History Music / WolfgangAmadeusMozart

* BassoProfundo: Osmin from ''The Abduction from the Seraglio'' and the Commendatore from ''Don Giovanni''.

* CreepyChild: As a kid, he was unusually small, thin, deathly pale, and behaved in a very serious and adult manner, intimidating many adults. In fact, the Royal Society tested whether he was a kid or a dwarf by having him perform for one of its fellows, Daines Barrington. Barrington sent a letter confirming that Mozart was indeed a child, pointing out that Mozart [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny was once playing to him when a cat distracted him mid-performance and it took several minutes to get Mozart back to playing the piano instead of with the cat]]. He also noted that Mozart sometimes ran around the room with a stick between his legs as if it were a horse.

* CreepyChild: As a kid, he was unusually small, thin, deathly pale, and behaved in a very serious and adult manner, intimidating many adults. In fact, the Royal Society tested whether he was a kid or a dwarf by having him perform for one of its fellows, Daines Barrington. Barrington sent a letter confirming that Mozart was indeed a child, pointing out that Mozart [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny was once playing to him when a cat distracted him mid-performance]]. He also noted that Mozart sometimes ran around the room with a stick between his legs as if it were a horse.

* BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats: Mozart was a Freemason in the last seven years of his life, which led to conspiracy theories such as the one which has him murdered by the Freemasons for divulging their secrets in ''The Magic Flute''. Mozart wrote songs for Masonic ceremonies (his last completed work was the Masonic cantata "Laut verkünde unsre Freude"); the melody of one of them, ''Brüder, reicht die Hand zum Bunde'' later became that of the national anthem of the Federal Republic of Austria. However, Mozart was also a Catholic, and joining the Freemasons was an act that would normally result in an automatic excommunication from the Catholic Church. However, he never saw a conflict between Catholicism and Masonry, and the Church's opposition to Masonry became known in Austria in 1792, a year after his death. Ironically enough, [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Pope Benedict XVI]] was a fan of Mozart's works despite his vehement opposition to Freemasonry, having written a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_on_Masonic_Associations letter]] denouncing the society and declaring that those who join Masonic organisations are in a state of grave sin.

Being [[SmallReferencePools one of the best-known composers]] of ClassicalMusic, Mozart gets [[ReferencedBy/WolfgangAmadeusMozart gets referenced a lot]] in all kinds of media. Odds are pretty good if a famous classical composer needs to make an appearance, it will either be him or Music/LudwigVanBeethoven.

* ChildProdigy: Mozart is famous for starting the piano at age 3, composing at 5, writing his first symphony at 8, and his first opera, Apollo et Hyacinthus, at 11[[note]]While they aren't on the level of his later masterpieces, it's also probably fair to observe that they're better than [[LetsSeeYouDoBetter the symphonies YOU were composing at age 11.]][[/note]]. Saying he had TheGift is probably an understatement; Mozart just ''got it''.

* FieryRedhead: You'll never see it in his portraits, but under the powdered wigs, he apparently had light red hair. Go to the right museum and you can even see a lock of it for yourself.

* TheRockStar: With Mozart's drug and alcohol abuse and relative infamy as a partying musician in his own time and widespread fame after his death, he is one of the [[UnbuiltTrope trope builders]]. In fact, Music/{{Falco}}'s [[RockMeAmadeus beloved hit song]] is a RockStarSong about Mozart.

* AttentionDeficitOohShiny: When Mozart was a young boy, he once performed to Daines Barrington, a fellow of the Royal Society, when a cat came in. Mozart immediately left the harpsichord and a considerable amount of time was spent trying to get him back.

* BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats: Mozart was a Freemason in the last seven years of his life, which led to conspiracy theories such as the one which has him murdered by the Freemasons for divulging their secrets in ''The Magic Flute''. Mozart wrote songs for Masonic ceremonies (his last completed work was the Masonic cantata "Laut verkünde unsre Freude"); the melody of one of them, ''Brüder, reicht die Hand zum Bunde'' later became that of the national anthem of the Federal Republic of Austria. However, Mozart was also a Catholic, and joining the Freemasons was an act that would normally result in an automatic excommunication from the Catholic Church. However, he never saw a conflict between Catholicism and Masonry, and the Church's opposition to Masonry became known in Austria in 1792, a year after his death. Ironically enough, [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Pope Benedict XVI]] is a fan of Mozart's works despite his vehement opposition to Freemasonry, having written a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_on_Masonic_Associations letter]] denouncing the society and declaring that those who join Masonic organisations are in a state of grave sin.

* ChildProdigy: Mozart is famous for starting the piano at age 3, composing at 5, writing his first symphony at 8 and his first opera, Apollo et Hyacinthus at 11[[note]]While they aren't on the level of his later masterpieces, it's also probably fair to observe that they're better than [[LetsSeeYouDoBetter the symphonies YOU were composing at age 11.]][[/note]]. Saying he had TheGift is probably an understatement; Mozart just ''got it''.
* ClownCarGrave: Despite the fact that Mozart was quite wealthy at the time of his death, at that point in Vienna, only aristocrats were buried individually in a crypt. Everyone else had to make do with being buried in a common mass grave. Debate still rages about whether this, that, or the other exhumed skull was Mozart's.

* CreepyChild: As a kid he was unusually small, thin, deathly pale, and behaved in a very serious and adult manner, intimidating many adults. In fact, the Royal Society tested whether he was a kid or a dwarf by having him perform for one of its fellows, Daines Barrington. Barrington sent a letter confirming that Mozart was indeed a child, pointing out that Mozart [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny was once playing to him when a cat distracted him mid-performance]]. He also noted that Mozart sometimes ran around the room with a stick between his legs as if it were a horse.

Mozart's last days were fictionalised in the Creator/PeterShaffer play and 1984 film ''Theatre/{{Amadeus}}''. It is worth noting, however, that due to a mix of ArtisticLicense, RuleOfDrama and UnreliableNarrator, ''Amadeus'' is very much not an accurate portrayal of the composer's life. In particular, many object to the depiction of his "rivalry" with Antonio Salieri, which in reality was more of a guarded but respectful co-existence; Mozart privately resented the fact that, because in those days it was cool for musicians to be Italian, Salieri, being Italian, got more respect from the court than he himself did, but the two men seem to have been on reasonably friendly terms, and there's no evidence to support the idea that Salieri was violently jealous of Mozart's talent.[[note]]According to some accounts, Salieri was one of the few mourners present at Mozart's burial. He also collaborated with Mozart on some of his compositions and was a mentor to Mozart's second son.[[/note]] The story of the rivalry was made up wholesale by Alexander Pushkin in his 1830 play ''Mozart i Salyeri''--written just 5 years after the death of Salieri. For what it's worth, the movie did get a few things completely right: by all accounts, Mozart's laugh was supposed to be [[AnnoyingLaugh just as annoying as it was on screen]], and (again) he was just as much of a boorish man-child as portrayed in the film. Adding to the mystique is the fact that Mozart was composing a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Ur-FosFvo Requiem funeral mass]] at the time of his death, with some legends claiming that he [[DiedDuringProduction passed away]] while attempting to scribble down the 9th measure of the ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE2muDZksP4 Lacrimosa]]'' (0:53 in this recording). Constanze chose a student of his, Franz Xaver Sussmayr [sic], to step in and finish what Mozart started, and people are still arguing over how much of the work is Mozart's, Sussmayr's or a third party's, and whether Mozart would have agreed with the completed work. A few ambitious composers have even provided their own completions. Sussmayr's is by far the most famous, though, due to the simple expedient of getting there first. (It's his version you've heard movements of in movies, as it provides several {{Standard Snippet}}s and much of the OminousLatinChanting in the PublicDomainSoundtrack catalogue, the most famous being the "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MQf-86ikvM Dies Irae]]" sequence.)

