Mozart, Wolfgang

Wolfgang (1756-1791), a noted German musician. Mozart was born at Salzburg, Austria. He was the son of an organist. He was a musical prodigy. At five he composed little minuets. Between the ages of six and ten he was taken by his father on a tour through Austria, Germany, Belgium, France, England, and Holland, receiving the most flattering receptions everywhere. Kisses, constant applause, and little gifts were showered on the young favorite. He was all the rage in Paris, but returned home no richer than when he set out. A catalog of Mozart's compositions gives 626 numbers, including operas, symphonies, instrumental music of every description, church music, and an inexhaustible collection of piano pieces. Mozart is considered by many the world's greatest musical genius; but he received little worldly recognition. A position as organist in Salzburg and later as composer to the imperial court at Vienna were so poorly paid that Mozart lived in poverty, died in want, and was buried in obscurity, his own wife being afterward unable to identify his grave. See Handel; Haydn; Chopin; Beethoven; Mendelssohn