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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)
His Birth and Name
The last child of Leopold and Maria Anna Mozart was born January 27, 1756. A day later at a cathedral in Salzburg they baptized him Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart: Johannes Chrysostomus because January 27 was the feast day of St. John Chrysostom; Wolfgangus for his mother’s father; and Theophilus for his godfather. Theophilus, a compound Greek word implying “devotee of God,” is more commonly seen in its Latin translation, Amadeus.
Early Years on Tour
 As a young boy, Mozart became well accustomed to frequent travel. A considerable amount of his short life he spent away from home. At age 5 in Munich, he gave his first public performance. At 6 in Vienna, he played on the keyboard for Empress Maria Theresa. According to his father, he also jumped in her lap, hugged her around the neck and gave her a kiss. In Paris a year later he had two pairs of sonatas for keyboard and violin published. From France he went to London, where he made the acquaintance of J. C. Bach.
These tours, organized by Leopold to put his son’s talent on display, brought the prodigy and his family all over Europe. Everywhere Mozart went he impressed with his ability to improvise and sight-read. Aristocrats rewarded the boy with gifts for performing. Royal families invited the Mozarts to their palaces.
In 1769, Mozart and his father left for another tour, this time without Maria Anna and Nannerl. They went to Italy so the 13-year-old boy could learn to write Italian opera. Twice more they returned to the country in the following three years.
Mozart spent 1774-1777 in Salzburg before setting out again in search of new opportunities and better employment. On this trip to Mannheim and Paris only his mother traveled along. Before the end of the journey, she died. He returned to Salzburg alone.
Father and Son
In 1756, the year of Wolfgang’s birth, Leopold’s treatise on violin technique was published. His career was at a high point. A few years later, as Leopold gave music lessons to Nannerl, the elder of his two children by six years, Wolfgang began to show signs of extraordinary abilities. At first Leopold organized performances for Nannerl and Wolfgang together, but eventually he put all focus on his son. Leopold quit composing and devoted himself entirely to nurturing Wolfgang’s genius. He became his son’s teacher not just for music, but for all subjects.
Even when Wolfgang was older, Leopold still tried to control him. Their relationship grew tense when Leopold blamed Wolfgang for Maria Anna’s death in Paris. Leopold also disapproved of his son’s plan to marry Constanze. Wolfgang especially angered his father by getting himself dismissed by Archbishop Colloredo. By the time Wolfgang moved to Vienna in 1781, he and his father rarely corresponded.
Although they had grown apart, Leopold did visit his son and daughter-in-law in 1785. He must have been proud when Haydn said to him, "I tell you before God as an honest man that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by reputation."
 Mozart and the Webers
While on tour in 1777 with his mother in Mannheim, Mozart met the Weber family and fell in love with the older daughter, Aloysia, who was a singer. Mozart wrote to his father that he wanted to accompany her on tour. Leopold was furious that his son was distracted by such thoughts when he should have been composing, so he ordered him to leave Mannheim and go to Paris.
In Vienna in 1781, after being released from his service to the Archbishop, Mozart rented a room in a house owned by the Webers. Aloysia was married by then, and Mozart soon became attracted to her younger sister, Costanze. Despite Leopold’s protests, Mozart and Costanze married on August 4, 1782.
Mozart’s Letters
Much of what we know about Mozart is found in his letters. He frequently wrote letters because he spent so many years away from home and family. The letters are a chronicle of his life, as well as a picture of his personality.
In some letters, especially to Nannerl, he played games with language, writing upside down or intentionally putting his words out of order. These letters display his playful side and offer insight into his creativity.
Many letters that Mozart wrote have been preserved, but we have few of the letters he received. Some were lost, while others were destroyed by Constanze after Mozart’s death.
Mozart and the Masons
Mozart was admitted to a Masonic Lodge in late 1784, and shortly after attained the rank of Master Mason. Many of his friends, including Haydn and Schikaneder, were Masons. Also, he introduced his father to Freemasonry and Leopold was accepted to his son’s lodge in 1785.
Mozart was influenced by Masonic thought, as can be seen by his letter to his dying father. In it he describes death as the “goal of our existence” and says that he had recently come to understand better “this true and best friend of humankind.” He thanks his god for blessing him with this insight and then writes to his father, “You know what I mean,” presumably a reference to their shared Masonic knowledge.
Mozart wrote Masonic cantatas and funeral music, in addition to Die Zauberflöte (“The Magic Flute”), an opera that is generally recognized for its Masonic symbols and themes.
Figaro – Vienna and Prague
Le nozze di Figaro premiered in Vienna on May 1, 1786. This was an exceptionally active time in Mozart’s life. He had completed several other compositions earlier that year. Few of his letters survive from those months, perhaps because he had no time to write.
 Da Ponte claimed that Figaro was completed in only six weeks. However, composing it may not have been as effortless for Mozart as Da Ponte’s statement suggests. Leopold recalled that his son labored over revisions.
The opera lasted only nine performances in Vienna, before it was replaced by Vicente Martín y Soler’s Una cosa rara (“A Rare Thing”), an opera also with a libretto by Da Ponte and many of the same singers from the Figaro cast.
The next performances of Figaro were given that fall in Prague, where it was a great success. Mozart arrived in the city in January 1787, honored by Prague’s warm reception of his work.
All this success earned Mozart a commission to write his next opera, Don Giovanni, which premiered in Prague later that year.
Financial Struggles
Even when Mozart was composing some of what are now his most famous works, he struggled to find financial stability. The Mozarts were far from destitute, however. Rather, they were incapable of living within their means, and so they fell into debt. He taught lessons to supplement his income, and published as often as possible to collect immediate payment. In 1787 he was appointed composer for dance music for the Viennese court - an increase in salary, but hardly enough to relieve his debt. Mozart took loans from his brother Freemason Michael Puchberg and then wrote him letters requesting more money, suggesting his desperation. Mozart paid most of the loans back in his lifetime, and Constanze settled the rest after his death.
Mozart’s Last Year
Mozart was at work on Die Zauberflöte when a representative of Count Walsegg came to his home and commissioned a Requiem from him. Walsegg’s wife had died February 14, 1791 and he wanted a piece written in her honor. Mozart began sketching the Requiem, then stopped to compose an opera, La Clemenza di Tito (“The Clemency of Titus”), commissioned to celebrate the coronation of Leopold II in Prague.
Mozart was in Prague for the September premiere of the opera. He then traveled back home and resumed work on the Requiem. He had been sick on this trip and his condition worsened once he returned to Vienna. Mozart died in the night on December 5, 1791. The unfinished Requiem was eventually completed by Süssmayr, his student.
--Michael Chiappardi, Education and Community Programs Associate
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