MOZART'S CHILDHOOD
Born January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, and baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, he was educated by his father, Leopold Mozart, who was concertmaster in the court orchestra of the archbishop of Salzburg and a celebrated violinist, composer, and author. By the age of six Mozart had become an accomplished performer on the clavier, violin, and organ and was highly skilled in sight-reading and improvisation. Five short piano pieces composed by Mozart when he was six years old are still frequently played.
In 1762, Leopold took Wolfgang on the first of many successful concert tours through the courts of Europe. During this period Wolfgang composed sonatas for the harpsichord and violin, (1763), a symphony, (1764), an oratorio, (1766), and the comic opera, La finta semplice, (The Simple Pretense, 1768). In 1769, Mozart was appointed concertmaster to the archbishop of Salzburg, and later in the same year, at La Scala, (Milan, Italy), he was made a chevalier of the Order of the Golden Spur by the pope. He also composed his first German operetta, Bastien und Bastienne, in the same year. At the age of 14, he was commissioned to write a serious opera. This work, Mitridate, rè di Ponto (Mithridates, King of Pontus, 1770), produced under his direction at Milan, completely established an already phenomenal reputation.
The Mozarts returned to Salzburg in 1771. Hieronymus, count von Colloredo, the successor to the archbishop of Salzburg, who had died while the Mozarts were touring Italy, cared little for music. Mozart's appointment at Salzburg, however, proved to be largely honorary; it allowed ample time for a prodigious musical output during his next six years, but afforded little financial security. In 1777, Mozart obtained a leave of absence for a concert tour and left with his mother for Munich.
HIS DIFFICULT LATER LIFE
The courts of Europe ignored the 21-year-old composer in his search for a more congenial and rewarding appointment. He traveled to Mannheim, then the musical center of Europe because of its famous orchestra, in hopes of a post, and there fell in love with Aloysia Weber. Leopold promptly ordered his son and wife to Paris. His mother's death in Paris in July 1778, his rejection by Weber, and the neglect he suffered from the aristocrats whom he courted made the two years from Mozart's arrival in Paris until his return to Salzburg in 1779, one of the most difficult periods in his life.
While at home, Mozart composed two masses and a number of sonatas, symphonies, and concertos; these works reveal for the first time a distinctive style and a completely mature understanding of musical media. The success of Mozart's Italian opera seria Idomeneo, rè di Creta, (Idomeneo, King of Crete), commissioned and composed in 1781, prompted the archbishop of Salzburg to invite Mozart to his palace at Vienna. A series of court intrigues and his exploitation at the hands of the court soon forced Mozart to leave. In a house in Vienna rented for him by friends, he hoped to sustain himself by teaching. During this period, Mozart composed a singspiel, (a type of German operetta with some spoken dialogue), called, "The Abduction from the Seraglio," which was requested by Emperor Joseph II in 1782.
In the same year, Mozart married Constanze Weber, Aloysia's younger sister. Unending poverty and illness harassed the family until Mozart's death. The Marriage of Figaro, (1786), and Don Giovanni, (1787), with librettos by Lorenzo Da Ponte, while successful in Prague, were partial failures in Vienna. From 1787 until the production of Così fan tutte (All Women Do So, 1790, again with a libretto by Da Ponte), Mozart received no commissions for operas. For the coronation of Emperor Leopold II in 1791 he wrote the opera, "Seria La clemenza di Tito", (The Clemency of Titus; libretto by Metastasio). His three great symphonies of 1788, No. 39 in E-flat, No. 40 in G Minor, and No. 41 in C, (the Jupiter), were never performed under his direction. While Mozart was working on the singspiel, "The Magic Flute", (1791), an emissary of Count Walsegg mysteriously requested a requiem mass. This work, uncompleted at Mozart's death, proved to be his last musical effort. He died, presumably of typhoid fever, in Vienna on December 5, 1791; his burial was attended by few friends. The place of his grave is unmarked. The legend that the Italian composer Antonio Salieri murdered him is unsupported by reputable scholars. Some historians believe Mozart died of thyphoid fever.
HIS LAST THREE SYMPHONIES
Mozart's last three symphonies date from the summer of 1788, a trying time for the composer. His opera, Don Giovanni, after a successful run in Prague, had failed in Vienna, and the Viennese public no longer flocked to support his concerts. In addition, cultural activities as a whole were sharply limited by the Austrian Empire's new war with Turkey. As a consequence, Mozart's income dropped; he and his family were forced to seek less expensive lodgings in the suburbs of Vienna. Attempting to put a good face on this move, the composer boasted in a letter that the distance he now lived from the city's heart was actually beneficial, claiming "I have greater leisure to work now since I am not troubled by so many visitors." Unfortunately, a distraction or two might have been more therapeutic, for Mozart was troubled by a lack of commissions, and by the recent death of his six-month-old daughter, Theresia. One letter to a lodge brother refers to "dark thoughts which I must banish by force," and apparently those thoughts interfered in his ability to compose. During this summer, Mozart completed very few compositions. The only significant works were three symphonies, written in a mere seven weeks. They would be the final symphonies of his career.
Mozart rarely composed with no particular purpose in mind. Generally, his works were written on commission, or for his own concerts, or as gifts for friends. Such transactions were usually cataloged in the composer's letters and writings. However, in this case, the historical record is silent. Music scholars have found no evidence of a commission; no one paid for these symphonies to be written. Perhaps Mozart composed them on speculation, in hopes of selling them or presenting them in a Viennese concert. If so, he was disappointed, for they were not published during his lifetime, and there is no clear evidence of a performance. Nevertheless, the sudden burst of activity does suggest that the composer had some objective in mind, and it now seems that his goal may have been a London tour. As a child, Mozart had spent over a year living in London, absorbing the musical ambience. Even in adulthood in Vienna, he had several close English friends, and since at least 1786, he had spoken of traveling to London to present a concert series. In the event of such a tour, it was customary for composers to bring new works, preferably a set of three or six symphonies. Haydn did exactly that when he came to London in the 1790s. Scholars now suggest that, several years before Haydn's journey, Mozart wrote these three symphonies while dreaming of a similar excursion, though he never embarked upon the adventure.
Two of these last three symphonies have gained much popular attention. The final one, number forty-one, is known as the "Jupiter" symphony for its jovial nature, and, since at least Schumann's day, has been praised for the magnificent fugue with which the work concludes. Symphony no. 40, though lacking a nickname, is equally admired, and in its case earns extra notice for being one of only two Mozart symphonies written in a minor key. But the first of this set of three symphonies, no. 39 in E-flat, has seen little time in the spotlight. It deserves better. It is, like the finest of Mozart's works, a felicitous blend of joyful exuberance and somber introspection, delicate smiles and hearty laughter, carefully counter-balancing each other through the ebb and flow of ever-changing melodies. There are graceful themes for strings and perky ones for woodwinds, particularly for clarinets, which stood high in the composer's affections at this point in his career. Taken in its entirety, the Symphony no. 39 is refreshing to the ear, its pleasures only intensified by the fact that it is not much performed. Here is a work of inspiration that, due to its rarity, can still surprise and delight.
"Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus," Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 99. © 1993-1998 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
