Son Of Leopold Mozart example essay topic
He composed minuets at the age of five and played for royals at the age of six. He and his sister, who was a gifted keyboard and clavier player, went on a tour around Paris and London away from their home in Austria. Mozart's father thought this would be a very profitable trip for their family. On their tour, they went to Munich and Vienna to play a series of concerts. In that time, music could not be recorded in anyway but paper.
So to hear music, either you had to learn a piece of music, or people would come to play it for you. Since music was so uncommon, it wasn't the cheapest. Unfortunately, most classes but the higher and royal class would not get to hear music very often. Music was a gift, not a privilege. Mozart and his family were part of the lower class so they had the gift of being able to play music and listen to music, but they only got to play for the higher classes. Mozart did like the higher classes very much.
He loved getting handmade suits that had to be the best clothes in the land. He liked it so much, every time he would receive one of the suits, he would go crazy with happiness and make a new piece of music. As much as he liked his music, he most probably liked his music more than people loved hearing him play, and everyone loved to hear him play. While the family was in London, Amadeus's father grew ill.
In those times once you got ill, recovering odds were against you. In his father's illness they moved to a village named Chelsea, near the Thames River. A little less than two months, the two children could not play their beloved music for it disturbing their father. The nine-year old Mozart needed something to do.
This is when he conjured up the idea to compose their first symphony. It was called the Symphony in E-flat and is still performed today. The idea that a nine-year old composed a symphony is outrageous. Symphonies usually include at least eight instruments. This requiring you to know how each instrument will sound together, but with no instruments playing, how did he do it? On the way coming back to Salzburg, their loved father recovered.
This was only to lead to a serious case of the smallpox that both the children contracted. After days and weeks of anguish and worry, both children made a full recovery. In 1766, the miracle boy and his sister were able to come home. Now at the age of ten, Mozart was an experienced professional musician.
At the age of twelve, his first opera was produced, Bastien und Bastien ne. Another opera followed a year later, La F inta Semplice. He was soon considered to be a successful composer by the public, but he had not had a steady job in place providing financial security. In 1770, he received employment in the court of Archbishop Hieronymus of Salzburg.
The ten years in this position proved to be very unhappy for Mozart. He was subject to the whims of the Archbishop who treated him harsh, but for whom he was expected to perform amazingly at private concerts. He always felt frustrated by the lack of appreciation for his talents as well as always being underpaid. When he did have money, he lived recklessly, and never saved for times of need.
He ended up having to beg for favors from nobility or to give lessons to untalented students, but for a position which would free him from his financial worries and allow him to compose as he wished. After his departure from the service of the Archbishop, Mozart was able to have some of his music published. He also began teaching students privately. This allowed him the financial security he felt he needed to marry Constanze Weber in 1782. They had six children, but only two boys survived. Leopold Mozart, who felt Constanze to be 'beneath his son,' (Amadeus, Movie) had not consented to the union and was horrified by his son's decision.
Mozart dearly loved his father, but he was determined to marry Constanze. Much against his way of doing things, he disobeyed his father. It has been said that although Leopold encouraged his son in his musical endeavors, he rarely let him make his own decisions. Mozart was very dependent on him and constantly looked for his advice. In the years of their marriage, Mozart was happy and experienced some professional success. He met and developed a relationship with the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn whose music had inspired Mozart as a young boy.
The friendship they shared was based on admiration and mutual respect and led to the enrichment of each man's music. The success of his operas, The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni gave Mozart great satisfaction. The year 1787 marked the death of Mozart's beloved father. Fate was again filling his world with despair. He was again very deep in debt and frequently ill, but drove himself to fulfill the things he had to do. He began another series of tours in 1789 to try to earn a living.
Upon returning home, Emanuel Schikaneder, a theatrical manager and actor, approached Mozart with a libretto he had written for a magical opera based on an oriental fairy tale. Although Mozart was very ill, he feverishly began writing an opera with musical selections that were framed with spoken dialog known as a German Singspiel or sung play. Mozart wrote the last notes of The Magic Flute on September 29, 1791 and it premiered in Vienna on September 30, 1791 and it premiered in Vienna the very next day. He could not enjoy the success of his new opera.
Mozart collapsed from exhaustion after the premiere and his illness grew more serious. Death was near. During his final days, he was visited by a stranger who commissioned him to compose a Requiem Mass. In his deteriorating state, Mozart began to believe that the stranger was a messenger from heaven who came to give notice of his approaching end and that the Requiem was for himself. The mysterious visitor was actually sent by Count Walsegg whose wife had just passed away. A musician of little skill and even less merit, he intended to claim the work as his own to impress his friends.
Mozart died on December 5, 1791, before he could complete the Requiem. This phenomenal genius, so rich in talent, died a poor man at only thirty-five years of age. On the way to his final resting place, a storm rose and all of his friends retreated. Only his faithful dog watched his master fade away into his last Requiem. (bibliography not found).