. Yours last essay genius composer didn't have time to finish writing. Mozart's student was able to finish it, resorting to the musician's drafts left after his death.
Recent years
Wolfgang's death occurred for an unknown reason; there is even a version of possible poisoning. The creator’s grave has not been found; it is only known that it was a common burial due to the utter poverty of his relatives.
