Having visited Denise's Blog the other day, and reading a post she did about Mozart, and recognizing how very little I have focused in that area of musical history, I was inspired to look at his life. AND Beethoven's, but I'll get to that another time.

While I was reading about his travels and performances,
I glanced back up to see how old he was when he died and was floored to realize how young he was. He was only 35 years old. He accomplished more works and musical legacies to leave the world, in his 35 years, than most of us will in a lifetime......

His full name was Johannes Chrysostomus
Wolfgangus Theophillus Amadeus Mozart.
Amadeus was added to his name after a trip to Italy.
All these names mean "Beloved of God."

When he was younger, he went by the nickname, Wolferl, and eventually called himself Mozart.
His father, Leopold, who was a talented musician and composer, taught Mozart and his older sister at a very young age to appreciate music. Mozart was so ingeniously talented that he wrote his first piece at age 5, called a minuet. It is absolutely beautiful.

By the time he was eight years old he had started to write for other instruments as well. He shocked his family by joining in perfectly on a violin session that his father was having with a friend. He wrote a sonata for the flute and the piano. Shortly thereafter, he wrote an entire symphony!
Everyone was astounded at his musical ability. Many though, were skeptical that he was really the composer of these musical masterpieces. He had to prove to the townsfolk, time and time again, that the music was truly his creation.
Word of his talent spread. He was summoned to play for the Emperor and Empress of Austria. His family traveled there and “Wolferl” delighted them by performing some of his music. They were so impressed, they lavished him and his family with gifts and money. They gave them fine clothes to wear. The empress had made a suit intended for her son, but liked Wolferl so much, she gave it to him.




Mozart’s father, upon realizing what a success this journey was, started arranging trips for the family. They traveled to Venice, and Rome, and eventually throughout Europe. Mozart’s fame was spreading. By the time he was eleven years old, he had played for many important people of that time. As he grew older, though, he was becoming less in demand. He was no longer the child prodigy everyone was so amazed by. They traveled to Paris and were not impressed with the way they were received. They considered the people there to be fake and cold. His family felt the people in London were far more friendly and full of warm culture. As he grew older, illnesses beset him and his family. It was in Paris that his mother died suddenly in July, 1778. Mozart moved to Vienna where he lived for a time with the Webers, a family he had met in 1777. He eventually married Constanze Weber in August of 1782. He and his wife had six children, but only two survived.
He was always writing music to sell to try and make money. Occasionally, he would sell a composition to a publisher for a decent price or he would receive an order to write an opera. Off and on he struggled financially. Many felt that he mismanaged his money and did not pursue his career properly. When once asked about a meager court appointment he held, Mozart replied: "I get paid far too much for what I do, and far too little for what I could do." His music did not always please those in power: "Too many notes," Emperor Joseph II was reported to have said. And Mozart himself, who always felt that his talents were never adequately recognized, was often moody and difficult to be around.
During that time, music from other places in the world, called World Music, was very popular. Wolfgang loved the music from Turkey, and composed a piece to sound like the music played in that country. It is called Rondo ala Turca. It is a piece many consider among his best.

Throughout his life, he and his family were plagued with different illnesses. His health was never very good. It is written that a very strange and mysterious thing happened one day when Mozart was home alone. A stranger knocked on the door, dressed in dark clothes from head to foot with a dark hood covering his head. It is also written that he handed Wolfgang a piece of paper, asking him to compose a requiem, which is a musical piece written to honor the dead. It is reported that this really scared him. He stated that he was going to die soon and that the song he was writing was for his own funeral. Some say that it is not a mystery, who the hooded man was; that it was the servant of a Count Walsegg who intended to claim the work as his own at a memorial service for his wife.
Over the next several months, Wolfgang was completely obsessed with writing this piece.
As he wrote this requiem, his illness became more and more severe. He became ill with acute rheumatic fever. He eventually became so ill that he could not even get out of bed, and it became hard for him to breathe.
He was never able to finish the whole piece by himself. Part of this piece was named the "Tuba Mirem" and is considered one of the most beautiful pieces he ever wrote.
On December 5, 1791... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died.
He is considered one of the greatest composers who ever lived.