Transcript document

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Born - January 27, 1756
in Salzburg, Austria
Died - December 5, 1791
at the age of 35
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Birthplace Salzburg, Austria
Mozart was one of seven children however,
only one other sibling survived, his older
sister, Maryanne
Leopold (Father)
Mozart
and Maryanne
both had unusual musical
abilities at an early age.
Father,
Leopold,
performed regularly in
front of royalty.
Father
instructed them
both on music
Anna Maria (Mother)
torn
by the power
struggle between her
husband and her son.
Family portrait
child
prodigy
A prodigy is a person with
exceptional talents far
beyond what is normal for
someone of that age.
Note:
He learned to speak 15
different languages
throughout his lifetime!!
At
three years old he began
playing the piano.
At
age five he wrote his first
piece of music.
By
age six he had taught
himself how to play the violin
without ever having received a
lesson..
By
age eight, he
wrote his first
symphony.
And
by age twelve he
wrote his first opera.
In
his lifetime, he
wrote 626 pieces of
music.
An easy way to remember
some of the numbers
When did he start playing the piano?
3
When did he write his 1st piece of music? 5
When did he write his 1st symphony?
8
How old was he when he died?
35
FREAKY !!
He was able to write this
incredible amount of
music because he was
born with 2 special gifts.
Perfect Pitch
&
Photographic
Memory
Perfect Pitch
The ability to name the letter of a pitch
simply by hearing it, or the ability to produce
any pitch referred to by name.
Photographic Memory
The ability to recall images, sounds, or
objects in memory with great accuracy and
in seemingly unlimited volume.
As
Wolfgang was
growing up, his
father took him and
his sister Maryanne
on tours of Europe.
Eventually, they
went to Italy, the
center of musical
activity in the 1700’s
As
Mozart reached
his 20’s, he grew apart
from his father.
At
the age of 26, he
married Constanze
Weber.
They
had 6 children,
but only two sons
survived past
childhood.
City of Linz, Austria
Announced
a concert
of Mozart's music, but
Mozart did not have
any music prepared!
The
work was
finished in time.
It is now known as:
SYMPHONY NO. 36 IN
C, "LINZ" K.425
About His Music
Wolfgang’s
music showed
an amazing
amount of
sophistication.
Many
of his
works show no
corrections of
any kind.
The final years-30’s
15
hours a day writing
music.
Eventually, his hands
became so deformed from
writing that he couldn’t
even cut his own food
The final years
In
the summer of 1791, a
man came to Mozart and
asked him to write a
Requiem. This is a funeral
Mass. He would not
identify himself and
Mozart became scared of
him. He thought it was his
Father coming back from
the dead
The final years
He
accepted the work
and an advanced fee. As
he worked on it, he began
to feel that he was writing
the Requiem for himself.
He told his wife, “I am
afraid to finish it. I feel as
though if I finish it, I will
die”
The final years
Sadly, his
premonition came
true and he died
before he was
able to finish it.
The final years
The
Requiem was
later finished by
Franz Xaver
Süssmayr.
It
was thought for
many years that he
was a former
student of Mozart’s,
but this is a Myth.
The final years
In 1985, the movie
“Amadeus” named the
unidentified man requesting
the Requiem as Italian
composer Antonio Salieri.
History says that the person
was Count Franz von
Walsegg, who planned to
claim he wrote it himself.
What was the cause of his death?
On November 20, 1791,
Mozart unexpectedly
took ill - developing a
high fever, headache,
sweats, and severe
swelling and pain in his
hands and legs.
Mozart’s Death
By the 14th day of his
illness, the swelling had
spread to his entire body.
With the swelling came
nausea, vomiting,
diarrhea, and a persistent
rash.
Mozart’s Death
On
December 5, just fifteen
days after the onset of the
illness, the great musician
suffered a convulsion, lapsed
into a coma and died.
Mozart's death is believed
to have been caused by
rheumatic fever and kidney
failure.
Mozart’s Death
Another Theory
On June 15, 2001, A
new theory about a plate
of pork chops was
introduced.
Mozart’s Death
An American researcher
found evidence that
trichinosis -- an illness he
would have contracted from
eating undercooked pork-was the most likely cause of
Mozart's demise.
Mozart’s Death
What is trichinosis?
Trichinosis is caused by eating the
raw or undercooked meat of
animals infected with the larvae of
a worm called Trichinella. Infection
occurs commonly in certain wild
carnivorous (meat-eating) animals
but can occur in domestic pigs.
Mozart’s Death
“There are no remains of
Mozart, so no theory can be
fully proved or
disproved...but this
explanation would answer all
the issues brought forth by
the features of his death as
they have been described,”
Mozart’s Death
Trichinosis would typically kill a
patient within 2 to 3 weeks. After
finding written evidence that
Mozart did eat pork shortly before
his death--the symptoms the artist
experienced are all best explained
by trichinosis.
Mozart’s Death-December 5,1791
age
of 35
Because
Mozart died with
very little money, he was
given a commoners (or
paupers) funeral.
It
was years later that his
grave was marked with a
tombstone.
Mozart’s Death-Interesting Fact
We
do not know where
Mozart is buried. We know
he was buried in St. Marx
cemetery in Vienna, Austria,
but we do not know exactly
where. For this reason,
there are 2 grave sites.
This one……
Mozart’s Death
and this is the other
Mozart’s Death
Records show that Mozart was taken to his grave in a
wooden coffin and buried in a plot along with 4 - 5 other
people; a wooden marker was used to identify the
grave.
However, at some stage during the next 5 - 15 years, his
plot was dug up to make room for more burials. The
bones were re-interred, possibly having been crushed to
reduce their size; consequently, the position of
Mozart's grave was lost.
Mozart’s Death
There is still one final twist. In the early twentieth
century the Salzburg Mozarteum was presented with a
rather morbid gift: Mozart's skull.
It was alleged that a gravedigger had rescued the skull
during the 're-organization' of the composer's grave.
Although scientific testing has been unable to either
confirm or deny that the skull is Mozart's, there is
enough evidence on the skull consistent with Mozart's
symptoms before death
Mozart’s Death
Mozart’s alleged skull
Mozart’s Famous Works

Figaro


Figaro


Le Nozze di Figaro - Mozart - OVERTURE
(Solti) [1] - YouTube
Rondo Alla Turca


Mozart (Pavarotti) - Figaro (Chipmunks) YouTube
Marriage of Figaro


Luciano Pavarotti Figaro - YouTube
Mozart - Turkish March [100% Speed] YouTube
Eine Klein Nachtmusik

Mozart, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, 1st