Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791) is one of the most famous composers of all times. In his relatively short life, he wrote over six hundred works, including various operas, symphonies, concerts for piano and orchestra and chamber music pieces. He is considered a Classical period composer.
Mozart was a child prodigy: from a very young age, he played the violin, harpsichord and organ, and composed high-quality works. From the age of six until the age of seventeen, he travelled throughout Europe with his family to perform for noble families.
In 1787, he was appointed chamber composer for Joseph II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Even though he was also appointed chamber musician of the Emperor in that same year, several years of financial problems and debts followed, partly due to the influence of the Turkish-Austrian war on the financial status of Mozart’s noble patrons. In 1791, Mozart composed some of his most famous works, including Die Zauberflöte, La clemenza di Tito and Clarinet Concerto in A major, KV. 622. That same year, he died from an unknown illness, leaving his last masterpiece, Requiem, unfinished.
- December 2023 will see Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Die Zauberflöte at Dutch National Opera & Ballet: