Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Especifismo: Difference between pages

Revision as of 08:08, 30 December 2005

Revision as of 01:47, 4 July 2007

Line 1:

{{redirect|Mozartanarchism}}

<b>Especifismo</b> is an [[anarchist]] [[praxis]] which originates in [[South America]]. Some [[argue]] that it is a [[natural]] [[evolution]] of the [[ideas]] of [[Platformism]] and [[Sintetismo]]. It [[involves]] "1) The [[need]] for a [[specifically]] anarchist [[organization]] [[built]] around a [[unity]] of ideas and praxis. 2) The [[use]] of the specifically anarchist organization to [[theorize]] and [[develop]] [[strategic]] [[political]] and [[organizing]] work. 3) [[Active]] [[involvement]] and building of [[autonomous]] and [[popular]] [[social movements]], called [['social insertion]].' The [[praxis]] [[implies]] the [[existence]] of an orginization that [[manifests]] an [[open]] and specifically anarchist [[adhesion]]. This would be done in order to [[disseminate]] anarchist ideas in a [[form]] that can be visible to the [[militant]] anarchist [[element]] of [[society]]. Especifismo is a praxis that [[expresses]] itself in the [[national]] and [[regional]] anarchist organizations of the world.

[[Image:Edliner_Mozart.jpg|W. A. Mozart, 1790 portrait by Johann Georg Edlinger|thumb|right|250px]]

{{anarchism-stub}}

'''Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart''' ([[January 27]], [[1756]] &ndash; [[December 5]], [[1791]]) is among the most significant and enduringly popular [[composer]]s of [[European classical music]] and is widely regarded as one of history's greatest composers. His enormous output includes works that are widely acknowledged as pinnacles of [[symphony|symphonic]], [[chamber music|chamber]], [[piano]], [[opera|operatic]], and [[choir|choral]] music. Many of his works are part of the standard concert repertory and are widely recognized as masterpieces of the classical style.

==Life==

===Family and early childhood years===

Mozart was born in [[Salzburg (city)|Salzburg]] to [[Leopold Mozart|Leopold]] and [[Anna Maria Pertl Mozart]]. He was [[baptism|baptized]] the day before his birth at [[St. Rupert's Cathedral]]. The baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form as ''Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus (Gottlieb) Mozart''. Of these names, the first two were [[saint's name]]s not employed in everyday life and the fourth was variously translated in Mozart's lifetime form as ''Amadeus'' (Latin), ''Gottlieb'' (German), and ''Amadé'' (French); Mozart himself preferred the third (see [[Mozart's name]]).

Mozart's musical ability became apparent when he was about two years old. His father Leopold was one of Europe's leading musical [[pedagogy|pedagogues]], whose influential textbook ''Versuch weiner gründlichen Violinschule'' ("Essay on the fundamentals of violin playing") was published in 1756, the year of Mozart's birth. Mozart received intensive musical training from his father, including instruction in both [[clavier]] and [[violin]].

===The years of travel===

[[Image:Martini bologna mozart 1777.jpg|thumb|"Bologna Mozart"&mdash;Mozart aged 21 in 1777]]

Leopold realized that he could earn a sub-par income by showcasing his son as a ''[[Wunderkind]]'' in the courts of Europe. Mozart soon gained fame as a musical prodigy capable of such feats as playing blindfolded <!-- the following statement requires supporting evidence or source: or with his hands behind his back, --> or competently improvising at length on difficult passages. His older sister [[Maria Anna "Nannerl" Mozart|Maria Anna]] was a talented pianist and accompanied her brother on the earlier tours. Mozart wrote a number of piano pieces, in particular [[Duet (music)|duet]]s and [[duo]]s, to play with her. On one occasion when Mozart became very ill, Leopold expressed more concern over the loss of income than over his son's well-being. Constant travel and cold weather may have contributed to his subsequent illness later in life.

During his formative years, Mozart completed several journeys throughout [[Europe]], beginning with an exhibition in 1762 at the Court of the Elector of [[Bavaria]] in [[Munich]], then in the same year at the Imperial Court in [[Vienna]]. A long concert tour spanning three and a half years followed, taking him with his father to the courts of [[Munich]], [[Mannheim]], [[Paris]], [[London]], [[The Hague]], again to Paris, and back home via [[Zürich]], [[Donaueschingen]], and Munich. They went to Vienna again in late 1767 and remained there until December 1768.

