The Magic Flute digital resource book

THE COMPOSER
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–91)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a
very unusual person. Born in 1756 in
Salzburg, Austria, he became famous
when he was very young. He could play
the harpsichord (an early keyboard
instrument) from the age of three, learnt
the piano and viola quickly, too, and
was writing music from the age of four.
Mozart’s father, Leopold, and his sister,
Maria Anna (called ‘Nannerl’) were also
talented musicians. When Nannerl and
Wolfgang were small they toured
Europe, performing as ‘wonder children’.
They invented their own language
and a magical imaginary kingdom
called Rücken – which may have been
one of the earliest inspirations for
The Magic Flute.
Mozart wrote all sorts of music; he
wrote pieces for orchestras, for small
groups of musicians (called ‘chamber
music’), church music, concertos
(pieces for orchestra and a soloist),
songs, piano music and operas. Mozart
wrote his first full-length opera when
he was only 12. He went on to write 11
more complete operas, and various
other musical pieces for theatre. Some
of his operas are The Marriage of
Figaro (1786), Don Giovanni (1789), Così
fan tutte (1790) and The Magic
Flute (1791). They were very popular
and toured all over Europe, and are still
performed today at the Royal Opera
House and at other opera houses all
over the world.
The first performances of The Magic
Flute were enormously successful.
Mozart even played the ‘magic bells’ in
the orchestra for some shows and took
his little son to watch a performance.
However, less than two months after
the opening night, Mozart was taken
suddenly ill. He died on 5 December
1791 at the age of 35. By this time he
had written more than 600 pieces of
music, many of which are still famous
today.
TIMELINE
1756 Born in Salzburg, Austria
1759 Learned to play harpsichord, piano,
viola
1760 Started writing music
1768 Wrote his first full length opera
1781 Moved to Vienna, Austria
1791 Died in Vienna, Austria