1 / 29

Mozart’s Early Life

Mozart’s Early Life. Born Salzburg, January 27, 1756 Father: Leopold - violinist and composer Sister: Maria Anna “Nannerl” - keyboard By age 4 - playing short pieces on the piano By age 5-6 composing Talent exploited by father

shelagh
Download Presentation

Mozart’s Early Life

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Mozart’s Early Life • Born Salzburg, January 27, 1756 • Father: Leopold - violinist and composer • Sister: Maria Anna “Nannerl” - keyboard • By age 4 - playing short pieces on the piano • By age 5-6 composing • Talent exploited by father • 1762 - 1766 traveled to all important cultural centers of Europe • Played and improvised everywhere

  2. Mozart’s Early Life • Traveled to England and Netherlands • In 1766 returned to Salzburg • The years 1766 - 1773 were spent between Salzburg, Vienna and Italy • He enjoyed flirtations, risqué jokes and the usual teenage stuff

  3. His Early Adult Years • By age 20 - one of the most skilled composers of the day • He had composed symphonies, concertos, piano pieces, serenades, arias, operas etc. • Between 1777 - 1778 he traveled with his mother looking for a job • The important cities were not friendly • He composed little, was rejected by his first love (Aloysia Weber), and his mother became ill and died while in Paris

  4. His Early Adult Years • In 1779 he returned to Salzburg but was under-appreciated in his hometown • He was ill treated by his employer, Heronymus Colloredo, the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg and he called the Archbishop “the Archbooby” • In 1781 Mozart tried to resign after a heated exchange and was thrown into the street

  5. Vienna • Vienna had about 1300 homes during Mozart’s day but many of these were palaces or substantial buildings in which many families lived giving a population of about 50,000. • About four times as many people lived in the suburbs. • Many of the streets were very narrow and three or four people would be killed each year in accidents involving horses or horse drawn vehicles. • The ground floors of buildings were used for commercial purposes and the second floors were used for residences. • Prostitutes and lesser criminals sentenced to public penance had their heads shaved and were sent to clean the streets in gangs.

  6. His Life in Vienna • Mozart became a freelance musician • He fell in love with Constanze Weber (Aloysia Weber’s sister) • They were married in August, 1782 over his father Leopold’s objections Constanze Weber

  7. St. Stephen’s Cathedral • Mozart was married to Constanze Weber in the St. Elgius chapel at St. Stephen's Cathedral on August 4, 1782. • A dispensation was given for the customary oath that the groom was married to no one else. • It was usual for the wedding oath to be administered before mid-day "while the groom is still sober”. • Two of six of the Mozart children survived to adulthood. • There were no grandchildren.

  8. His Life in Vienna • Mozart was finally established as a pianist and composer • He joined the Freemasons in 1784 • His career peaked between 1784 - 1786 and he was very successful • However, in 1786 his opera “Marriage of Figaro” was received indifferently • The expected court appointment failed to materialize • His music fell out of favor with the Viennese public • His professional life went into a tailspin • By 1787 he was begging for loans and suffering the loss of his father

  9. Mozart’s Home • Mozart lived in 14 known different apartments, two of which were in the suburbs and the remainder in the Inner city. • The Figaro House where Mozart composed the Marriage Of Figaro and where Leopold Mozart, Joseph Haydn and possibly the young Beethoven (who lived in 57 different Vienna apartments) visited him is now a museum. • Mozart's last Vienna residence before his death, City 970, was renumbered 876 and then 934. The house was later rebuilt and the site is now occupied by a department store.

  10. Mozart’s Final Years • By 1787 - 1790 there was a progressive decline in his career. • His income dropped sharply. • Constanze began to have health problems and often visited a spa in Baden. • In 1789 Mozart went to Berlin looking for work but could find none. • By 1791 his fortunes at a low point. • His new opera “La Clemenza di Tito” was a failure. • The “Requiem Mass” was commissioned by Count Walsegg, a wealthy nobleman, in July, 1791.

  11. Mozart’s Final Years • By November 20 Mozart was seriously ill • Mozart dies on December 5, 1791 • The “Requiem”, only partially finished, was completed by Mozart’s pupil, Franz Xaver Sussmayr • Mozart was 35 years old

  12. WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZARTJanuary 27, 1756 - December 5, 1791 • Mozart was buried in an unmarked common grave in St. Marx cemetery Vienna • Salzburg •

  13. The Reusable Coffin • A reform introduced by Emperor Joseph II was that each parish should retain a supply of reusable coffins to be used for simple funerals not accompanied by mourners. • Corpses were to be buried in sacks to speed up decomposition, but this proved unpopular.

  14. Speculations • “Severe Miliary Disease: Pneumonia: Brights Disease: Deposit on the brain: Apoplexy: Consumption: Rheumatic and Inflammatory Fever: Epilepsy: Uraemia: Renal Failure: Lack of exercise and overwork: Dropsy: Chronic Nephritis: Severe Grippe: Heart Failure: Tuberculosis: Meningitis: Kidney Failure: Encephalitis: Injury (Unspecified): Goitre: Typhoid Fever: Water on the chest: Gastritis: Cirrhosis: Tabes Dorsalis: Typhus: Fractured skull.”