[[image:mozart.birth.500pix.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Mozart's birthplace at 9 Getreidegasse, Salzburg, Austria]]

After one year in Salzburg, three trips to [[Italy]] followed: from December 1769 to March 1771, from August to December 1771, and from October 1772 to March 1773. During the first of these trips, Mozart met [[Andrea Luchesi]] in [[Venice]] and [[Giovanni Battista Martini|G.B. Martini]] in [[Bologna]] and was accepted as a member of the famous ''[[Accademia Filarmonica]]''. A highlight of the Italian journey, now an almost legendary tale, occurred when he heard [[Gregorio Allegri]]'s ''[[Miserere (Allegri)|Miserere]]'' once in performance in the [[Sistine Chapel]] then wrote it out in its entirety from memory, only returning to correct minor errors; he thus produced the first illegal copy of this closely-guarded property of the Vatican <small><nowiki>[</nowiki>[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Documents_describing_Mozart%27s_transcription_of_the_Allegri_Miserere source documents]<nowiki>]</nowiki></small>.

On July 3rd 1778, accompanied by his mother, Mozart began a tour of Europe that included [[Munich]], [[Mannheim]], and [[Paris]], where his mother died.

During his trips, Mozart met a great number of musicians and acquainted himself with the works of other great composers. A particularly important influence was [[Johann Christian Bach]], who befriended Mozart in London in 1764&ndash;65. Bach's work is often taken to be an inspiration for the distinctive surface texture of Mozart's music, though not its architecture or drama.

Even non-musicians caught Mozart's attention. He was so taken by the sound created by [[Benjamin Franklin]]'s [[glass harmonica]] that he composed several pieces of music for it.

===Mozart in Vienna===

In 1781 Mozart visited [[Vienna]] in the company of his employer, the harsh [[Hieronymus Colloredo|Prince-Archbishop Colloredo]], and soon fell out with him. According to Mozart's own testimony, he was dismissed - literally - "with a kick in the seat of the pants." Mozart chose to settle and develop his career in Vienna after its aristocracy began to take an interest in him.

On [[August 4]], [[1782]], he married [[Constanze Weber]] (1763-1842) (also spelled "Costanze"), albeit against his father's wishes. Although they had six children, only two survived infancy. Neither of these two, Karl Thomas (1784&ndash;1858) and [[Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart|Franz Xaver Wolfgang]] (later a minor composer himself; 1791&ndash;1844), married or had children.

1782 was an auspicious year for Mozart's career; his opera ''[[Die Entführung aus dem Serail]]'' ("The Abduction from the Seraglio") was a great success and he began a series of concerts at which he premiered his own [[piano concerto]]s as [[conducting|conductor]] and [[soloist]].

In 1782&ndash;83, Mozart became closely acquainted with the work of [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J.S. Bach]] and [[Georg Frideric Handel|Handel]] as a result of the influence of Baron [[Gottfried van Swieten]], who owned many manuscripts of works by the Baroque masters. Mozart's study of these works led first to a number of works imitating Baroque style and later had a powerful influence on his own personal musical language, for example the [[fugue|fugal]] passages in ''[[Die Zauberflöte]]'' ("The Magic Flute") and the [[Symphony No. 41 (Mozart)|41st Symphony]].

In 1783, Wolfgang and Constanze visited Leopold in Salzburg, but the visit was not a success, as his father did not take to Constanze. However, the visit saw the composition of one of Mozart's great liturgical pieces, the [[Große Messe|Mass in C Minor]], which was premiered in Salzburg, and is presently one of his best known works.

In his early Vienna years, Mozart met [[Joseph Haydn]] and the two composers became friends. When Haydn visited Vienna, they sometimes played in an impromptu [[string quartet]]. Mozart's six quartets dedicated to Haydn date from 1782&ndash;85, and are often judged to be his response to Haydn's Opus 33 set from 1781. Haydn was soon in awe of Mozart, and when he first heard the last three of Mozart's series he told Leopold, "Before God and as an honest man I tell you that your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name. He has taste, and what is more, the most profound knowledge of composition."

