Mozart

Mozart was born in Vienna, Austria in 1756. He was the son of Leopold Mozart, who was also a musician. Leopold made his living by teaching music, buying and selling musical instruments, and selling the music he composed. He also wrote musical textbooks on a small scale.

Mozart was the younger of two children, and his older sister, affectionately called Nannerl, was also gifted in music. Leopold did his best to educate his children musically, but was very quickly astonished by little Wolfgang's astounding genius. Young Mozart discovered the thirds on a piano at the age of three, when he found that certain pairs of notes sounded pretty together. Leopold then began working very hard to assure Mozart's success in the field of music.

Leopold took his family touring, where they performed for astonished crowds, and even for royalty. Leopold's goal was to earn fame and fortune for his children, and then hopefully to establish a court position for Wolfgang. During this time a job in court was not at all a bad job to have for a musician, and many aspired to work at court.

Mozart did work as a court musician for a while, but unfortunately many of the people at court either looked down on him or were jealous of his genius. Others often tried to sabotage him and suppress his talent. He eventually left his position at court.

Mozart married a woman named Constanse Weber, and worked giving music lessons and selling his publications. Unwisely, he dressed finely and gave the impression of being rich and carefree. To be brief, he had a habit of living beyond his means, which often put him in unpleasant financial situations. To go along with all that, Mozart's health was unstable, possibly due to overwork and exhaustion. Constanse also suffered from health problems due to the stress of childbirth. Because of the illness of the couple, their financial situation quickly deteriorated, just like Mozart's health. In the end he died a pauper and was buried in an unmarked grave.