The Life Of Mozart Essay -- essays research papers

My book report is from the biography of Mozart written by Robert W. Gutman. It was illustrated by the Jacket art courtesy of Music Lovers lodge and was published by Harcourt Brace and Company. It was printed in New York City and the year of publication was 1999.Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, the son of composer, musical author, and violinist, Leopold Mozart and his wife, Anna Maria Pertl. His given name were Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Theophilus, the fail of which is Gottlieb in German, and Amadeus in Latin. He used Wolfgang and Amadeus in his signature, so he is generally known by these two names. He displayed marked musical gifts very early, playing the keyboard confidently when aged four, composing his first pieces for it aged five, and quickly mastering the violin. Leopold was keen to exhibit his sons extraordinary talents, along with those of his gifted pianist-daughter, Maria-Anna (called Nannerl) (1751--1829), and he undertook a series of tours across Europe with t hem when Mozart was just six years old. In 1767 the family went to Vienna for five months, where Mozart wrote an opera house buffa (comic opera) for the Emperor, La finta semplice (trans, the Pretend Simpleton) and a Singspiel (a German-language opera with some spoken dialogue), Bastien und Bastienne (1769), commissioned by Dr Franz Anton Mesmer. However, in Vienna, the Italian musicians at court, including the composer Antonio Salieri, made it difficult for him to produce his operas. He returned to Salzburg, and was appointed honorary Konzertmeister to Archbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach. There followed iii extended visits by father and son to Italy (1770--2). Musical experience gained on these tours helped mold Mozarts style, especially in dramatic music. He was prolific, writing sacred song pieces and instrumental works too. By 1772 he had written about 25 symphonies (some are lost), and his first quartets. Further quartets and symphonies followed during and after a visit to Vienna in 1773, when he came into contact with Haydns music. Between 1775--6 he composed two operas La finta Giardiniera (trans The Lady Who Disguised Herself as a Gardener) and Il Re Pastore (The Shepherd King) five... ...apellmeister of St Stephens Cathedral. His last complete works were the masonic Singspiel, Die Zauberflote (1791, The Magic Flute) an opera seria, La clemenze di Tito (1791, The mercy of Tito), and a clarinet concerto for Leopolds coronation. Commissioned by an unknown stranger to compose the threnody Mass, Mozartbecame obsessed with the idea that it was for his own close, and he died before the work was finished after a three-week fever. No convincing evidence about the cause of death has come to light, although there has been much speculation about it. Deeply in debt at the time of his death, Mozart did not live long enough to enjoy the pecuniary rewards from the success of The Magic Flute, and was buried in a paupers grave. Even though I did not get a chan ce to read the whole finished book, I belief that Mozarts life was interesting and worthwhile. He seemed a little kooky at times, but his music is very beautiful. I thought that Robert W. Gutman did a very good job interpreting Mozarts life. The book was a little hard to follow but it gave me much to write about him and learn more about his work.