Mozart: a Brief History

Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria. His parents, Leopold and Maria Pertl Mozart, had one other child, a daughter and himself. He was born a protégé in the area of music. He excelled quickly in musical areas as he would watch and mimic his older sister learning from their father. He began to play the harpsichord at the age of three and exceled. His father began to teach him and made the lessons fun. He also made sure that every note was right. Even at the age of 4 Mozart was already playing small minuets and chords. (Sweetser, 1939) This did nothing but push Mozart to be perfect in his musical playing. His father realized that Mozart was much more talented than he ever realized and began to organize trips to show off this ability.
The First trip that they took was to the court of Bavaria in Munich. Mozart would dazzle crowds with his performances and drew large crowds. He also met some very important and influential people during this time. (Tapper, 1958) On one of these trips, he met Johann Christian Bach, the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach. These trips were the basis for Mozarts career, as he saw the world and experienced all of the new and advanced types of music that were out there.   The trips were not as you may have guessed. Although his family was upper middle class, they would often spend these trips in terrible conditions, such as malnourished, cold and under clothed, or sick. (Tapper, 1958) The reason for this was the royalt or nobility that Mozart and his sister would play for were not always ready for them to come or for that matter, simply did not want to hear them play. In December, 1769, Mozart and his father set out for Italy. His sister did not come because she was beginning to reach the age were women were not allowed to preform anymore. This journey lasted for two years and Mozart began to make several operas during it. At one point during the trip, While in Rome, Mozart heard Gregorio...