Although no one can deny the talent and important contributions of Austrian composer Mozart, considering him a natural musical genius is still controversial.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, the son of Anna Maria and Leopold Mozard. Anna Maria had seven children, but only Wolfgang and his sister Nannerl survived infancy. Their father was a little-known composer. He was primarily known as a teacher, and published a violin textbook the year Wolfgang was born. At the age of 3, Wolfgang began taking music lessons with his older sister and showed a clear passion for music. At age 4, Wolfgang learned to play the clavier, and he began composing music at age 5.
The portrait of Mozart as a child was painted by an unknown artist in 1763.
There is some evidence that Mozart received help writing music as a child. First, most of the handwriting on the sheet music is from his father. Although there is no clear evidence that Leopold Mozart helped his child compose, there are still many unanswered questions surrounding the above issue.
In addition to the handwriting, it should be mentioned that Mr. Leopold earned money from his children’s performances. Together they traveled throughout Europe and played music for aristocrats. Therefore, it is likely that he took advantage of the fact that Mozart was an outstanding young talent to attract audiences. If we consider all the information, this makes more sense.
Mozart’s father and son performed music together for the nobility.
However, that does not mean that Mozart was not a musical genius, in fact he was one of the most talented musicians of all time. It’s just that he is not a natural talent like many people think. In his book, author Geoffrey Colvin believes that Mozart became so great thanks to his arduous training process. He was taught by his father from a young age. After that, there were a series of performances for aristocrats and tours throughout his childhood. At the age of 14, he wrote his first opera and achieved some success. However, it should be remembered that by this point, he had been training with professional teachers, including his father, for nine years.
Portrait of composer Mozart’s extended family was painted around 1780.
In addition, during his tours, Mozart had the opportunity to meet famous composers such as Johann Christian Bach, who was very influential to him. He was also accepted into a very prestigious music academy at the age of 14, where he developed his talent. When he was favored by the King of Salzburg (Austria) at the age of 17, Mozart lived in music for 14 years. Furthermore, he continued to work as a musician many years later. When he achieved success and fame with Die Entfuhrung, Mozart was only 25 years old. At the age of over 30, he began writing his most famous works, based on experiences accumulated over a long period of time.
At over 30 years old, musician Mozart was famous throughout Europe for his lifetime works.
It can be said that Mozart was a genius musician and a great composer, but he achieved that through working and practicing tirelessly for many years. He was not a born genius, it was all thanks to his own efforts.