FREE ESSAY ON MOZART

MOZART

Julien Rouleau
"The classical period produced more instrumental than vocal music, a wealth of serious
and comic operas as well as vocal religious music also appeared during this time"(Ferris,
231). One of the best composer of this time was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In this paper I
will go through his childhood, his friends and family, and of course his music. Enjoy!!!
Child of the Enlightenment
The world that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart entered ceremoniously in 1756 was brimming in
change. Historians refer to this era as the Age of Enlightenment, one of unparalleled
scientific, philosophical, and political ferment. Within Mozart's lifetime it set in
motion forces that would fundamentally alter life not only in his native, Salzburg, but
also around the globe. The Enlightenment was not, to be sure, a democratic 
movement. In France, the absolutism of the Sun King, Louis XIV, continued under Louis XV
and XVI. But in Austria, Empress Maria Theresa introduced a greater measure of tolerance
and freedom among her subjects, laying a foundation for the democratic revolutions that
followed. Wolfgang's father Leopold came from a family of Augsburg bookbinders. He
received a solid Jesuit education, more intellectual than evangelical after a year at the
Benedictine University in nearby Salzburg; Leopold stopped attending classes to pursue a
career as a musician. "Leopold figured as Mozart's most important first model. He taught
his son the clavier and composition"(Mercardo 763). Wolfgang's mother Anna-Maria brought
as much talent to her 32-year marriage as did Leopold. Though deprived of a formal
education, she was highly intelligent and quick-witted- qualities that attracted the
sober and reserved Leopold. Only two of their seven children survived infancy. Wolfgang's
musically talented sister Nannerl was five years older. Yet in this painting, the
12-year- old looks like a spinster of seventy-complete with budding double chin.
Wolfgang, too, looks far older than his 7 years, and controls the action from his place
at its center.
The Child Prodigy
Indeed, Mozart marks the beginning of the Western fascination with the child prodigy.
Dressed in the festive outfit given Wolfgang in 1762 by the Empress Maria Theresa, this
boy of not quite seven years old looks, for all the world, like a miniature adult who has
simply skipped childhood. "Mozart was keenly aware of his exceptional 
ability, which had been fostered and rutted in him by his father from a very early
age"(Schroter). Other nineteenth-century artists represented Wolfgang-variously said to
be anywhere from 11 to 14 as a curly-locked angel. For them, how else could the divine
music that poured out of a child-size body be explained? The idealization of Mozart's
genius was complete by the end of the nineteenth century. Mozart composes with his violin
in one hand and music has appeared miraculously on his stand in the other. The message is
unmistakable:
"Mortals use quills,
Mozart simply wills"(Solomon)
On the Road
The temptation to take his two prodigies on the road proved irresistible to Leopold, who
assumed sole responsibility for Mozart's education. Between 1762 and 1766, the Mozarts
appeared at almost every major court in Europe. Wolfgang dazzled audiences with his
ability to read difficult music at sight and to improvise. In London, as elsewhere, the
Mozarts hobnobbed with the leading musicians. Probably the most important of these was
Johann Christian Bach, the youngest son of Johann Sebastian. It is no accident that
Mozart's early symphonies, composed in London, are often stylistically indistinguishable
from those of J. C. Bach. When Mozart was 13, his prowess as a keyboard player,
violinist, improviser, and composer were already legendary. "When Mozart was 21 he wrote
"Paris" Symphony, N31 while he was in Paris looking for a 
music position. He was thoroughly disenchanted with the French and their
music"(Internet). From 1768 to 1775, between stays in Salzburg, he and Leopold made three
further forays to Italy and Germany. Wolfgang evolved from a prodigy into a serious
composer. 
Public Successes
A self-confident Mozart assured his father in 1782 that he would be able to support a
wife and family in Vienna, As a result which he called "Clavierland. Of its earlier
devastation, the dominant architectural style in Vienna is Baroque, aided in the 1700s by
an influx of Italian sculptors, stucco workers, and painters. The dominant architect and
architectural historian was Italian-trained Johann Fischer von Erlach(1656-1723), whose
densely decorated structures still stand out today." He planned to achieve this by
writing music for the public: operas, symphonies, and concertos featuring himself as
pianist. Although public performances were less frequent than today, they were for that
reason on a more lavish scale. Of a set of piano concertos, Mozart commented "There are
passages here and there from which the connoisseurs alone can derive sattisfaction; but
these passages are written in such a way that the less learned cannot fail to be pleased,
though without knowing why(Solomon 293). In spite of intrigues raised against him, Mozart
managed to present The Abduction from the Seraglio 
in 1782. Of its success, he wrote proudly to his father:"People are crazy about this
opera,
and it does me good to hear such applause." For the first few seasons, Mozart enjoyed an
intoxicating popularity among the Viennese. In a series of academies attended by almost
300 supporters and patrons, he unveiled a string of masterful piano concertos. Emboldened
by his success, he moved his family to the best part of town. Mozart tried to take
advantage of the emerging entrepreneurial opportunities in Vienna. Four of his operas-The
Abduction from the Seraglio(1782), The Marriage of Figaro(1786), Don Giovanni(1787), and
Cosi fan tutte(1790) -were premiered or performed in the prestigious Burgtheater. But the
Viennese
were not disposed to settle on one composer for long, even one whose talents dwarfed
those of all others. Figaro-begun in October 1785, only nine months after the completion
of the C-major String Quartet-provides an instructive example. The play by Beaumarchais
had been banned shortly after its Parisian premiere in 1784. By 1787, Mozart's star in
Vienna had begun to set. In Peter Shafer's play Amadeus, Mozart's failures are attributed
to an infantile personality and the intrigues of court composer Antonio Salieri. But
there is no evidence that either of these wonderful dramatic conceits were true
historically. Indeed, Mozart and Salieri were on cordial terms.
