Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

1. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

2. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) • Born in Salzburg, Austria

3. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Sound of trumpet would send him from room screaming. Didn’t like flute either Was Compulsive. When he was learning math, he would fill the whole room (walls, floors, furniture) with numbers using chalk On a visit to France, proposed to Marie Antoinette at the age of 7!

4. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Considered a child prodigy Began playing harpsichord at age 4 Began writing music at age 5 At the age of 5, began touring Europe with his family playing harpsichord Wrote his first opera at the age of 11

5. Symphony No. 40 • The classical symphony typically contained four movements. • 1st movement - fast movement • 2nd movement - slow movement • 3rd movement - Minuet (dance in 3,4 time) • 4th movement - fast movement • Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 was one of only two symphonies that Mozart wrote in a minor key. • Symphony No. 40 was completed in just a few weeks in July of 1788.

6. Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major • The Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major was completed on March 9, 1785, four weeks after the completion of another concerto. • This concerto has three movements

7. Concerto • Concerto – a piece of music that features an instrument or instruments with the orchestra used as accompaniment • Soloist – a performer who plays alone • Cadenza – an ornamental passage performed by a soloist near the close of the composition, usually improvised • Example from the 1st mvmt. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vN0Vohbi2Y

8. Listening Samples • Symphony No. 40 • 1st movement - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l45DAuXYSIs • Piano Concerto No. 21 • 2nd movement - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZNt3ESnf8Q