During the years 1782-1785, Mozart put on a series of concerts that featured performances by himself of his [[piano concerto]]s, widely considered among his greatest works. These concerts were financially successful. After 1785 Mozart performed far less and wrote only a few concertos. [[Maynard Solomon]] conjectures that he may have suffered from hand injuries; another possibility is that the fickle public ceased to attend the concerts in the same numbers.

As an adult, Mozart, influenced by the ideas of the eighteenth century [[The Age of Enlightenment|European Enlightenment]], became a [[Freemason]] (1784). His lodge was a specifically Catholic rather than deistic one and he worked fervently and successfully to convert his father before the latter's death in 1787. His last opera, ''Die Zauberflöte'', includes Masonic themes and allegory. He was in the same [[Masonic Lodge]] as Haydn.

Mozart's life was fraught with financial difficulty and illness. Often, he received no payment for his work, and what sums he did receive were quickly consumed by his extravagant lifestyle.

Mozart spent 1786 in [[Vienna]] in an apartment which may be visited today at Domgasse 5 behind St Stephen's Cathedral; it was here that Mozart composed ''[[Le nozze di Figaro]]''. He followed this in 1787 with one of his greatest works, ''[[Don Giovanni]]''.

===Mozart and Prague===

Mozart had a special relationship with [[Prague]] and the people of Prague. The audience here celebrated their [[Figaro]] with the much deserved reverence he was missing in his hometown Vienna. His quote "My Czechs understand me" became very famous in the [[Czech Republic|Czech lands]]. Many tourists follow his tracks in Prague and visit the Mozart Museum of the Villa Bertramka where they can enjoy a chamber concert. In Prague, ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' premiered on [[October 29]], [[1787]] at the [[Theatre of the Estates]]. In the later years of his life, Prague provided Mozart many financial resources from commissions. German poet [[Eduard Mörike]]'s well-known [[novella]] ''Mozart auf der Reise nach Prag'' ("Mozart's on the way to Prague") is a fantasy about the composer's trip to that city in order to present ''Don Giovanni'' (the story, however, relates episodes that happen along the way, not in Prague itself).

===Final illness and death===

Mozart's final illness and death are difficult scholarly topics, obscured by Romantic legends and replete with conflicting theories. Scholars disagree about the course of decline in Mozart's health&mdash;particularly at what point Mozart became aware of his impending death and whether this awareness influenced his final works. The Romantic view holds that Mozart declined gradually and that his outlook and compositions paralleled this decline. In opposition to this, some contemporary scholarship points out correspondence from Mozart's final year indicating that he was in good cheer, as well as evidence that Mozart's death was sudden and a shock to his family and friends. Mozart's grave remains unmarked. His monument is his music.

The actual cause of Mozart's death is also a matter of conjecture. His death record listed "hitziges Frieselfieber" ("severe miliary fever"), a description that does not suffice to identify the cause as it would be diagnosed in modern medicine. Dozens of theories have been proposed, including [[trichinosis]], [[Mercury (element)|mercury]] poisoning, and [[rheumatic fever]]. The contemporary practice of [[bloodletting|bleeding]] medical patients is also cited as a contributing cause.

Mozart died around 1 a.m. on [[December 5]], [[1791]], while he was working on his final composition, the [[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]]. A younger composer, [[Franz Xaver Süssmayr]], was engaged by Constanze to complete the Requiem. He was not the only composer asked to complete the Requiem but is associated with it over others due to his significant contribution.

According to popular legend, Mozart was penniless and forgotten when he died, and was buried in a pauper's grave. In fact, though he was no longer as fashionable in [[Vienna]] as before, he continued to have a well-paid job at court and receive substantial commissions from more distant parts of Europe, [[Prague]] in particular. Many of his begging letters survive but they are evidence not so much of poverty as of his habit of spending more than he earned. He was not buried in a "mass grave" but in a regular communal grave according to the 1783 laws. Though the original grave on [[St. Marx cemetery]] was lost, memorial gravestones have been placed there and on [[Zentralfriedhof]].

