Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Jeremy Tambling (University of Hong Kong)

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The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.2: German-language Writing and Culture: Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, 800-present.
Vol. editors: Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle), Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Born 27 Jan 1756
Died 1791
Activity 1768-1791

Places

Born in Austria
Active in Austria

Activities

Primary

Composer

Resources

Mozart's Works

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was born in wealthy provincial Salzburg, whose prince-archbishop's court and choirs and churches competed with Vienna for musical excellence. His father, Leopold, was Kapellmeister to the prince-archbishop and he fostered Wolfgang's talent. By the age of six Mozart was playing, improvising and composing for the piano and then giving concerts in Munich, Augsburg, Stuttgart, Mannheim, Mainz, Frankfurt, Brussels, Paris and London. Mozart's facility led to his work being considered too demanding for contemporary musicians.

Living towards the end of the eighteenth-century and dying just after the French revolution, Mozart lived through a change in music-production. As a middle-class audience developed, it became possible for composers and performers to live

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2580 words

Citation: Tambling, Jeremy. "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 October 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5157, accessed 28 April 2025.]