Long Live Mozart!
Introduction: Mozart was a musician who worked independent of royal patronage. He was also the first of the freelance composers, who gathered commissions on his own to write operas, symphonies, concertos, and other works.
Source: Vijay Times, Life - Pg 3.
Copyright © 2006 Puja Goyal.
MOZART one of the finest composers, celebrated his 250th birth anniversary on January 27, 2006. Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart or, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was only 35 years of age when he died, but he has left behind a legacy that mortals like us can only dream of.
He was six years old when his father, Leopold, used to take him and his sister all over Europe, showing off their musical talents to anyone willing to contribute to their coffers. Ever since those days, Mozart worked consistently, as a composer, conductor and performer. He was a musician who worked independent of royal patronage and was the first of the freelance composers, who gathered commissions on his own to write operas, symphonies, concertos, and other works.
Most music composers used to earn their finances by providing music lessons, but Mozart was against it; later on, his financial crunch forced him to provide tuitions to music enthusiasts. Mozart later married Constanze Weber in 1782 and settled down in Vienna; the marriage resulted in six children out of which only two survived.
It is said that Mozart wrote a masterpiece in every genre of classical music without much apparent effort, and his original compositions needed little correction. It is said that he wrote out the overture of his opera Don Giovanni on the day of its premiËre.
Mozart says about his writing: "When I am... say travelling in a carriage, or walking after a good meal, or during the nights when I cannot sleep; it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how they come, I know not; nor can I force them... When I proceed to write down my ideas, I take out the bag of my memory, if I may use that phrase, what has previously been collected... the committing to paper is done quickly enough, for everything is, as I said before, already finished; and it rarely differs on paper from what it was in my imagination."
Mozart went on to write three Italian masterpieces, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro); Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte (Thus All Women). Some of his compositions created controversies, like, The Marriage of Figaro which had been banned in Paris for its attack on the feudal powers of the aristocracy.
Many people believe that Mozart's 27 piano concertos were his ultimate creative genius; but he was more interested in composing for operas and went on to write over 50 symphonies (though only 41 are listed). He wrote his greatest symphonies in his last decade; consisting of, No 36 K425, and No 38 K504. In 1788, Mozart wrote three great symphonies in only six weeks and his last completed works were The Magic Flute, and The Mercy of Tito (both in 1791). The beginning of Symphony No 40 K550 is now used as a mobile ring tone. Mozart's compositions are uniquely identified by "K" Numbers and are indexed and catalogued by Ludwig von Kochel.
MOZART'S REQUIEM MASS: Towards the end of his life, Mozart faced terrible problems related to money and health. He had hoped for a new commission appointment or perhaps a court post upon the accession of Emperor Leopold II, but none was offered.
Not long before his death, Mozart was commissioned by a stranger in an unsigned letter, to compose The Requiem Mass. All through his life, he had a premonition that he would die early. So, when a mysterious messenger arrived bearing a letter asking him to compose a Requiem Mass (a mass for the dead), Mozart took it as an omen of his own death. He died before he could finish it, at 55 minutes past midnight on December 5, 1791.
There is still no convincing evidence as to why or from what he actually died. Very deeply in debt at the time of his death, he did not live to see the financial success of The Magic Flute. Mozart was unceremoniously buried unattended in a pauper's grave.
"Before God and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer I know, either personally or by name," said Mozart's acquaintance, composer Franz Joseph Haydn, to Mozart's father.
Source: Vijay Times, Life - Pg 3.
Copyright © 2006 Puja Goyal.
MOZART one of the finest composers, celebrated his 250th birth anniversary on January 27, 2006. Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart or, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was only 35 years of age when he died, but he has left behind a legacy that mortals like us can only dream of.He was six years old when his father, Leopold, used to take him and his sister all over Europe, showing off their musical talents to anyone willing to contribute to their coffers. Ever since those days, Mozart worked consistently, as a composer, conductor and performer. He was a musician who worked independent of royal patronage and was the first of the freelance composers, who gathered commissions on his own to write operas, symphonies, concertos, and other works.
Most music composers used to earn their finances by providing music lessons, but Mozart was against it; later on, his financial crunch forced him to provide tuitions to music enthusiasts. Mozart later married Constanze Weber in 1782 and settled down in Vienna; the marriage resulted in six children out of which only two survived.
It is said that Mozart wrote a masterpiece in every genre of classical music without much apparent effort, and his original compositions needed little correction. It is said that he wrote out the overture of his opera Don Giovanni on the day of its premiËre.
Mozart says about his writing: "When I am... say travelling in a carriage, or walking after a good meal, or during the nights when I cannot sleep; it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how they come, I know not; nor can I force them... When I proceed to write down my ideas, I take out the bag of my memory, if I may use that phrase, what has previously been collected... the committing to paper is done quickly enough, for everything is, as I said before, already finished; and it rarely differs on paper from what it was in my imagination."
Mozart went on to write three Italian masterpieces, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro); Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte (Thus All Women). Some of his compositions created controversies, like, The Marriage of Figaro which had been banned in Paris for its attack on the feudal powers of the aristocracy.
Many people believe that Mozart's 27 piano concertos were his ultimate creative genius; but he was more interested in composing for operas and went on to write over 50 symphonies (though only 41 are listed). He wrote his greatest symphonies in his last decade; consisting of, No 36 K425, and No 38 K504. In 1788, Mozart wrote three great symphonies in only six weeks and his last completed works were The Magic Flute, and The Mercy of Tito (both in 1791). The beginning of Symphony No 40 K550 is now used as a mobile ring tone. Mozart's compositions are uniquely identified by "K" Numbers and are indexed and catalogued by Ludwig von Kochel.
MOZART'S REQUIEM MASS: Towards the end of his life, Mozart faced terrible problems related to money and health. He had hoped for a new commission appointment or perhaps a court post upon the accession of Emperor Leopold II, but none was offered.Not long before his death, Mozart was commissioned by a stranger in an unsigned letter, to compose The Requiem Mass. All through his life, he had a premonition that he would die early. So, when a mysterious messenger arrived bearing a letter asking him to compose a Requiem Mass (a mass for the dead), Mozart took it as an omen of his own death. He died before he could finish it, at 55 minutes past midnight on December 5, 1791.
There is still no convincing evidence as to why or from what he actually died. Very deeply in debt at the time of his death, he did not live to see the financial success of The Magic Flute. Mozart was unceremoniously buried unattended in a pauper's grave.
"Before God and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer I know, either personally or by name," said Mozart's acquaintance, composer Franz Joseph Haydn, to Mozart's father.
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