Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Life and work

Mozart began keyboard lessons at age three, watching his sister's instruction, and by age five was composing little pieces that his father wrote down.^[3] Leopold was their only teacher, also instructing them in languages and academic subjects.^[4] The family made several European journeys where Wolfgang and Nannerl performed as child prodigies, beginning in 1762 at courts in Munich, Vienna, and Prague.^[5] A long concert tour spanning three and a half years took them to major cities including London, where Mozart met Johann Christian Bach in 1764 and 1765.^[5][6]

Mozart wrote his first symphony at age eight, though most was probably transcribed by Leopold.^[6] After returning from Italy in 1773, Mozart was employed as a court musician by Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo in Salzburg.^[2] He grew discontented with his low salary of 150 florins a year and the rare occasions for composing operas.^[2] After a severe insult—being literally kicked out by the archbishop's steward Count Arco—Mozart left the archbishop's service in 1781 and chose to become a freelance performer and composer based in Vienna.^[7]

What the cited sources add

A 2026 discovery at the Bibliothèque nationale de France identified a 44-page manuscript notebook from Mozart's 1778 Paris stay, containing composition exercises and seven pieces for flute and harp.^[8] The manuscript is the earliest evidence of Mozart's approach to teaching composition and includes exercises he described in a letter to his father.^[8]