In 1809, Constanze married [[Denmark|Danish]] diplomat [[Georg Nikolaus von Nissen]] (1761&ndash;1826). Being a fanatical admirer of Mozart, he edited vulgar passages out of many of the composer's letters and wrote a Mozart biography.

==Works, musical style, and innovations==

{{mainarticle|1=List of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart}}

Mozart, along with Haydn and [[Beethoven]], was a central representative of the [[Classical music era|classical]] style. His works spanned the period during which that style transformed from a predominantly simple musical language, as exemplified by the ''stile [[galant]]'' of his contemporaries such as [[Giovanni Battista Sammartini|Sammartini]] and [[Johann Stamitz]], to a mature style which began to incorporate some of the [[counterpoint|contrapuntal]] complexities of the late [[Baroque music|Baroque]], complexities against which the ''galant'' style was a reaction. Mozart's own stylistic development closely paralleled the maturing of the classical style as a whole. In addition, he was a prolific composer and wrote in almost every major genre, including [[symphony]], [[opera]], the solo [[concerto]], chamber music including [[string quartet]] and [[string quintet]]s, and the keyboard sonata. While none of these genres were new, the piano concerto was almost single-handedly developed and popularized by Mozart. Mozart also wrote a great deal of religious music including [[mass (music)|mass]]es. He also composed many dances, [[divertimento|divertimenti]], serenades, and other forms of light entertainment.

The central traits of the classical style can all be identified in Mozart's music. Clarity, balance, transparency, and uncomplicated harmonic language are his hallmark, although in his later works he explored chromatic harmony to a degree rare at the time.<!--I'm not sure that this is true; his harmonic language remained reasonably stable throughout his adulthood, didn't it?--> <!--No, it did not. Have a look at his composition list after K600 versus that between, say, K200 and K300--> Mozart is commonly named along with Schubert as having a gift for pure, simple, and memorable melody, and to many listeners this is his most definitive characteristic.

From his earliest life Mozart had a gift for imitating the music he heard; since he travelled widely, he acquired a rare collection of experiences from which to create his unique compositional language. When he went to London as a child, he met [[Johann Christian Bach|J.C. Bach]] and heard his music; when he went to Paris, Mannheim, and Vienna, he heard the work of composers active there, as well as the spectacular Mannheim orchestra; when he went to Italy, he encountered the [[Italian overture]] and the [[opera buffa]], both of which were to be hugely influential on his development. Both in London and Italy, the galant style was all the rage: simple, light music, with a mania for [[cadence|cadencing]], an emphasis on tonic, dominant, and subdominant to the exclusion of other chords, symmetrical phrases, and clearly articulated structures. This style, out of which the classical style evolved, was a reaction against the complexity of late Baroque music. Some of Mozart's early symphonies are essentially [[Italian overture]]s, with three movements running into each other; many are "homotonal" (each movement in the same key, with the slow movement in the tonic minor). Others mimic the works of J.C. Bach, and others show the simple, [[binary form|rounded binary form]]s commonly being written by composers in Vienna.

As Mozart matured, he began to incorporate some features of the abandoned Baroque styles into his music. For example, the [[Symphony No. 29 (Mozart)|Symphony No. 29]] in A Major, K. 201, uses a frankly contrapuntal main theme; in addition, in it he began to experiment with irregular phrase lengths, something a ''galant'' composer such as [[Giovanni Battista Sammartini|Sammartini]] would never have done. Some of his quartets from 1773 have fugal finales, probably influenced by Haydn, who had just published his opus 20 set; the influence of the ''Sturm und Drang'' period in German literature, with its brief foreshadowing of the Romantic era to come, is evident in some of the music of both composers of the time.

In Mozarts's hands [[sonata form]] transformed from the binary models of the baroque into the fully mature form of his later works, with a multiple-theme exposition, extended, chromatic and contrapuntal development, recapitulation of all themes in the tonic key, and coda.<!--What is crucial here is the use of modulation as the dramatic cornerstone of form; it's not so much melody as key change that is the structural innovation-->

Throughout his life Mozart switched his focus from writing instrumental music to writing operas, and back again. He wrote operas in each style current in Europe: opera buffa, such as ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'' or ''[[Così fan tutte]]''; ''[[opera seria]]'', such as ''[[Idomeneo]]'' or ''[[Don Giovanni]]''; and ''[[Singspiel]]'', of which ''[[Die Zauberflöte]]'' is probably the most famous example by any composer. In his later operas, he developed the use of subtle and slight changes of instrumentation, orchestration, and tone colour to express or highlight psychological or emotional states and dramatic shifts. Here his advances in opera and instrumental composing interacted upon one another. The increasing sophistication of his use of the orchestra in his symphonies and concerti served as a resource in his operatic orchestration, and his developing subtlety in using the orchestra to psychological effect in his operas reacted back upon his purely instrumental composition.

