Mozart aged 14 in January 1770

(School of Verona, attributed to

Giambettino Cignaroli)

Antiphon "Quaerite primum regnum Dei", K. 86/73v

1:02

Composed 9 October 1770 for admission to the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna; Performed by Phillip W. Serna,
treble, tenor & bass viols

The family trips were often challenging, and travel conditions were primitive.[16] They had to wait for
invitations and reimbursement from the nobility, and they endured long, near-fatal illnesses far from home:
first Leopold (London, summer 1764),[17] then both children (The Hague, autumn 1765).[18] The family again
went to Vienna in late 1767 and remained there until December 1768.

After one year in Salzburg, Leopold and Wolfgang set off for Italy, leaving Anna Maria and Nannerl at home.
This tour lasted from December 1769 to March 1771. As with earlier journeys, Leopold wanted to display his
son's abilities as a performer and a rapidly maturing composer. Wolfgang met Josef Mysliveček and Giovanni
Battista Martini in Bologna and was accepted as a member of the famous Accademia Filarmonica. There
exists a myth, according to which, while in Rome, he heard Gregorio Allegri's Miserere twice in performance
in the Sistine Chapel. Allegedly, he subsequently wrote it out from memory, thus producing the "first
unauthorized copy of this closely guarded property of the Vatican". However, both origin and plausibility of
this account are disputed.[19][20][d][21]

In Milan, Mozart wrote the opera Mitridate, re di Ponto (1770), which was performed with success. This led
to further opera commissions. He returned with his father twice to Milan (August–December 1771; October
1772  – March 1773) for the composition and premieres of Ascanio in Alba (1771) and Lucio Silla (1772).
Leopold hoped these visits would result in a professional appointment for his son, and indeed ruling
Archduke Ferdinand contemplated hiring Mozart, but owing to his mother Empress Maria Theresa's
reluctance to employ "useless people", the matter was dropped[e] and Leopold's hopes were never
realized.[22] Toward the end of the journey, Mozart wrote the solo motet Exsultate, jubilate, K.165.

1773–77: Employment at the Salzburg court

After finally returning with his father from Italy on 13 March 1773, Mozart was employed as a court musician
by the ruler of Salzburg, Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo. The composer had many friends and
admirers in Salzburg[23] and had the opportunity to work in many genres, including symphonies, sonatas,
string quartets, masses, serenades, and a few minor operas. Between April and December 1775, Mozart
developed an enthusiasm for violin concertos, producing a series of five (the only ones he ever wrote), which
steadily increased in their musical sophistication. The last three—K. 216, K. 218, K. 219—are now staples of
the repertoire. In 1776, he turned his efforts to piano concertos, culminating in the E♭ concerto K. 271 of early
1777, considered by critics to be a breakthrough work.[24]