Meet Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed more than 600 musical works, including 41 symphonies, 27 piano concertos, and 7 major operas. Then he died, under somewhat suspicious circumstances, at the tender age of 35. All of that music, and a bit of that biographical drama, have made him one of history's most famous composers.

Prodigious Talent

Born January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria, Mozart showed serious musical skills by the time he was three years old. So his father, Leopold, a musician himself, decided to show off his son's talent and make a few bucks.

At six, the young Mozart performed for the Austrian empress. At seven, he toured Europe with his father and sister (a talented keyboard player). At eight, he composed his first symphony. By 13, he was back in Salzburg, working as the archbishop's concertmaster.

The following year, Mozart was commissioned to compose an opera seria (serious opera) in Milan. He also visited Vienna and Munich as a teen, always looking for work and constantly composing. From symphonies to sacred works to dance music, Mozart mastered the major musical forms of his era.

Many Notes, Not Enough Banknotes

At 21, Mozart traveled to Munich, Mannheim, and Paris, searching for professional prospects. He didn't find regular employment, but he did fall in love with a young singer, Aloysia Weber. Aloysia didn't return Mozart's affections, so a few years later, he married her sister, Constanze.

By then, Mozart had parted ways with the archbishop of Salzburg--permanently. According to the composer, he was dismissed "with a kick in the seat of the pants." He moved to Vienna, Austria's imperial (and musical) capital, and worked as a freelance composer, music teacher, and performer. Later he received a minor post at Emperor Joseph II's court, though the emperor evidently wasn't his biggest fan. After watching a Mozart opera, Joseph reportedly offered a simple critique: "Too many notes."

Elsewhere, Mozart's work was better received. So were a series of string quartets Mozart dedicated to his friend, Joseph Haydn, and a series of piano concertos he wrote to perform himself. Then came a series of great operas--The Marriage of Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1787), and Cosi Fan Tutte (1790)--not to mention symphonies, concertos, and other works, many of them masterpieces. Mozart earned acclaim and a decent living, but he spent lavishly and faced financial difficulties for the rest of his short life.

Death and Drama

Mozart died on December 5, 1791, not long after the premiere of his most successful opera yet, The Magic Flute. The cause of his death has been disputed for years--at least since the 1820s, when a rumor began to circulate that another composer, Antonio Salieri, had poisoned him.

That rumor inspired the dramatic end of Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus (and the Academy Award-winning movie based upon it). Yet there's almost no historical evidence to back it up. Scholarly inquiries have blamed typhus, streptococcus, and other natural ailments. We may never know the truth. But in any case, Mozart's masterful music endures.

--Steve Sampson