===Influence===

Many important composers since Mozart's time have worshipped or at least been in awe of Mozart. [[Gioacchino Rossini|Rossini]] averred, "He is the only musician who had as much knowledge as genius, and as much genius as knowledge." [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] told his pupil [[Ferdinand Ries|Ries]] that he (Beethoven) would never be able to think of a melody as great as a certain one in the first movement of Mozart's [[Piano Concerto No. 24 (Mozart)|Piano Concerto No. 24]]. Beethoven also paid homage to Mozart by writing sets of [[theme_and_variations|variations]] on several of his themes: for example, the two sets of variations for cello and piano on themes from Mozart's ''[[The Magic Flute|Magic Flute]]'', and cadenzas to several of Mozart's piano concertos, most notably the [[Piano Concerto No. 20 (Mozart)|Piano Concerto No. 20]], K466 (see below for this system and an explanation). After the only meeting between the two composers, Mozart noted that Beethoven would "give the world something to talk about." As well, [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]] wrote his ''Mozartiana'' in praise of him; and [[Gustav Mahler|Mahler]] died with the name "Mozart" on his lips. The variations theme of the opening movement of [[Piano Sonata No. 11 (Mozart)|the A major piano sonata]] (K331) was used by [[Max Reger]] for his ''Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Mozart'', written in 1914 and among his best-known works in turn.

==The Köchel catalogue==

{{mainarticle|1=Köchel-Verzeichnis}}

In the decades after Mozart's death there were several attempts to catalogue his compositions, but it was not until 1862 that [[Ludwig von Köchel]] succeeded in this enterprise. Many of his famous works are referred to by their Köchel catalogue number; for example, the Piano Concerto in A major is often referred to simply as "K488" or "KV488". The catalogue has undergone six revisions.

==Myths and controversies==

Mozart is unusual among composers for being the subject of an abundance of legend, much due to the problem that none of his early biographers knew him personally. They often resorted to fiction in order to produce a work. Many myths began soon after Mozart died, but few have any basis in fact. An example is the story that Mozart composed his [[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]] with the belief it was for himself. Sorting out fabrications from real events is a vexing and continuous task for Mozart scholars mainly because of the prevalence of legend in scholarship. Dramatists and screenwriters, free from responsibilities of scholarship, have found excellent material among these legends.

An especially popular case is the supposed rivalry between Mozart and [[Antonio Salieri]], and, in some versions, the tale that it was poison received from the latter that caused Mozart's death; this is the subject of [[Aleksandr Pushkin]]'s play ''[[Mozart and Salieri]]'', [[Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov]]'s opera ''[[Mozart et Salieri]]'', and [[Peter Shaffer]]'s play ''[[Amadeus]]''. The last of these has been made into a feature-length film of the same name, which won eight [[Academy Award|Oscar]]s. Shaffer's play attracted criticism for portraying Mozart as vulgar and loutish, a characterization felt by many to be unfairly exaggerated.

According to an essay by A. Peter Brown, "the Mozart mania of the 1980s was initiated by [[Peter Shaffer]]'s play [[Amadeus]]. It and the subsequent film directed by [[Milos Forman]] did more for Mozart's case than anything else in the two hundred years since the composer's death." Unfortunately, the same could be said of the popular myths surrounding Mozart, many of which are firmly rooted in the film.

However, Shaffer and Forman have never claimed that [[Amadeus]] was based in fact, as pointed out by Shaffer himself- "From the start we agreed on one thing: we were not making an objective Life of Wolfgang Mozart. This cannot be stressed too strongly. Obviously [[Amadeus]] on stage was never intended to be a documentary biography of the composer, and the film is even less of one."