Papa Haydn
We do not know the occasion on which Mozart first encountered Joseph Haydn, though it was
almost certainly around 1781, possibly at one of the gatherings organized by Baron von
Swieten to hear the music of J. S. Bach. At 50, Haydn was twice Mozart's 
age. By now he was also at least twice as well known. Mozart had known Haydn's music for
at least ten years. In Haydn he not only found a composer whose achievements were on a
level with his own, but a warm and sympathetic friend in whom he could confide. This
contrasted strongly with the strained relationship that Mozart enjoyed with his father.
In the autumn of 1791, Mozart's health became progressively worse, and he was subject to
fits of depression and presentiments of death. However, he worked feverishly to complete
the Clarinet Concerto, K.622, and the Masonic Cantata and was trying to finish the
Requiem. He died on December 5, 1791, and was buried in a pauper's grave"Viennese society
where to blame for Mozart's lack of recognition, slow demise, and interment in a pauper's
grave"(Braunbehrers). The unfinished Requiem, which Mozart imagined was for himself, is
numbered K.626. "His body was gone, but his magnificent music-symphonies, opera, duos,
trios, quartet, violon concertos, piano concertos, vocal and choral works praising God,
happiness, and all of life-lives forever"(Mirsky144)
Listening example: Mozart 1 symphony (K.16) was written at the age of nine. His symphonic
compositions culminate in the "Jupiter" written in 1788 when Mozart was 32. His earlier
symphonies seem to give greatest importance to the first movement. In the "Jupiter"
Mozart build toward the finale with passages in a fugal style as the grand climax after
the minuet (3rd Movement)
Composer: W.A. Mozart
Title: Jupiter Symphony
Key: C
Meter: In threes
Form: A B A (Minuet and Trio)
Terms to Review:
Enlightenment: A philosophical movement of the eighteenth century that placed primary
faith in the power of mankind to solve chronic problems through the application 
of reason and scientific method rather than faith and speculation. The Enlightenment
anticipated democratic revolutions, but took place under political monarchies. As a child
of the Enlightenment, Mozart considered himself a member of the natural aristocracy but
was anything but a democrat.
Violin: The highest and the most glamorous member of the string family, pitched a fifth
above the viola. In a string quartet, both of the treble instruments are violins. One who
plays the violin (however well or badly) is known as a "violinist." If you are
contemplating taking up a string instrument and fame is your goal, then the violin is
your first choice.
Mozart, Leopold: (1719-1787) Father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Leopold served over four
decades as a court musician to five archbishops of Salzburg. In 1756, the year that
Wolfgang was born, he published the first edition of his Violin School, which soon
brought him international fame. In 1800, more than a dozen years after Leopold's death,
his treatise was still being reprinted. As Wolfgang's only formal teacher, he exercised a
pivotal influence on his son's development.
Opera: A drama set to music. Opera was the dominant form of Western public music from the
seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, parallel in importance to our modern
cinema.
Baroque: Period in musical history extending from ca. 1600 to 1750. The music of the late
Baroque (ca. 1690 to 1750) is best known today. Its major representatives were Johann
Sebastian Bach in Germany, Georg Friderich Handel (another German) in 
England, Antonio Vivaldi in Italy, and Jean-Philippe Rameau in France. Mozart was born as
the late Baroque drew to a close. As an adult, he came to know and admire the music of
Bach and Handel.
Piano Concerto: One of the public forms of instrumental music cultivated by Mozart in
Vienna. Mozart can, for all practical purposes, be credited with the invention of the
Classical piano concerto.
Antonio Salieri: Italian composer (1750-1825) who spent most of his career in Vienna and
became one of its most influential musicians. So fond was the emperor, Joseph II, of
Salieri that he became known as the "musical pope." Salieri was first and foremost an
opera composer, though a considerably less innovative one than Mozart. Both Ludwig van
Beethoven and Franz Schubert studied with Salieri.
Joseph Haydn: Austrian composer (1732-1809) whose eighteenth-century fame eclipsed that
of Mozart. Unlike Mozart, Haydn was a relatively late bloomer, composing 
most of his important music after the age of 35 (at which age Mozart was dead). Haydn
played a seminal role in the development of the symphony and the string quartet. His
friendship with Mozart from ca. 1781 on was crucial to the musical development of both
composers.
Summary:
The world that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart entered unceremoniously in 1756 was awash in
change. Historians refer to this era as the Age of Enlightenment. Indeed, Mozart marks
the beginning of the Western fascination with the child prodigy. The idealization of
Mozart's genius was complete by the end of the nineteenth century. Between 1762 and 1766,
the Mozarts appeared at almost every major court in Europe. Wolfgang dazzled audiences
with his ability to read difficult music at sight and to improvise Four of his operas-The
Abduction from the Seraglio(1782), The Marriage of Figaro(1786), Don Giovanni(1787), and
Cosi fan tutte(1790) -were premiered or performed in the prestigious Burgtheater. Then
Mozart met Haydn; we do not know the occasion on which Mozart first encountered Joseph
Haydn. In Haydn, he not only found a composer whose achievements were on a level with his
own, but a warm and sympathetic friend in whom he could confide. In the autumn of 1791,
Mozart's health became progressively worse. He died on December 5, 1791, and was buried
in a pauper's grave.
Critical thinking:
 Why do you think Mozart's instrumental music has been regarded as "absolute
music"?
Why do you think was Mozart is Called a child prodigy?
Suggested Further Listening:
Opera:
-The magic Flute
-The marriage of Figaro
Symphony:
-Jupiter symphony, K.551
Piano Music:
-C Minor Sonatas K.457
-D Major Sonatas K.576