Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was one of the most influential, popular and

prolific composers of the classical period. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in
Salzburg, Austria, on January 27, 1756. His father, Leopold Mozart, was in the
service of the archbishop of Salzburg at the time, and was a well-known composer,
educator, and author of famous publications on violin playing. Leopold and his wife,
Anna Maria, emphasized the value of music to their children. Wolfgang received so
extensive musical training from his sister, Nannerl, that by the age of six, he was a
budding composer and competent piano performer. From 1763 to 1766, Leopold
accompanied both of his children on a continuous musical tour across Europe, which
included extensive stays in Paris, France, and London, England, as well as visits to
the imperial court in Vienna, Austria. As a keyboard musician, Mozart was the most
famous child prodigy (an unusually gifted child) of his time. He also left an indelible
mark as a composer and improviser (one who arranges or creates). He attracted the
attention of musician Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782) in London, and he was
exposed to an extraordinary array of musical genres and interests across Europe
from an early age. As a keyboard musician, Mozart was the most famous child
prodigy (an unusually gifted child) of his time. He also left an indelible mark as a
composer and improviser (one who arranges or creates). He attracted the attention
of musician Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782) in London, and he was exposed to
an extraordinary array of musical genres and interests across Europe from an early
age. Mozart's reputation as a composer evolved to a level of maturity comparable to
that of older established musicians between the ages of ten and seventeen. From
1766 to 1769, he lived in Salzburg, where he composed instrumental works and
music for school tragedies in German and Latin, and in 1768, he staged his first true
opera, Bastien und Bastienne, a German Singspiel (that is, a play with spoken
dialogue). Despite his rising fame, Mozart was unable to find acceptable
employment, and his father once again escorted Mozart to Italy, this time at the age
of fourteen (1769), to try his luck as an opera composer. Mozart's years in Vienna,
from the age of twenty-five until his death at the age of thirty-five, encompass one of
the most significant periods in the history of music. Mozart's music evolved
dramatically beyond the world of many of his contemporaries over these ten years; it
displayed both concepts and methods of elaboration that few could follow, and the
late Mozart appeared to many to be a difficult composer. The major instrumental
pieces of this time encompass all of Mozart's previous work as well as some new
ones: six symphonies, including the renowned last three: no. 39 in E-flat Major, no.
40 in G Minor, and no. 41 in C Major (the Jupiter —a title Mozart was unaware of).
During the summer of 1788, he completed these three works in just six weeks, a
tremendous effort even for him. In addition, in the sphere of the string quartet,
Mozart created two key groupings of works that entirely eclipsed anything he had
written before 1780: the six Quartets (K. 387, 421, 428, 458, 464, and 465), which he
published in 1785, and the solitary Hoffmeister Quartet, which he published in 1786.
(K. 499). In 1789, he composed the final three Quartets (K. 575, 589, and 590),
which he dedicated to Prussian King Frederick William (1688–1740), a skilled cellist.