Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the foremost composers of Western music, celebrated for the inventiveness and expressive clarity of his compositions. A prolific composer of the Classical period, Mozart’s music encompassed opera, symphonies, concertos, chamber music and sacred works.

Born in Salzburg in 1756, he was recognised as a child prodigy, composing his earliest surviving symphony — Symphony No. 1 in E-flat major, K. 16 — at just eight years old. Touring Europe with his musician father Leopold and sister Maria Anna, Mozart performed before royal and aristocratic courts and absorbed musical influences from Italy, France, England and Germany. A pivotal meeting in London with Johann Christian Bach deeply inspired the young composer, with other important influences including Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Giovanni Paisiello.

In 1772, Mozart was appointed a salaried concertmaster at the Salzburg court but increasingly sought wider opportunities. His move to Vienna in 1781 marked a turning point, allowing him to establish himself as an independent composer, performer and teacher. Over his lifetime, Mozart mastered all three major operatic genres of his era: opera seria, opera buffa and Singspiel. His golden Viennese years produced masterpieces such as the Great Mass in C minor, Piano Concerto No. 21 and his famed operatic collaborations with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte — The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte.

Mozart’s music combined structural balance and melodic elegance with dramatic intensity and harmonic sophistication. His surviving manuscripts and letters continue to fascinate for the intimate glimpse they offer into Mozart’s life — in 2023, Christie’s sold an autograph letter from Mozart to his close friend Baroness von Waldstätten for £226,800.

Mozart died in Vienna in 1791, aged just 35, with his final works including The Magic Flute and La clemenza di Tito. More than two centuries after his death, Mozart’s repertoire remains a cornerstone of Western classical music.