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WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
or the travels of
EINE KLEINE KINDER MUSIK
the early years
Leopold Mozart, the teacher, recognized his son's musical genius as early as the child's 8th birthday. The boy was a prodigy at the piano and clavier. Young Wolfgang was already composing! The elder Mozart had already seen his daughter, "Nannerl" develop a talent in performing music. Leopold saw an extraordinary opportunity knocking at his door. It was time to show off baby brother and older sister to the crown heads of Europe.
"Pack your bags children! We're off to 'wow' kings, queens, princes, earls, dukes, and make money doing so!"
These were not the literal words of Leopold, but it all means the same. In 1763, when Wolfgang was only seven years old, Leopold and his two children set forth to LONDON and PARIS. It was in London where he wrote his first symphony. After completing a successful and profitable tour, they returned to Salzburg in `1766. Before the year ended they were off again, this time to VIENNA, where at a performance at Schoenbrunn Palace, young Wolfgang said to the young Empress Maria Theresia, that "someday I will marry you!", after an enthusiastic response from the Royal Court.
"Some day, I will marry you", said a 10 year old
Wolfgang Mozart to Empress Maria Theresia at
Schoenbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria, 1766.
To Leopold, it was already apparent that the then contemporary world of royal audiences looked to Italy for musical talent. Leopold recognized that it was time to take his "wunderkind" to Italy, not only to show him off, but to observe and absorb the Italian styles of musical composition and performance that impressed the Royal Heads of Europe.
Between 1770 and 1773, the Mozart trio went to Italy on three visits. The younger Mozart was growing up, and the charms of the "Wunderkind Genius" were fading into ordinary manhood. Mozart, the father, realized that there was little opportunity for a musical career in Salzburg, making it further necessary to expose his son as a forthcoming adult to seek a musical post in some other royal court. In 1777, Wolfgang, accompanied by his mother, journeyed to MUNICH and MANNHEIM. He remained in Mannheim for three months, enjoying a brief courtship and affair with Aloysia Weber. Leopold put an end to that by sending a letter to his son, instructing him to proceed to PARIS, the next destination for son and mother.
At Versailles, Mozart received a minor post at the Court of Louis XVI. He composed his "Paris" Symphony (# 31) here, but after the death of his mother in 1778, he returned to Salzburg.
Young Wolfgang remained in Salzburg in 1779 and 1780 working in the court of Hieronymus Graf Coloredo, the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg, which was probably arranged through the influence of his father. He composed all types of music, except the one the he wanted to do the most.....Opera. In 1780, came an opportunity for him to do just that. Once again, he journeyed to MUNICH to compose his first successful opera....IDOMENEO, KING OF CRETE.
Exterior of the Residenz Theater, Munich, where Mozart's first successful opera, IDOMENEO, KING OF CRETE was first performed in 1781. The front has been recently modernized.
Mozart was 25 years old. The result of this first success fed into his increasing dislikes of his Salzburg life. Mozart, the man was soon to make some fateful decisions which will change his destiny. His Vienna years are yet to come.
For his continued life, click Mozart's Vienna years.
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Mozart's life journeys from Salzburg
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