Focus on the Music Makers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The Symphony’s November 19, 2017 concert Old and New will feature the works of three composers, two staples in music history and one new composition: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven and an original piece from Charles Fernandez.

Who Was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791), baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a child prodigy and influential composer of the Classical era.

He composed his first piece of music at age five, and wrote his first opera when he was twelve. By the time Wolfgang was 6, he was an excellent pianist and violinist, and traveled all over Europe with his sister performing for royalty.

Much later, in Vienna, Mozart was no longer considered a child prodigy, and people stopped making a big fuss over him. Whereas he continued to compose, his extravagant life style, his lavish living, and his immaturity took their toll and life was difficult and depressing for the composer and his family.

Fortunately, during his mid-thirties, he went through a period of great music productivity and personal healing. Some of his most admired works – the opera The Magic Flute, the final piano concerto in B-flat, the Clarinet Concerto in A major, and the unfinished Requiem, to name a few, were written during this time. Mozart was only 35 when he died. Today, he is still considered a genius!