A Brief Biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, a part of

current-day Austria. He was baptized the following day as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus

Theophilus Mozart in Rupert’s Cathedral. His family consisted of his parents, Leopold and Anna

Marie Pertl Mozart, and his older sister, Maria Anna, who was nicknamed “Nannerl.” Mozart

was the youngest of seven children, but only Nannerl and he survived. The other five siblings

died in infancy. Mozart’s father was a violinist, composer, and music instructor. Both Leopold

and Mozart’s mother stressed the importance of music and education in their children’s lives.

Mozart never received a formal education. His father was his teacher and taught him geography,

history, languages, math, financial matters, social behavior as well as music (Life and Works of

a Musical Genius 3). “Leopold was a devoted and task-oriented teacher to both his children. He

made the lessons fun, but also insisted on a strong work ethic and perfection” (Wolfgang Mozart

Leopold introduced Nannerl to the keyboard when she was 7-years-old. Mozart watched

and mimicked his sister during her lessons. His ability to excel in music became apparent to his

father at an early age. By the age of three, Mozart could play the clavinet and recognize chords.

At four, he was able to play minuets which be mastered. By five-years-old, he was composing

small pieces of music by himself. In 1762, Leopold took Nannerl and Mozart, ages 11 and 6

respectively, to Munich where they performed at the Court of Bavaria for Maximilian III and the

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Imperial Court in Vienna and Prague. They also traveled to the courts of Paris, London, Zurich,

and Hague where the...

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...ology through music and to this end, he developed a degree

of subtlety rarely found in any classical composer” (W.A. Mozart 6).

Although Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart only lived to the age of 35, his effect on music will

never be forgotten. His ability to recognize chords and play an instrument at 3-years-old, play

minuets at 4, compose music at 5, perform publicly at 6, write Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere from

memory with only a few errors after only hearing it once, and his ability to compose

masterpieces on scraps of paper during a train ride illustrate his musical genius. In addition,

Mozart influenced on other great musicians and composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven,

Frederic Chopin, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovshy. There is no doubt Mozart was a musical genius.

One can only imagine what he would have accomplished, if he had lived another 10 or 15 years.