Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Born - January 27, 1756

in Salzburg, Austria

Died - December 5, 1791

at the age of 35

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Birthplace - Salzburg, Austria

Mozart was one of seven children however, only one other sibling survived,

his older sister, Maryanne

Both exhibited unusual musical

abilities at an early age and,

with guidance and instruction from

their father, Leopold,

performed regularly in front

of royalty.

Another important force in Mozart’s life was his mother Anna

Maria. History suggest an alert,

intelligent woman, earthy, and sensible, but profoundly torn

by the power struggle between

her husbandand her son.

Family portrait

Mozart was known as a child prodigy

A prodigy is a person with exceptional talents

far beyond what is normal for someone of

that age.

Note: He learned to speak 15 different

languages throughout his lifetime

At three years old he began playing the

piano.

At age five he wrote his first piece of

music.

By age six he had taught himself how to play the violin without ever having received

a lesson..

Clip from A&E Video

By age eight, he wrote his first

symphony.

And by age twelve he wrote his first opera.

In his lifetime, he wrote 626 pieces of

music.

An easy way to remember

some of the numbers

When did he start playing the piano? 3

When did he write his 1st piece of music? 5

When did he write his 1st symphony? 8

How old was he when he died? 35

FREAKY !!

He was able to write this incredible

amount of music because he was

born with 2 special gifts.

Perfect Pitch&

Photographic Memory

Perfect Pitch

The ability to name the letter of a pitch simply by hearing it, or the ability to

produce any pitch referred to by name.

Photographic Memory

The ability to recall images, sounds, or objects in memory with great accuracy

and in seemingly unlimited volume.

As Wolfgang was growing up, his father took him and his sister

Maryanne on tours of Europe.

Eventually, they went to Italy, the center of musical

activity in the 1700’s

As Mozart reached his 20’s, he grew

apart from his father.

At the age of 26, he married

Constanze Weber.

They had 6 children, but only two sons survived past childhood.

In 1783 in the city of Linz (Austria's third largest city), Count Thun, announced a concert of Mozart's music. However, the situation was awkward because Mozart had no music prepared to play, and the concert was

only four days away.

Mozart wrote to his father: "As I have not a single

symphony with me, I am writing a new one at breakneck speed.“

Against all odds, the work was finished in time.It is now known as:

SYMPHONY NO. 36 IN C, "LINZ" K.425

Wolfgang’s music showed

an amazing amount of

sophistication.

Many of his works show no corrections of

any kind.

About His Music

By the time Mozart was in his 30’s, he

worked all the time. As much as 15 hours a day writing music.

Eventually, his hands became so deformed from writing that he

couldn’t even cut his own food

The final years

In the summer of 1791, a man came to Mozart and asked him

to write a Requiem. This is a funeral Mass. He would not identify himself and Mozart became scared of

him. He thought it was his Father coming

back from the dead

The final years

He accepted the work and an advanced fee. As he worked on it, he began to feel that he

was writing the Requiem for himself. He told his wife, “I am afraid to finish it. I feel as though if I finish it, I

will die”

The final years

Sadly, his premonition

came true and he died before he was able to

finish it.

The final years

The Requiem was later finished by Franz Xaver

Süssmayr.It was thought for many years that he was a former

student of Mozart’s, but this

is a Myth.

The final years

In 1985, the movie “Amadeus” named the

unidentified man requesting the Requiem

as Italian composer Antonio Salieri.

History says that the person was Count Franz

von Walsegg, who planned to claim he

wrote it himself.

The final years

What was the cause of his death?

On November 20, 1791, Mozart unexpectedly took ill - developing a high fever, headache, sweats, and severe

swelling and pain in his hands and legs.

Mozart’s Death

By the 14th day of his illness, the swelling had

spread to his entire body. With the swelling came nausea, vomiting,

diarrhea, and a persistent rash.

Mozart’s Death

On December 5, just fifteen days after the

onset of the illness, the great musician suffered

a convulsion, lapsed into a coma and died.

Mozart's death is believed to have been caused by rheumatic

fever and kidney failure.

Mozart’s Death

Another TheoryOn June 15, 2001, A

new theory about a plate of pork chops was

introduced.

Mozart’s Death

An American researcher found evidence that

trichinosis -- an illness he would have

contracted from eating undercooked pork--was the most likely cause of

Mozart's demise.

Mozart’s Death

What is trichinosis?  Trichinosis is caused by

eating the raw or undercooked meat of

animals infected with the larvae of a worm called Trichinella. Infection occurs commonly in

certain wild carnivorous (meat-eating) animals

but can occur in domestic pigs.

Mozart’s Death

“There are no remains of Mozart, so no theory can

be fully proved or disproved...but this explanation would

answer all the issues brought forth by the

features of his death as they have been

described,”

Mozart’s Death

Trichinosis would typically kill a patient

within 2 to 3 weeks. After finding written evidence that Mozart did eat pork

shortly before his death--the symptoms the artist experienced are all best explained by trichinosis.

Mozart’s Death

Mozart died on December 5, 1791 at

the age of 35.Because Mozart died with very little money,

he was given a commoners (or

paupers) funeral.It was years later that his grave was marked

with a tombstone.

Mozart’s Death

Interesting Fact

We do not know where Mozart is buried. We

know he was buried in St. Marx cemetery in

Vienna, Austria, but we do not know exactly

where. For this reason, there are 2 grave sites.

This one,

Mozart’s Death

and this is the other

Mozart’s Death

Records show that Mozart was taken to his grave in a wooden coffin and buried in a plot

along with 4 - 5 other people; a wooden marker was used to identify the grave.

However, at some stage during the next 5 - 15 years, his plot was dug up to make room for more burials. The bones were re-interred,

possibly having been crushed to reduce their size; consequently, the position of Mozart's

grave was lost.

Mozart’s Death

There is still one final twist. In the early twentieth century the Salzburg Mozarteum

was presented with a rather morbid gift: Mozart's skull.

It was alleged that a gravedigger had rescued the skull during the 're-organization' of the

composer's grave. Although scientific testing has been unable to either confirm or deny that the skull is Mozart's, there is enough evidence

on the skull consistent with Mozart's symptoms before death

Mozart’s Death

Mozart’s alleged skull

Mozart’s Death