“As an artist, as a musician, Mozart was not a man of this world.” – Albert EinsteinWolfgang Amadeus Mozart is the greatest and most celebrated composer of the classical period and the most gifted musical genius in history. Born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Mozart was not appreciated as a composer in his time. Great success came only with the Romantic generation, who found in Mozart what they believed to be a kindred spirit. Through an examination of his early life as a child prodigy, musical mastery, large number and range of works, mastery of classical style, and endless praise from other composers, we can begin to understand why his legacy is grew and remained strong after his death. death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Wolfgang Mozart was a child prodigy who revealed his extraordinary talent at the incredibly young age of three. Mozart's seven-year-old sister Marianne began receiving harpsichord lessons from their father Leopold, who was a violinist in the Salzburg Archbishop's Band. During this period Mozart would sit at the keyboard and entertain himself for hours. Like any child, Mozart loved hearing the sound coming from the keyboard, but it was his increased awareness of tension and harmony that caught his father's attention. Leopold early recognized the extraordinary musical gift his son possessed and began to cultivate it. At the age of four, Mozart began receiving harpsichord lessons from his father. He learned numerous minuets with ease, taking only half an hour to play them "perfectly, cleanly and with the most constant rhythm." At the age of five, Mozart began composing his own little pieces, which his father proudly transcribed. Leopold made notes in the margin of the score, such as "little Wolfgang's compositions in the first three months after his fifth birthday". These notes became the young Wolfgang's first indications as a composer. In 1763, when Mozart was about seven years old, he wrote his first major composition: six sonatas for violin and piano. The simple fact that Mozart was able to play and compose these pieces at such a young age is a testament to his musical genius. In 1762, Leopold took Mozart on a trip across Europe and the United Kingdom to showcase his talent. During this trip he showed incredible talent, such as sight reading pieces by Bach and improvising beautiful melodies on the figured bass of a Handel piece. The tour was a real success, as Mozart was rewarded with acclaim and recognition. In London Mozart was announced as “Seven-year-old Master Mozart, prodigy of nature”. During the trip, Leopold proudly wrote to his friend that "everyone is amazed, especially at the boy, and everyone I have heard says that his genius is incomprehensible". Leopold continued to showcase his son's musical talent until 1773, when Mozart ceased to be under his father's guidance. Leopold's influence on Mozart is noteworthy. After all, Mozart had never followed the musical teachings of anyone except his father. Leopold recognized his son's potential, developed his talent, and made his genius known throughout Europe. Without his father's influence, Wolfgang would never have achieved the character and greatness that he achieved. Mozart had an undeniable mastery of music. He was a superb harpsichord player, "one of the greatest harpsichord virtuosos of his time". Although he was also skilled at the violin, it was the keyboard that primarily occupied his attention. Niemetschek, who was one of Mozart's first biographers, praised Mozart's piano skillscomposer when he wrote: "His admirable dexterity... his feeling, his delicacy and his beautiful expression... together with his abundant ideas and his knowledge of composition must have fascinated every listener and made Mozart the greatest pianist of all time.” After seeing Mozart perform, fellow composer Muzio Clementi also applauded Mozart's piano skills when he told his own student "Until then I had never heard anyone perform with such spirit and grace." of Mozart's most impressive skills. During his early years of composition he did not need to write piano sonatas or variations, as he could simply improvise them. He only put his compositions on paper if a pupil tried to learn them or if he wanted to send them to a publisher Mozart's friend, Maximilian Stadler, wrote of Mozart's improvisational talent in his autobiography: “His improvisations were as well ordered as if he had written them in front of him. This led many to think that when he performed an improvisation in public, he must have thought of everything and practiced beforehand." From these first-hand accounts it is clear that Mozart had mastered the skill of improvisation. Mozart was incredibly skilled in the art of composition. The extraordinary thing about the way he composed was that it came naturally to him. He didn't need to look for ideas on what to write: the compositions simply appeared in his head and then he wrote them. Creating a piece of music came so easily to him that he sometimes worked on two or three pieces at a time, as they all appeared in his mind at once. Mozart could also compose a piece at an impressive speed. He once composed a sonata for piano and violin the evening before performing it in concert. Having no time to write the music or practice with his partner, he played the sonata from memory the next day. Within his compositions there are numerous examples of his sheer artistry of contrapuntal combinations, movement structure, use of counterpoint, harmonic modulations and tonal colour. With his extraordinary keyboard, improvisation and composition skills, it is an undeniable fact that Wolfgang Mozart possessed a profound mastery of music. Mozart wrote an impressive number and variety of operas during his short life. The entire catalog is exhausting, but among the works there are twenty operas, fifteen masses, seventeen church sonatas, more than one hundred arias, songs, choruses and vocal canons, about fifty symphonies, fifty concerts, seventeen piano sonatas, forty-two sonatas for violin and piano, twenty-six string quartets, eight string quintets, seven piano trios, two piano quartets – all written with an exceptional degree of perfection. In a letter Mozart wrote to his father in 1778 he states: "As you know, I can adopt or imitate more or less any type and style of composition." The sheer number and extreme versatility of his work are a testament to this self-proclaimed ability. Mozart was the greatest master of the classical style. A key element of the classical style was a lightness that contrasted with the early works of the Baroque period. Mozart achieved this with his melodies, which placed him above other composers of his time. A great melodist named Richard Strauss said: “The most perfect melodic forms are found in Mozart; he has the lightness of touch which is the real goal.” His ability to create melodies that sounded so “light” was the result of his perfect technique. These delicate melodies were the most accessible part of Mozart's music and allowed exposure to a wide range of listeners. "Komm, liber Mai" is a song that uses one of the melodies of