Mozart's works are known for their perfection of form and clarity, although they could also be quite fiery and emotional at times. In the public mind, his ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb_jQBgzU-I Eine Kleine Nachtmusik]]'' IS classical music, as measured in "number of people who have it as their ringtone." Allegedly, Mozart was once able to smuggle state secrets out of the Vatican, in the form of Gregorio Allegri's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcWo1hKHu40 Miserere (Psalm 51)]]'' which, at the time, was by order of the Pope not performed ''anywhere'' except the Art/SistineChapel. ...Until Mozart heard it, carried it out in his head, and transcribed it almost perfectly from memory. Finally, he is famed for his {{opera}}s, including ''Theatre/TheMagicFlute'', which is frequently referred to in other texts, including an inevitable parody on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a composer of ClassicalMusic, whose works are considered to represent the pinnacle of the era. Along with Music/JohannSebastianBach, Music/LudwigVanBeethoven, Music/JohannesBrahms, and Music/RichardWagner, he is probably one of the best-known and most influential composers of classical music. Birth Name: Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart.[[note]]'Amadeus' is Latin and 'Theophilus' is Greek for Gottlieb, 'beloved of God'.[[/note]]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a composer of ClassicalMusic, whose works are considered to represent the pinnacle of the era. Along with Music/JohannSebastianBach, [[Music/LudwigVanBeethoven Beethoven]], Music/JohannesBrahms and Music/RichardWagner, he is probably one of the best known and most influential composers of classical music. Birth Name: Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart.[[note]]'Amadeus' is Latin and 'Theophilus' is Greek for Gottlieb, 'beloved of God'.[[/note]]

Mozart's talent [[ChildProdigy became evident at an early age]], and his father, the composer and teacher Leopold Mozart, took his son on the road as a touring musician by the age of six. On October 13, 1762, he met UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette while performing for her family, and there was a long-standing rumor that after he tripped and she helped him up, he fell in love with her and begged her to marry him although they were only children. In his adulthood he spent his time living and composing in various European cities, always seeking patronage but not always finding it, and generally spending more money than he actually had (which is saying something, because he actually made a fair amount). He died at the young age of 35, survived by his wife Constanze and two children. Basically, everything that Music/MichaelJackson did, Mozart did first, up to and including the ManChild bit.

[[quoteright:295:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wolfgang_amadeus_mozart.jpeg]]

Mozart's talent [[ChildProdigy became evident at an early age]], and his father, the composer and teacher Leopold Mozart, had his son on the road as a touring musician by the age of six. On October 13, 1762, he met UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette while performing for her family. There was a long-standing rumor that after he tripped and she helped him up, he fell in love with her and begged her to marry him even though they were only children. He spent time living and composing in various European cities, always seeking patronage but not always finding it, and generally spending more money than he actually had (which is saying something, because he actually made a fair amount). He died at the young age of 35, survived by his wife Constanze and two children. Basically, anything Music/MichaelJackson did, Mozart did first, up to and including the ManChild bit.

[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/WolfgangAmadeusMozart.jpg]]

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 -- December 5, 1791) was a composer of ClassicalMusic, whose works are considered the pinnacle of the era. Along with Music/JohannSebastianBach, [[Music/LudwigVanBeethoven Beethoven]], Music/JohannesBrahms and Music/RichardWagner, he is probably one of the best known and most influential composers of classical music. Birth Name: Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart.[[note]]'Amadeus' is Latin and 'Theophilus' is Greek for Gottlieb, 'beloved of God'.[[/note]]

** The slow third movement tries to showcase the first violin, only to bypass introducing the main theme in favour of going straight into mindless decorative filigree, so that by the time the violin gets a solo cadenza, it has run out of ideas and just saws away to pad things out, ultimately climbing so high up its register that [[VocalRangeExceeded it goes horribly out of tune]] (and re-centres itself with an incongruous single pizzicato low G and poorly executed trill).