Shaffer and Forman have often emphasised the fictitious elements of the movie, although they are equally quick to defend elements of the film which they believe are accurate but are disputed by Mozart historians. Shaffer has detailed in many interviews, including one featured as an extra on the DVD release of the film, how the dramatic narrative was inspired by the biblical story of Cain and Abel - one loved by God, and one scorned. Transcribed as creative rivalry between Mozart and [[Salieri]], the notion of divine blessing and murderous jealousy provides the basic premise for [[Amadeus]], although there is no historical evidence of any rivalry between the two composers. Conversely, it is well documented that [[Salieri]] frequently lent Mozart musical scores from the court library, and Mozart selected Salieri to teach his son, Franz Xaver. One of the more detailed essays on the "dramatic licenses" present in Amadeus is written by Gregory Allen Robbins, titled "Mozart & Salieri, Cain & Abel: A Cinematic Transformation of Genesis 4".

Another area of debate involves Mozart's prodigy as a composer from childhood until his death. While some have criticised many of his earlier works as simplistic or forgettable, others revere even Mozart's juvenalia. The image of Mozart as the divinely inspired effortless creator, popularized by the film ''Amadeus'', is generally believed to be an exaggeration. Quite the contrary, Mozart was a studiously hard worker, and by his own admission his extensive knowledge and abilities developed out of many years' close study of the European musical tradition.

It has been speculated that Mozart suffered from [[Tourette syndrome]]. Letters he wrote to his cousin Maria Anna Thekla ("Bäsle") between 1777 and 1781 contain scatological language and he wrote canons titled ''Leck mich im Arsch'' ("Lick my ass") or variations thereof (including the pseudo-Latin ''Difficile lectu mihi mars'').

==Media==

{{multi-listen start}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Die Holle Rache.ogg

|title=Rondo Alla Turka|title=Die Hölle Rache|description=Die Hölle Rache, from [[Die Zauberflöte]]|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Rondo Alla Turka.ogg|title=Rondo Alla Turka|title=K331|description=Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major (last movement)|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=K545 allegro.ogg|title=K545, movement 1|title=K545|description=Piano Sonata in C major, 1st movement|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=K545 andante.ogg|title=K545, movement 2|title=K545|description=Piano Sonata in C major, 2nd movement|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=K545 rondo.ogg|title=K545, movement 3|title=K545|description=Piano Sonata in C major, 3rd movement|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Mozart - vesperae de dominica. 1. dixit dominus.ogg|title=K321, 1st movement|description=Vesperae de dominica - dixit dominus|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Mozart - vesperae de dominica. 2. confitebor.ogg|title=K321, 2nd movement|description=Vesperae de dominica - confitebor|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Mozart - vesperae de dominica. 3. beatus vir.ogg|title=K321, 3rd movement|description=Vesperae de dominica - beatus vir|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Mozart - vesperae de dominica. 4. laudate pueri.ogg|title=K321, 4th movement|description=Vesperae de dominica - laudate pueri|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Mozart - vesperae de dominica. 5. laudate dominum.ogg|title=K321, 5th movement|description=Vesperae de dominica - laudate dominum|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Mozart - vesperae de dominica. 6. magnificat.ogg|title=K321, 6th movement|description=Vesperae de dominica - magnificat|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Mozart - KV 570.ogg|title=K570|description=Piano Sonata in B Flat|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Mozart - Concerto in D for Flute K.314.ladybyron.ogg|title=K314|description=Concerto in D for Flute|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Don Giovanni - Overtüre.ogg|title=K527|description=Overture to Don Giovanni|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Klarinettenkonzert A-Dur - 1. Allegro.ogg|title=K622|description= Clarinet Concerto in A major, 1st movement|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Klarinettenkonzert A-Dur - 2. Adagio.ogg|title=K622|description=Clarinet Concerto in A major, 2nd movement|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Klarinettenkonzert A-Dur - 3. Rondo (Allegro).ogg|title=K622|description=Clarinet Concerto in A major, 3rd movement|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Klavierkonzert C-Dur - 2. Andante.ogg|title=K503|description=Piano Concerto No.25 In C Major|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Sinfonia Concertante für Violine, Viola und Orchester - 3. Presto.ogg|title=K364|description=Sinfonia Concertante in E flat|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony 40 g-moll - 1. Molto allegro.ogg|title=K550|description=Mozart's [[Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)|40th Symphony]], 1st movement|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony 40 g-moll - 2. Andante.ogg|title=K550|description=Mozart's [[Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)|40th Symphony]], 2nd movement|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony 40 g-moll - 3. Menuetto, Allegretto-Trio.ogg|title=K550|description=Mozart's [[Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)|40th Symphony]], 3rd movement|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen item|filename=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony 40 g-moll - 4. Allegro assai.ogg|title=K550|description=Mozart's [[Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)|40th Symphony]], 4th movement|format=[[Ogg]]}}

