Mozart: A Misunderstood Genius

The 18th century gave birth to one of its favorite children; born on January 27, 1756, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the greatest composers of European classical music with exceptional talent, developed completely naturally since his very early age. Actually, when he was three years old, he started to play melodies on the piano, and at age six, he started composing.

Though it sounds a little strange, Mozart was his own critic; he knew exactly how special he was and this is the reason why he kept on writing about any mediocrity he thought could be avoided. This deed facilitated him his own perfection, reaching the best of operatic, piano, chamber, symphonic and choral music.

His father, Leopold Mozart, wrote letters to him, trying to persuade him of getting a job in which he could be able to make money, emphasizing the rigidity of his narrow mind and trying to control Wolfgang’s genius. It is said that Mozart grew up being much of an undisciplined inexperienced young boy; he was taken out of his normal life, to be literarily exhibited in different courts of Europe, as the piano virtuoso he proved to be. While he took a trip with his mother, in 1777, he met the Webers; this family lived a bohemian life as musicians. Mozart fell in love with one of the daughters, Aloysia, who was only eighteen. By 1778, his mother died in Paris. He came back to Mannheim, looking for his beloved Aloysia, but she had no time for him since she became a prima donna of the opera.

In 1781, Mozart decided to marry Constanze, the middle daughter of the Weber family; they both matched because she had a flair for wasting money and being very naïve regarding the worldly situations of life. This period was very productive musically and artistically speaking. In his whole career, he composed twenty-seven piano concertos, (the most representative is no. 9), hundreds of symphonies, chamber music and so on.

There are several theories that explain the possible causes of Mozart’s death; some investigators say that he died from trichinosis, mercury poisoning and rheumatic fever. None of these have been totally proved or rejected. Mozart died on December 5, 1791, in Vienna.