Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, the son of Leopold, Kapellmeister to the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. By the age of three he could play the piano, and he was composing by the time he was five; minuets from this period show his remarkable understanding of the art. Mozart's elder sister Maria Anna (best known as Nanner) was also a gifted keyboard player, and in 1762 their father took the two prodigies on a short performing tour of the courts at Vienna and Munich. Encouraged by their reception, they left the next year to embark on a long tour, including two weeks at Versailles, where the children enchanted Louis XV. In 1764 they arrived in London. Here Mozart wrote his first three symphonies, under the influence of Johann Christian Bach, youngest son of Johann Sebastian, who lived in the city. After their return to Salzburg there followed three trips to Italy between 1769 and 1773. In Rome Mozart heard a performance of "Allegri's Misere"; the score of this work was closely guarded, but Mozart managed to transcribe the music almost perfectly from memory. On Mozart's first visit to Milan, his opera "Mitridate rÐ"© di Ponto" was successfully produced, followed by "Lucia Silla". The latter showed signs of the rich, full orchestration that characterizes his later operas. A trip to Vienna in 1773 failed to produce the court appointment that both Mozart and his father wished for him, but did introduce Mozart to the influence of Haydn, whose Sturm and Drang string Copyright Ð'© 1999-2004 Essaycrawler, LLC