Writing Homework Help

Read Mozart’s Biography (see below), listen to these pieces on YouTube, and engage in the discussion using questions provided (both in the Biography, and general discussion in the lesson, under the heading of culture, and then music.). How did Mozart’s career reflect eighteenth-century society? Give examples of another or of a contemporary Wunderkind – ‘miracle child.’ Do you know of any? Are there parallels between them and Amadeus? 

Instrumental:

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Allegro (5 min): Mozart, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Links to an external site.)

Religious: 

Requiem, Confutatis/Lacrimosa (8 min 11 sec): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8GZ_W5XjW0&list=RDT8GZ_W5XjW0 (Links to an external site.)

Opera:

Magic Flute, Papagena-Papageno Aria (3 min 29 sec): Roth and Le Roi perform “Papagena / Papageno!” (Links to an external site.)

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During the last decades of the century, the restrained Baroque style gave way to the more melodic “classical” style, with its striking depth, structure, and emotion. Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) led the way. Their most stunning work was the symphony; by the end of their careers, they had created symphonies of rich harmonic complexity and emotional depth within the restrained classical form. During his long career in Vienna, Haydn wrote more than a hundred symphonies in addition to scores of compositions for other forms, particularly chamber music. Toward the end of his career, he became so popular that he left noble patrons and signed a lucrative contract with his music publisher.

Haydn became a friend and a source of inspiration for the young Mozart (see Biography). Figure 15.15 shows the 7-year-old Wolfgang playing the piano. Accompanying him are his father on the violin and his sister, who is singing. Here the performers are exquisitely dressed for their aristocratic audience. Ultimately, Mozart composed more than six hundred works and excelled in all forms, but he became most appreciated for his symphonies, piano concertos, and operas. His music was stunningly clear, melodic, elegant, and graceful. In his hands, the classical style reached its peak.

FIGURE 15.15

The Mozarts

The Grand Tour

The music, art, and literature of the elites were part of a broader, cosmopolitan culture that spilled across national boundaries. This culture manifested itself in elaborate styles of dress, polished manners, and highly structured conversation. French was its international language. The growing popularity of travel and travel literature added to the sense of a common European cultural identity, at least among elites. Indeed, the wealthy often considered the grand tour a necessary part of education. Travelers on the tour stopped in main cities to indulge in coffeehouses, storefront window displays, public gardens, theaters, opera houses, and galleries. They might also visit art dealers or public auctions to purchase quality paintings. Family connections offered them accommodations and introduced them to local society, Enlightenment salons, or potential candidates for marriage. The tour usually continued to historical ruins, which featured revered models of Greek and Roman antiquity that further strengthened the viewers’ sense of a common cultural identity.

Child Prodigy, Musical Genius

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart(1756–1791)

Musicians quickly recognized the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a unique genius. His father, Leopold, a well-known Austrian composer and violinist, called him the “miracle which God let be born in Salzburg.” Born in 1756, Wolfgang wrote his first compositions when he was just 5 years old. He embarked on the first of many tours throughout Europe as a 6-year-old child prodigy, playing the clavier with his elder sister, Nannerl, also a child prodigy, and his father (see Figure 15.15). They played at several royal courts for monarchs such as Louis XV of France, Maria Theresa of Austria, and George III of Britain. They also performed at the homes of leading nobles as well as in public theaters. Wolfgang’s father, always eager to promote his young son, wrote that “our great and mighty Wolfgang seems to know everything at the age of seven that a man acquires at the age of forty.”

By the time he had reached 14, Mozart had composed several concertos, sonatas, and an opera. Announcements for his performances stressed his virtuosity. For example, for a concert in Italy, the 14-year-old would play “A Symphony of his own composition; a harpsichord concerto which will be handed to him, and which he will play on first sight; a sonata handed him in like manner, which he will provide with variations, and afterward repeat in another key….” The boy could play the organ and violin almost as well. After hearing Mozart in 1771, one well-known composer said, “This boy will cause us all to be forgotten.” The prestigious Haydn, who strongly influenced Mozart’s music, would later tell Mozart’s father that “your son is the greatest composer known to me….”

In 1781, Mozart settled in Vienna as a teacher and composer. Short, slim, with engaging blue eyes and a full head of fine hair, the young man enjoyed an active social life, including billiards and dancing. Yet music preoccupied him. He wrote, “You know that I am, so to speak, swallowed up in music, that I am busy with it all day—speculating, studying, considering.” Keenly aware of his own talents, he at times arrogantly criticized other musicians’ limitations. He felt certain that he could outshine any rival.

In 1782, despite the doubts of his father and sister, Mozart married Constanze Weber, a singer. Mozart wrote that “as soon as we were married, my wife and I both began to weep” for joy. Their marriage seems to have been happy. They would have six children, of whom only two survived. Neither parent managed the family finances well. Even though Mozart became brilliantly successful as a composer, a virtuoso pianist, and a teacher; received numerous commissions and fees; and attained appointment as royal chamber composer to Emperor Joseph II of Austria, he continually borrowed money to support his growing family.

Mozart could never quite satisfy his demanding and increasingly distant father. Hearing that Leopold had fallen seriously ill in 1787, Mozart wrote a letter of consolation that included his own views on death: “As death … is the true goal of our existence, I have formed during the last few years such close relations with this best and truest friend of mankind that his image is no longer terrifying to me but rather very soothing and consoling.” Leopold died a month later. In July 1791, a stranger appeared at Mozart’s door with a commission to write a requiem in secrecy. Mozart was still working on the project in December when he died in relative poverty. He was just 35. Although he probably had succumbed to an infection and fever, unsubstantiated rumors circulated for years that a competitor had poisoned him.

Connecting People & Society

1. How did Mozart’s career reflect eighteenth-century society—still dominated by the aristocracy but with a growing middle class interested in the culture of the day?
2. What image of young Mozart do you think is projected in Figure 15.15?