Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart birthday!

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era.

Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, he was engaged as a court musician in Salzburg, but grew restless and travelled in search of a better position, always composing abundantly. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death. The circumstances of his early death have been much mythologized.

Opera “Don Giovanni”

Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It is based on the legends of Don Juan, a fictional libertine and seducer. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga (now called the Estates Theatre) on October 29, 1787.

Da Ponte’s libretto was billed like many of its time as dramma giocoso, a term that denotes a mixing of serious and comic action. Mozart entered the work into his catalogue as an “opera buffa”. Although sometimes classified as comic, it blends comedy, melodrama and supernatural elements.

A staple of the standard operatic repertoire, Don Giovanni is currently tenth on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide. It has also proved a fruitful subject for writers and philosophers.

Mozarts opera “La Clemenza di Tito”

La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Titus) is an opera seria in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Metastasio. It was started after the bulk of The Magic Flute, the last opera that Mozart worked on.

The opera was first performed publicly on 6 September 1791 at the Estates Theatre in Prague. The opera remained popular for many years after Mozart’s death.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the most prolific and influential composer of the Classical era.

Ludwig von Beethoven’s 1st Symphony in C

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21, was dedicated to Baron Gottfried van Swieten, an early patron of the composer. The piece was published in 1801 by Hoffmeister & Kühnel of Leipzig. It is unknown exactly when Beethoven finished writing this work, but sketches of the finale were found from 1795.

The symphony is clearly indebted to Beethoven’s predecessors, particularly his teacher Joseph Haydn as well as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, but nonetheless has characteristics that mark it uniquely as Beethoven’s work, notably the frequent use of sforzandi and the prominent, more independent use of wind instruments. Sketches for the finale are found among the exercises Beethoven wrote while studying counterpoint under Johann Georg Albrechtsberger in the spring of 1795.

The premiere took place on 2 April 1800 at the K.K. Hoftheater nächst der Burg in Vienna.

Joseph Haydn birthday

Franz Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 – 31 May 1809), known as Joseph Haydn, was an Austriancomposer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the “Father of the Symphony” and “Father of the String Quartet” because of his important contributions to these forms.

Haydn spent much of his career as a court musician for the wealthy Esterházy family on their remote estate. Isolated from other composers and trends in music until the later part of his long life, he was, as he put it, “forced to become original”. At the time of his death, he was one of the most celebrated composers in Europe.

Joseph Haydn was the brother of Michael Haydn, himself a highly regarded composer, and Johann Evangelist Haydn, a tenor. He was also a close friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a teacher of Ludwig van Beethoven.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart birthday

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791), was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers.

Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood in Salzburg. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, he was engaged as a court musician in Salzburg, but grew restless and travelled in search of a better position, always composing abundantly. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of Mozart’s death. The circumstances of his early death have been much mythologized. He was survived by his wife Constanze and two sons.

On This Day …

1756 – Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born.
1806 – Composer Juan Crisostomo Jacobo Antonio de Arriaga was born.
1823 – Composer Edouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo was born.
1956 – Elvis Presley released “Heartbreak Hotel.
1968 – Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” was released. The release came 6 weeks after he was killed in a plane crash.
1968 – The Bee Gees made their U.S. debut with a concert at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.
1991 – Whitney Houston sang the “Star Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV.
1993 – Warner Brothers Records announced that it was releasing Ice-T from his contract due to “creative differences.”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers.

 

 

On This Day …

1764 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played for the Royal Family at Versailles in France.
1925 – Lucrezia Bori and John McCormack of the famous Metropolitan Opera in New York City made their singing debuts on radio.
1953 – Hank Williams died of drug and alcohol overdose at the age of 29.
1962 – The Beatles auditioned for Decca Records in London. The company opted for Brian Polle & the Tremeloes because the group was based in the south of England
1964 – The BBC broadcasts the first “Top of the Pops” TV rock show.
1964 – The Beach Boys recorded “Fun Fun Fun.”
1966 – The final episode of “The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet” (with Rick Nelson) was filmed.
1968 – The Blue Velvets changed the name of their band to Creedence Clearwater Revival.
1982 – The last ABBA concert was held in Stockholm.
2002 – Eric Clapton and Melia McEnery were married.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791), was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers.

Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood in Salzburg. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of Mozart’s death. The circumstances of his early death have been much mythologized.

Mozart learned voraciously from others, and developed a brilliance and maturity of style that encompassed the light and graceful along with the dark and passionate. His influence on subsequent Western art music is profound. Beethoven wrote his own early compositions in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote that “posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years.”