{{multi-listen end}}

== See also ==

* [[:Category:Compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

* [[Mozartkugel]], a confectionary named in his honor.

* [[Mozart effect]], a disputed theory that certain kinds of music enhance performance on certain mental tasks; the researchers who coined the term used a piece by Mozart in their first study.

* ''[[Rock Me Amadeus]]'', a [[1986 in music|1986 song]] by [[Falco (musician)|Falco]], based on Shaffer's film

==Further reading==

* Braunbehrens, Volkmar: <cite>Mozart in Vienna: 1781-1791</cite>, Timothy Bell Trans, HarperPerennial, 1986 ISBN 0-06-0997405-2

* Deutsch, Otto Erich: <cite>Mozart: A Documentary Biography</cite>, Eric Blom et al. Trans, Stanford University Press, 1965

* Aloys Greither: <cite>Wolfgang Amadé Mozart</cite>, Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, 1962

* Robert W. Gutman: <cite>Mozart: A Cultural Biography</cite>, Random, 2001 ISBN 015100482X

* [[H. C. Robbins Landon]]: <cite>1791: Mozart's Last Year</cite>, Thames & Hudson, 1988 ISBN 0500281076

* Massimo Mila: <cite>Lettura delle Nozze di Figaro</cite>, Einaudi, 1979 ISBN 8806189379

* Stanley Sadie, ed.: <cite>Mozart and his Operas</cite>, St. Martin's, 2000 ISBN 031224410X

* Maynard Solomon: <cite>Mozart: a life</cite>, Harper, 1996 ISBN 0060926929

* Hershel Jick: <cite>A Listener's Guide to Mozart's Music</cite>, Vantage, 1997 ISBN 0553123089

* [[Marcia Davenport]]: <cite>Mozart</cite>, The Chautauqua Press, 1932

* Wilhelm Otto Deutsch, ''Mozart und die Religion (2005)'', [http://www.w-o-deutsch.de/mozart]

* Nicholas Till: <cite>Mozart and the Enlightenment<cite>,Faber,Norton, 1992 ISBN 0571161693

* Gregory Allen Robbins, ''Mozart & Salieri, Cain & Abel: A Cinematic Transformation of Genesis 4'', [http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/robbins.htm]

* ''The Mozart Project'', [http://www.mozartproject.org/]

== External links ==

{{wikiquote}}{{wikisourceauthor}}{{Commons|Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart}}

*[http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/classicalcomposers/p/mozart.htm A Profile of Amadeus Mozart] from Aaron Green, guide to Classical Music at About.com.

* {{gutenberg author|name=Mozart|id=Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart}}

* [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ gallica.bnf.fr], picture of [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=07721746 Mozart], his [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=07721742 mother], his [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=07721745 father], his [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=07721743 wife], and his [http://gallica.bnf.fr/scripts/ConsultationTout.exe?O=07721744 familly] (bnf = French National Library).

* [http://www.mozartones.com/en/mozart/index.asp Mozartones.com] - compact biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

* [http://www.tunespotting.com/mozart.asp Mozart Melody Index] at Tunespotting.com

* [http://www.wamozartfan.com WAMozartFan.com] The Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Educational Fanpage - resource for students, teachers and music lovers.

