The Life of Mozart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Life of Mozart - Essay Example Born in 1756, Mozart seemed to have inherited the interest for music from his father, Leopold Mozart who was a choir master and the court musician for the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg (Herbermann, 1913, p.623). Mozart demonstrated his skills in piano before he was above five years of age. He was honored with the Order of the Golden Spur when he was only thirteen years old. Mozart had an estranged relationship with his father though he had gained his initial inspirations from him itself. This had worsened after the death of his mother, when Mozart decided to walk out on his father and become a self made person. He married in Constanze and he also consumed alcohol heavily. It is said the he died of rheumatic fever (Jenkins, 2005, p.113). Music and conflicts Mozart was born in the time when the Christian society was torn between the Catholics and the Protestants. His parents had to travel extensively from London to Austria. Mozart was also a prodigy in languages as he had learnt fiftee n languages over his life time. â€Å"In 1769, the 13-year-old Wolfgang had composed the first 65 pieces in the Kochel catalogue. The Kochel catalogue is the definitive system for identifying Mozart’s works; each piece is designated by either â€Å"K†, for Kochel or â€Å"KV†, for Kochel-Verzeichnis (German for Kochel Catalogue) and followed by a number between 1 and 626† (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, n.d, p.2). Mozart met Johann Christian Bach during 1764-1765 who made a big impression in his career and music (Flothuis, 2001, p.2). Bach’s music had greatly influenced Mozart to compose his creations in the form of symphonies and piano concertos. He had also absorbed some of J.C. Bach’s creations in his own music. Mozart was a very troubled person from within. He was not accepted by the society initially and his financial condition was also very poor. He was also neglected by the emperor Leopold II who thought his music to be a laughable kind of music. The previous emperor, Joseph II, had shown admiration for Mozart in spite of his scarcity in monetary support and his infamous comment. However, Mozart was completely ignored by Leopold II who had not included the composer in the musicians who were invited to the coronation of the emperor in Frankfurt in the year 1790 (Greene, 2007, p.410). Compositions During his life time of 35 years Mozart had composed 600 works that included 16 operas, 41 symphonies, 27 piano concerti, 5 violin concerti, 25 string quartets, and 19 masses (Foley & Bangert, 2000, p.210). His compositions had formed the basis for many music composers like Beethoven. In the later years, Mozart had incorporated the musical styles from other countries into his creations. Mozart had perfected the symphony for operas. Mozart was well known for his symphonies such as Symphony No. 40 in G minor. His compositions â€Å"have become synonymous with the Classical "age of elegance," and are perhaps best exemplified by the well-known Serenade in G major, which the composer called Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A little night music)† (The Classical Period, 2008). Conclusion Mozart was considered to be one of the pioneers composers of all times. His music depicted a bold expression that was sometimes complex and dissonant, and often required greater technical knowledge from the musicians who