"Music is not hidden in the notes, but in the silence between them." - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg. Seven children were born to the marriage of Leopold Mozart, who worked as a composer, musician, and pedagogue at the court of the princely archbishops, and Anna Maria Pertlová. However, only two survived: Wolfgang Amadeus and his older sister Maria Anna. Both children were very gifted musically, so the father decided to take up their music education at the expense of his own career.
From 1762, the ambitious father demonstrated the art of his talented children at royal and princely courts throughout Europe. At the age of only six, little Mozart went on concert tours across Western Europe - from Salzburg to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and further to London. He then made long study trips to Italy with his father.
During his youth, Mozart worked as a titular and honored concertmaster and composer from 1772 at the court of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. The futile search for another position and employer brought him to Italy, Vienna, and Munich. In the autumn of 1773, the family moved to a house in Hannibalov, today's Makart Square No. 8.
From 1772, when Prince Archbishop Hieronymus Count Colloredo took over the government of the Archdiocese of Salzburg, Mozart led a calmer life. In 1779 he resumed service at the court as an organist. A few months after the successful performance of the opera "Idomeneo" in Munich in January 1781, there was a final rift with the archbishop. Mozart refused to be an obedient subject to the sovereign ruler and fled to Vienna.
In Vienna, Mozart tried to make a living as a freelance artist. He composed operas, performed at concerts, and attended aristocratic families as a music teacher. On August 4, 1782, against the wishes of his father, he married the daughter of his landlady, Constanze Weber. Together they traveled to Salzburg and Prague. They had six children, but only two survived - Karl Thomas and Franz Xaver Wolfgang.
One of the last great successes was celebrated by Mozart on September 6, 1791 in Prague at the premiere of the coronation opera "La Clemenza di Tito" (KV 621). Shortly after the premiere of the opera "The Magic Flute" (KV 620), Mozart fell ill at the suburban Theater in Vienna. On December 5, 1791, he died at the age of 35 from an infectious disease or rheumatic fever (the cause is unknown). His "Requiem" (KV 626) remained unfinished.
Mozart has long been one of the most popular classical composers and his influence on the development of the art of music is profound. Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote that “posterity will not see such talent again in 100 years."