* [http://www.carolinaclassical.com/articles/mozart.html The Music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]

* [http://www.visit-salzburg.net/ Historic information on Salzburg and Mozart's birth and living place]

* [http://web.telia.com/~u57013916/Edlinger%20Mozart.htm "The last (and best) portrait of Mozart"], a biometrical statistical confirmation that the recently identified painting by Edlinger from ca 1790 indeed shows Mozart

* [http://hebb.mit.edu/FreeMusic/MIT_Music/Mozart/ Free recordings of Vesperae de Dominica by the MIT choir]

* [http://www.angelfire.com/tn3/papazacharias/mozart.html Mozart's '''Piano sonatas''' (midi)]

* [http://www.centrebouddhisteparis.org/En_Anglais/Sangharakshita_en_anglais/Mozart_and_pauses/mozart_and_pauses.html Mozart and pauses]

* [http://www.mozartproject.org The Mozart Project] &ndash; the life, times and music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

* {{IckingArchive|idx=Mozart|name=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart}}

* [http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?Composer=MozartWA&preview=1 Mozart's Scores by Mutopia Project]

* [http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/mozart.html Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, from Classical Music Pages]

* [http://members.aon.at/michaelorenz/jenamy The "Jenamy Concerto"] The proper name of Mozart's piano concerto K. 271 revealed

* [http://www.pianopublicdomain.com/index.php?dir=library/Mozart Free Mozart piano sheet music in PDF format.]

* [http://www.mozartforum.com Mozart Forum] Exploring the world of Classical-Era Music (1770-1827), encompassing the music, personalities and accomplishments of Mozart and his contemporaries.

* [http://www.mozart-archiv.de/ Mozart Archive]

* [http://reverent.org/mozart_or_salieri.html Can you tell Mozart from Salieri?]A quiz.

* [http://www.w-o-deutsch.de/mozart], Wilhelm Otto Deutsch, ''Mozart und die Religion (2005)''

*[http://www.pianosociety.com/index.php?id=28 Mozart at Piano Society] - Biography and various free recordings in MP3 format.

[[Category:1756 births|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

[[Category:1791 deaths|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

[[Category:Classical era composers|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

[[Category:Opera composers|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

[[Category:Austrian composers|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

[[Category:Viennese composers|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

[[Category:Freemasons|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

[[Category:Eponymous people|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

[[Category:Austrian pianists|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

[[Category:Classical pianists|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

[[Category:Pop icons|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

[[Category:Child prodigies|Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]]

<!-- interwiki -->

[[af:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[ar:فولفغانغ أماديوس موتسارت]]

[[an:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[bg:Волфганг Амадеус Моцарт]]

[[bs:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[ca:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[cs:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[cy:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[da:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[de:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[et:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[el:Βόλφγκανγκ Αμαντέους Μότσαρτ]]

[[es:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[eo:Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART]]

[[eu:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[fa:ولفگانگ آمادئوس موتزارت]]

[[fr:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[fy:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[ga:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[gd:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[gl:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[ko:볼프강 아마데우스 모차르트]]

[[kn:ವುಲ್ಫ್‌ಗ್ಯಾಂಗ್ ಅಮೆಡಿಯುಸ್ ಮೊಟ್ಜಾರ್ಟ್]]

[[hi:मोटज़ार्ट]]

[[hr:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[ilo:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[id:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[is:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[it:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[he:וולפגאנג אמאדיאוס מוצארט]]

[[jv:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[ku:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[la:Wolfgangus Amadeus Mozart]]

[[lv:Volfgangs Amadejs Mocarts]]

[[lt:Volfgangas Amadėjus Mocartas]]

[[li:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[hu:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[mk:Волфганг Амадеус Моцарт]]

[[ms:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[nah:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[nl:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[nds:Mozart]]

[[ja:ヴォルフガング・アマデウス・モーツァルト]]

[[no:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[nn:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[oc:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[pl:Wolfgang Amadeusz Mozart]]

[[pt:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[ro:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[ru:Моцарт, Вольфганг Амадей]]

[[sco:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[sh:Volfgang Amadeus Mocart]]

[[scn:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[simple:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[sk:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[sl:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[sr:Волфганг Амадеус Моцарт]]

[[fi:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[sv:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[tl:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[ta:வொல்ஃப்கேங்க் அமதியுஸ் மோட்ஸார்ட்]]

[[th:โวล์ฟกัง อะมาเดอุส โมซาร์ท]]

[[vi:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[tr:Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]

[[zh:莫扎特]]