Why is Mozart So Important?

A portrait of Maria Anna Mozart with younger brother Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Photo: © The Art Archive / Alamy Stock Photo 

Classical Music is considered by many as boring, boring and.... boring.
However, all of us know the names of composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Bach etc. but still have no idea what the big deal is all about.

So here are some facts about Why Is Mozart So Important?

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) was born in Austria. 
• By the age of 3 he had perfect pitch (i.e. he could name a note just by hearing it) 
• By the age of 5 he was playing the harpsichord
• By the age of 6 he was composing 
• By the age of 7 he could sight read, harmonize and improvise. (i.e. play unknown pieces of music at sight)
• By the age of 18 he composed:
• 34 symphonies
• 16 quartets
• 5 operas 
• 100 other works
• By the end of his life he composed 600 pieces of music...  which is exceptional if you consider the speed in which he was composing, i.e appr. 17 pieces of music (min. 2 hours long) per year! :o (Reference)

His Music:

• He composed in various genres of music (concerto, operas, chamber music etc.) and was successful in all of them 
• He extended Haydn's stylistic form
• Mozart's works and Haydn's were models for later composers such as Beethoven.
• He depicted mood and characters in opera successfully (Reference)

Fun Facts:

• Mozart was short (no more than 5’4”) 
• He was generous and good-humored
• His compositional speed was phenomenal
• It took him 2 weeks to complete Symphony No. 35  [Listen HERE]
• 5 days to complete Symphony No. 36 [Listen HERE]
• 1 day for 3 numbers of the opera The Abduction from the Seraglio [Listen HERE]
• 1 hour for the violin part of Sonata in G (k.379) [Listen HERE]
• 1 morning for the overture (instrumental introduction) of his opera Don Giovanni 
• And you feel bad for procrastinating? :P [Listen HERE]

• Mozart belonged to a Masonic lodge (Reference)
• The Opera Magic Flute has Masonic References [Listen HERE]
• It was composed in Mozart's last year of life and was conducted by him 2 months before his death.

• No one is quite sure where Mozart’s grave is.
• Despite being one of the greatest musicians of his generation, Mozart spent much of his life searching for a job. (Reference)

#ControversialFact:

• Mozart has an older sister called Maria Anna (Nannerl)
• Both siblings showed an exceptional talent for music and were considered child prodigies. (Reference)
• Accodring to Professor Martin Jarvis, an Australian-based scholar and conductor, Mozart's sister Nannerl composed many pieces of music which he believes were used by Mozart under his name. (Reference)
• Controversial or Not? 

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