The Muscial Youth Of Mozart
THE MUSICAL YOUTH OF MOZART
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart began his musical career as perhaps the greatest musical prodigy ever known. Born into a society in which the arts were supported and patronized by the Church, the aristocracy and the wealthy, Mozart struggled through a short lifetime of political intrigue, peer jealousy and shabby treatment by nobles who considered musicians to be little more than amusing servants. But Mozart’s intense early musical training by his father laid a foundation that gave the world a fully-formed musician at an astonishingly early age.
born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Mozart had the advantage of a musically talented and professionally successful father, Leopold Mozart (7:2-3). Having risen through the ranks to become Salzburg’s court and chamber composer, and finally Kapellmeister (4:2), the elder Mozart produced seen children with his wife, Anna Marie. Only two survived: the fourth, Nanneri, and the last, Wolfgang Amadeus.
Mozart’s older sister had shown precocity and had begun early instruction with her father on the clavier; by the time Wolfgang was three, he could sit beside her and imitate her lessons. At the age of four, Leopold began formal instruction with his son as well, and the boy soon began composing small pieces in imitation of his father’s instruction books (2:11). Shortly afterwards Wolfgang began playing the violin, with no instruction other than observation of the musicians his father invited to the house to play string quartets.
An account of a contemporary of Leopold’s, the Court Trumpeter Placidus Scharl, describes the young boy’s talent:
“As soon as he began to give himself to music, all his senses were as good as dead to other occupations, and even his childish foolery and games with toys had to be accompanied by music if they were to interest him. When we, that is he and I, carried toys for a game from one room to another, whichever of us was...
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