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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria. He was the son of Leopold Mozart, a highly regarded violinist and composer in the court orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg, and Anna Maria. Many people consider Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to be the greatest composer of all time. Although he only lived to be thirty-five years, he wrote an enormous amount of music in all most all the forms and styles of his era. During the classical era, a composer was considered to be more like a servant rather than an artist, but Mozart helped to change that perception by working as a “freelance” musician, performing and composing music independently rather than working for a patron. In 1957, Leopold Mozart became the court and chamber composer of the Archbishop of Salzburg. His wife, Anna Maria, was nothing more than a simple housewife. Together, Leopold and Anna Maria had seven children, but only two of them survived. The two surviving children were Maria Anna (also known as Nannerl) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Nannerl began to play the piano when she was seven, and she was very talented in her own right, but three-year old Wolfgang began to teach himself some of those pieces. It didn’t take too long for Leopold to realize that young Wolfgang was a child prodigy. With the help of his father and his older sister Maria Anna, Mozart began to apply and utilize his special talents. At the age of five, Mozart wrote his first piece of music without the help of his father. At the age of seven, Wolfgang began to compose music as he played it. Leopold realized the financial gain that Nannerl’s talents and especially Wolfgang’s talents could bring him so in 1762 Wolfgang and his sister were taken to Munich and Vienna to perform in front of royalty.
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