He composed masterfully in every musical format. Operas, choral works, concertos, symphonies, chamber music, solo songs, sonatas… Mozart was one of the few composers in history to compose masterworks in every conceivable musical genre.
Though his output is highly varied, each piece exudes a bold, self-assured confidence and that is instantly recognizable. He wrote solo works sonatas and concertos for nearly every instrument of his time sorry, trumpets. Just listen to the bold opening of his Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat for violin and viola, and revel in the elegance and combined passion of the two solo instruments:. He was a master of dramatic timing.
Listen to how Mozart paces the action in the climactic scene from Don Giovanni, where the Don is confronted by the ghost of the Commendatore who he murdered in Act I one of the greatest opera entrances of all time.
Spoiler alert: the ghost demands Don Giovanni repent and relinquish his lascivious ways, and when Giovanni refuses, we hear the trombones and a ghoulish chorus literally dragging him down to hell:. He was a melodic genius.
Mozart had a knack for churning out memorable melodies nonstop. Check out the performance of the Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat above — how many sing-able melodies do you hear in the space of just the first five minutes? Mozart's own stylistic development closely paralleled the development of the classical style as a whole.
In addition, he was a versatile composer and wrote in almost every major genre, including symphony, opera, the solo concerto, chamber music including string quartet and string quintet, and the piano sonata. While none of these genres were new, the piano concerto was almost single-handedly developed and popularized by Mozart. He also wrote a great deal of religious music, including masses; and he composed many dances, divertimenti, serenades, and other forms of light entertainment.
The central traits of the classical style can all be identified in Mozart's music. Clarity, balance, and transparency are hallmarks, though a simplistic notion of the delicacy of his music obscures for us the exceptional and even demonic power of some of his finest masterpieces, such as the Piano Concerto No. Charles Rosen has written : "It is only through recognizing the violence and sensuality at the center of Mozart's work that we can make a start towards a comprehension of his structures and an insight into his magnificence.
In a paradoxical way, Schumann's superficial characterization of the G minor Symphony can help us to see Mozart's daemon more steadily. In all of Mozart's supreme expressions of suffering and terror, there is something shockingly voluptuous.
The slow introduction to the "Dissonant" Quartet, K. Especially during his last decade, Mozart exploited chromatic harmony to a degree rare at the time, with remarkable assurance and to great artistic effect.
His travels helped in the forging of a unique compositional language. In London as a child, he met J. Bach and heard his music. In Paris, Mannheim, and Vienna he met with other compositional influences, as well as the avant-garde capabilities of the Mannheim orchestra. In Italy he encountered the Italian overture and opera buffa, both of which deeply affected the evolution of his own practice.
In London and Italy, the gallant style was in the ascendent: simple, light music with a mania for cadencing; an emphasis on tonic, dominant, and subdominant to the exclusion of other harmonies; symmetrical phrases; and clearly articulated partitions in the overall form of movements.
Others mimic the works of J. Bach, and others show the simple rounded binary forms turned out by Viennese composers. In , Mozart became a Freemason, a fraternal order focused on charitable work, moral uprightness, and the development of fraternal friendship.
Mozart was well regarded in the Freemason community, attending meetings and being involved in various functions. From to , Mozart divided his time between self-produced concerts as soloist, presenting three to four new piano concertos in each season. Theater space for rent in Vienna was sometimes hard to come by, so Mozart booked himself in unconventional venues such as large rooms in apartment buildings and ballrooms of expensive restaurants. During one five-week period, he appeared in 22 concerts, including five he produced and performed as the soloist.
In a typical concert, he would play a selection of existing and improvisational pieces and his various piano concertos. Other times he would conduct performances of his symphonies. Despite his success as a pianist and composer, Mozart was falling into serious financial difficulties. Mozart associated himself with aristocratic Europeans and felt he should live like one. He figured that the best way to attain a more stable and lucrative income would be through court appointment.
Letters written between Mozart and his father, Leopold, indicate that the two felt a rivalry for and mistrust of the Italian musicians in general and Salieri in particular. But in truth, there is no basis for this speculation. Though both composers were often in contention for the same job and public attention, there is little evidence that their relationship was anything beyond a typical professional rivalry.
Toward the end of , Mozart met the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, a Venetian composer and poet and together they collaborated on the opera The Marriage of Figaro. It received a successful premiere in Vienna in and was even more warmly received in Prague later that year. This triumph led to a second collaboration with Da Ponte on the opera Don Giovanni which premiered in to high acclaim in Prague.
Both compositions feature the wicked nobleman, though Figaro is presented more in comedy and portrays strong social tension. Perhaps the central achievement of both operas lies in their ensembles with their close link between music and dramatic meaning.
The gesture was as much an honor bestowed on Mozart as it was an incentive to keep the esteemed composer from leaving Vienna for greener pastures. It was a part-time appointment with low pay, but it required Mozart only to compose dances for the annual balls. The modest income was a welcome windfall for Mozart, who was struggling with debt, and provided him the freedom to explore more of his personal musical ambitions. He was performing less and his income shrank. Austria was at war and both the affluence of the nation and the ability of the aristocracy to support the arts had declined.
By mid, Mozart moved his family from central Vienna to the suburb of Alsergrund, for what would seem to be a way of reducing living costs. But in reality, his family expenses remained high and the new dwelling only provided more room. Mozart began to borrow money from friends, though he was almost always able to promptly repay when a commission or concert came his way. During this time he wrote his last three symphonies and the last of the three Da Ponte operas, Cosi Fan Tutte , which premiered in The two-year period of was a low point for Mozart, experiencing in his own words "black thoughts" and deep depression.
Historians believe he may have had some form of bipolar disorder, which might explain the periods of hysteria coupled with spells of hectic creativity. Between and , now in his mid-thirties, Mozart went through a period of great music productivity and personal healing. Some of his most admired works -- the opera The Magic Flute , the final piano concerto in B-flat, the Clarinet Concerto in A major, and the unfinished Requiem to name a few -- were written during this time.
Mozart was able to revive much of his public notoriety with repeated performances of his works.
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