Essay Example on Mozart: A Timeless Legacy of Creative Musical Genius

Introduction

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart continues to be respected as one of the most creative music composers to have ever lived. Although he was part of the Classical era of music, he is as well celebrated since he developed a timeless content that is even listened to in the modern world. Mozart is as well respected for transcending the aesthetic of his timer period. Although he did not manage to live for many years, he left a lifetime legacy for the short period he was alive. It is, therefore, important to discuss his biographical sketch as a famous composer.

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Early Life

Mozart came from a good standing family that included architects and bookbinders. His father still had a history of being a composer since he was the author of the famous violin-playing manual. He had a remarkable talent while he was a young boy who went to the age of three, picking chords on the harpsichord. At the age of six, he even managed to play at the Bavarian court. He is known to have acquired considerable fluency in the musical language of his time only at the age of 13.

Only a few people know about Mozart's childhood. However, it is well known that he began composing while at the age of five years. While as a small child, he even managed to create work that was celebrated by many people during his era, which was ironic since most of the children's work was never celebrated. Although his father was a composer too, he never managed to achieve anything close to what the small kid had done at that time. At his time, most of the children were even encouraged to take up their musical instruments. They were instilled with the norm that music was a noble occupation.

During the century when Mozart was a small child, parental encouragement always played a critical role in the success of their offspring. Once Leopold noticed the young child's talent, he started keeping a book named the Nannerl Notenbuch (Walker 65). He always wrote down all his son's compositions in the book. That is a book that continues to be studied even in modern musical classes. Mozart caught the attention of many and was honored by some of the most powerful people during his era. Some such people included the members of the European aristocracy and royalty.

Mozart began receiving clavier lessons from his father as young as at the age of four years. He always needed to be taught for half an hour to learn several minutes with ease, and after that, he could play all of them perfectly. Later on, at the age of five, Mozart had the capability of composing little pieces on his own, including the ones that his father had provided him. Different notes that Mozart's father had initially composed for him eventually became part of his indications as a young composer. Mozart wrote his first large composition at the age of seven years. Mozart named the initial composition as the six sonatas for violin and piano. His musical genius is evident through his capability to play and compose various pieces at a tender age.

Achievements

Mozart continues to be celebrated as a genius and epitome of the child prodigy. During his early ages, he had already shown incredible artistic capability. Some of the most incredible works that managed to bring him into the lame light include the plethora of symphonies, concertos, and operas. Many singular musical pieces have as well managed to bring him into the lame light. He is celebrated as one of the most creative composers that have lived not only during his era but also in all other eras. More than 600 Mozart's works still exist, and it is believed there are many others which got lost during the history.

Mozart's work continues to be played in different fields in the modern world. Some of such fields include the ballets, plays as well as the modern media which includes the films and televisions. Although he died a long time ago, he continues to be one of the most celebrated and appreciated music composers the world has ever heard. Some of the work that Mozart developed includes but not limited to "The Marriage of Figaro" and "Don Giovanni.” Another work continues to be celebrated even today that he Mozart created shortly before he died called "The Magic Flute." Mozart continues to surprise people even today that a single person could create such amazing work (Riedler 141). Although centuries have passed since his death, his work continues to impact the lives and cultures of many people all over the world, even today. People consider him one of the most creative human beings that have lived in the western world.

However, there were some instances when Mozart was being forced to create music for the sake of entertaining a specific group of people. An example of such instance is when he was forced to entertain the prince and his family. The majority of the works that Mozart put more effort into were never appreciated by the elites. Whenever that incident took place, he was always forced to compose something simpler. The majority of such works were always returned to him by the directors and musicians, claiming that they had wrong notes hence making them unplayable.

Up to date, Mozart is considered as one of the greatest clavier virtuosi that have ever been seen. Nevertheless, he was never perfect in playing the violin. However, the main thing that occupied much of his attention is the keyboard. The majority of his earlier biographers consider him as one of the human beings that had excellent piano skills. Most of his ideas and knowledge could capture the attention of any audience whenever he had the chance to play the piano. His fellow composers even applauded him after seeing him perform. An example of such composers is Muzio Clementi, who applauded him after seeing him perform. He expressed himself, indicating that he had never seen any other person perform with such spirit and grace.

Facts of Mozart's Life

Various facts about his life continue to be associated with various mythology and false stories. Such facts continue to be helped by the award-winning film referred to as the Amadeus. The story in the films was compelling but, at the same time, affected negatively the way people started to view Mozart. Before releasing music, Mozart always revisited it to make sure that it met his standards and expectations of a beautiful piece. He faced many negativities from his fellow artists mainly because of jealousy. At the same time, other people ended up disliking him once they met. He is perceived as a kind and hardworking individual who only cared about his music and family.

Before Mozart emerged, artists were initially unwilling to go to the limits to provide the audience with the correct music they would wish to listen to. During Mozart's era, the majority of the composers focused more on making a living through the patronization by some of the wealthy elite members. That was perceived as the only way the composers during that time could make a living. During his era, the wealthy could cater to the composer's needs, including clothing, food, and housing. The majority of the people perceived that as a good thing, but they forgot to understand that the composers were living under the mercies of their patrons.

The majority of the composers during Mozart's era, they always made sure that they create music that pleased people with money, unlike Mozart, who composed music that pleased everyone in the society. If the other artists failed to please the people with money, then other hungry artists would do the same. Once the benefactors stopped being pleases with their music, then they consequently stopped funding their projects (Felfeli-Crawford 129). At his young age, he always saw how his father was always independent. He followed the same technique even after being an older man. That greatly helped him in gaining enough knowledge about his work and composing his work in the most brilliant way as possible to make a living.

Although Mozart was aware of the importance of having patrons, especially in financing his work, he opted to work independently to change music. Mozart employed all revolutionary techniques that were in his capacity to change music. Mozart is one of the few composers who decided to work independently instead of having a patron who will decide on his behalf and what he is not expected to do in his career. However, there was one incidence where he benefitted from having a patron, which took place when he landed a new job to entertain the ruler of Salzburg, Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo. Unfortunately, the job did not last for long.

Mozart's Death

Mozart is considered as one of the excellent composers who died at a young age. He died at the age of thirty-five years on December 5, 1791 (Szabo and György 53). He indeed lived for a short period, but he managed to do a lot with that period. He managed to compose his work for twenty-nine years. Since he began composing at a very tender age, he is considered to have lived almost the whole of his life, unlike other composers who start at a late age. Because of Mozart's unique techniques and styles, while composing his work, the main reason why most of his work continues to have an influence is even in the modern era. Therefore, Mozart is considered one of the most celebrated composers among all the composers that lived during the classical period and one of the most geniuses individuals in music ever.

Works Cited

Felfeli-Crawford, Karishma. "Analysing Mozart's Fantasia K. 475 through Intersections of Schematic and Schenkerian Thought." Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland (2019): 123-162.

Riedler, Martina. "An Art Educator's Journey of Becoming a Researcher: A Self-Reflective Auto-Ethnography of Identity Construction and Personal Growth." International Journal of Progressive Education 12.2 (2016).

Szabo, János, and György Revesz. "Eternal Questions of Gifted Education from the Aspect of University Teachers." Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists 6.1 (2018): 43-67.

Walker, Katherine H. "Leopold Mozart, the Rationalist? Humanism and Good Taste in Eighteenth-Century Musical Thought." Yale Journal of Music & Religion 3.2 (2017): 4.