  15. Medicine in the 18th century • Medical standards were primitive at the time of Mozart's death. • Nursing did not exist as a profession. • Eighteenth century infant mortality rates often exceeded 50%. • Mozart and his sister, Nannerl, were the only two survivors from seven children. • Four out of six of Mozart's children died in infancy.

  16. Life Expectancy • Average life expectancy was less than fifty years. • In December 1791 when Mozart died, there was no one above the age of fifty-six who died in St. Stephen's parish that same month. • The names, causes, symptoms or cures for many diseases were completely unknown. • The diagnosis of illnesses was highly inaccurate. • Advances in medicine from the Middle Ages up to the eighteenth century were limited and many primitive beliefs and superstitions prevailed. • The belief that a swollen body was also a sign of death by poison as in Mozart's case can be attributed to ignorance.

  17. More • Amputations without anesthetics were common and continued until almost the middle of the nineteenth century. • The stethoscope was unknown at the time of Mozart's death. • The thermometer was not yet regarded as an aid to medical care. • Blood letting, the removal of blood from a vein or by leeches attached to the body (was very widespread due to the belief that ill health was usually due to an excess of blood). • The Dublin Royal College of Surgeons was founded in 1784. • Joseph II founded his hospital in Vienna in 1784. • Vienna became the major center for medical learning in Europe and produced.

  18. The Final Trilogy • Mozart’s last three symphonies (39, 40, 41) are considered his greatest orchestral works and the peak of symphonic music in the Classical era • They were composed in a six - week period during the summer of 1788 • No one knows why they were written and Mozart may have never heard them played

  19. Symphony No. 40 in G Minor, K. 550 • Called a work of “Grecian lightness and grace” by Robert Schumann and a work of “pain and grieving” by Otto Jahn • Mozart’s finest music is psychologically complex • The first movement opens with a dramatic tone • The second movement is a graceful “Andante” • The third a powerful “Menuetto” • The symphony ends dramatically with an intense finale

  20. Clarinet Concerto, K. 622 • Composed in Vienna, early October 1791 • Completed 2 months before his death • Composed for his friend and fellow Mason, Anton Stadler • Most modern performances don’t even use the same notes • Concerto fragment contains 199 measures in the key of G major, not A • Many low notes are only available on the “basset” clarinet

  21. Clarinet Concerto, K. 622 • Stadler either pawned or lost the manuscript while on tour in Germany • Most of today’s performances follow the revisions by unknown editors at the beginning of the 19th century • “The clarinet encompassing low C” or basset clarinet was an invention of Stadler and the instrument maker Theodor Lotz • The clarinet was lengthened a third in the low tones so that the player can easily go down to a low C (instead of E)

  22. Clarinet Concerto, K. 622 • Stadler had a B-flat and an A basset clarinet - he used the A for the concerto as Mozart had revised it in the key of A • The instrument heard in this recording is based on the A basset clarinet owned by Stadler • The Smithsonian Chamber Players, Lawrence McDonald, basset clarinet • Three movements • Allegro • Adagio • Rondo, Allegro

  23. The Legacy • A beacon to other musicians • Influenced by Haydn and influenced Haydn • Beethoven followed Mozart’s • Wagner was inspired by “Don Giovanni” • Tchaikovsky called Mozart “the Christ of Music”

  24. WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZARTJanuary 27, 1756 - December 5, 1791 • age 3: picked out tunes on the piano • age 4: telling older players that their violins are out of tune • age 5: playing the clavier quite well • age 6: begins composing; on the road with his father (Leopold) and sister (Maria Anna “Nannerl”) • spent 14 of his 36 years away from home

  25. WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZARTJanuary 27, 1756 - December 5, 1791 • met every important musician of the day • tricks: keyboard covered with cloth; sight-reading; improvising; harmonizing melodies; demonstrating his absolute pitch • had a knack for making enemies; tactless and arrogant

  26. WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZARTJanuary 27, 1756 - December 5, 1791 • very short; his face was pitted by smallpox; a large head; nearsighted; protruding blue eyes; bushy hair; a large nose; plump hands • struggled to escape the domination of his father • traveled to Vienna, Munich, Coblenz, Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris, London, Lyons, Milan, Bologna, Naples, Venice, Innsbruck, Mannheim • 1777 - fell in love with Aloysia Weber (18) • 1782 - married Constanze Weber

  27. WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZARTJanuary 27, 1756 - December 5, 1791 • 1781 - “Idomeneo” • Kicked out by the Archbishop • 1782 - “The Abduction from the Seraglio” • 1786 - “Le Nozze di Figaro” • 1787 - “Don Giovanni” • 1790 - “Cosi fan tutte” • 1791 - “The Magic Flute” • Lorenzo da Ponte

  28. AMADEUS • Winner of 8 Academy Awards in 1984 • Starring: • F. Murray Abraham as Salerai • Tom Hulce as Mozart • Elizabeth Berridge as Constanza • The “murder” surfaced immediately after Mozart’s death and gained a wider degree of acceptability when Antonio Salieri was taken ill and confined to an institution more than thirty years later. It later became fashionable to implicate a whole range of suspects in a multitude of devious plots.

  29. THE ABDUCTION OF FIGARO • by Peter Schickele (P.D.Q. Bach) • composed in 1984 • Presented by The Minnesota Opera

More Related