Ep.29: Mozart – Top 6 Compositions

August 17, 2023 Peter Jans

Intro

Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.

Today's episode will be on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who astonishingly started composing at the age of five. He spoke a total of fifteen languages and would compose at a whim, whether it be meals, travelling, gatherings, and even when his wife was in labour!

Today’s mnemonic is on Mozart’s top 6 compositions.

With that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Croce-Mozart-Detail.jpg

Wikipedia Summary

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart[a][b] (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition resulted in more than 800 works of virtually every genre of his time. Many of these compositions are acknowledged as pinnacles of the symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral repertoire. Mozart is widely regarded as among the greatest composers in the history of Western music,[1] with his music admired for its "melodic beauty, its formal elegance and its richness of harmony and texture".[2]

Born in Salzburg, then in the Holy Roman Empire and currently in Austria, Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. His father took him on a grand tour of Europe and then three trips to Italy. At 17, he was a musician at the Salzburg court but grew restless and travelled in search of a better position.

While visiting Vienna in 1781, Mozart was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He stayed in Vienna, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years there, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas. His Requiem was largely unfinished by the time of his death at the age of 35, the circumstances of which are uncertain and much mythologized.

Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart]

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mozart_K331_Sonate_piano_11_3emvt_debut_mainD_theme_encadre.svg

Mnemonic

Mozart – Top 6 Compositions Mnemonic – Salzburg TRaPS Composer

(Picture Mozart being trapped in boring job in Salzburg, which he essentially was, before he decided to travel)

1. Symphony No. 41 ‘Jupiter’

2. The Marriage of Figaro

3. Requiem - Lacrimosa

4. Piano Sonata No. 11

5. Sinfonia Concertante

6. Clarinet Concerto

Five Fun Facts

1. Mozart is said to have written his own compositions by age five. By 12 he had written a major mass and his first opera.

Additionally, he also conducted his next movement, whilst in the bathroom!

2. Mozart’s father was also a German composer. His name was Leopold Mozart and along with composing, he was also a conductor, music teacher, and violinist

3. Mozart was extremely slim, pale and had a blotchy complexion. He was also very short at about 5 foot 4”, but had a big sense of humour which many considered strange, if not weird. I know how he feels!

4. The love in Mozart’s life was Constanze and they had six children together, four sons and two daughters. Only two survived past infancy and that was Karl who became an official for the Viceroy of Naples and Franz Xaver who composed and taught.

5. Now to the conjecture in regards to Salieri murdering Mozart, as you would have seen in the movie “Amadeus”.

Firstly, Mozart mentioned to Constanze that he felt as though he had been poisoned. Constanze assumed this to be delirium.

However, Salieri confessed to having poisoned Mozart when he was ironically in ill health.

Other theories of his death include:

· Chronic vitamin D deficiency

· Medical malpractice and toxic medications

· Brain haemorrhage

· And, the most widely accepted Liver disease

6. Bonus Fact: Mozart had an eclectic taste in pets. He kept a canary, a starling, a dog, and a horse. Apparently though he did not like chooks, because when he asked them who their favourite composer was, they would always say “Bach, Bach, Bach!”

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mozart_and_Linley_1770.jpg

Three Question Quiz

Q.1. Apart from his father Leopold, Mozart he had many influences. The most famous and most influential was who?

The options are: Johann Christian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven or Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Q.2. The idea a baby can become more intelligent by listening to Mozart’s music, by increasing “Spatial temporal reasoning” is called the Mozart what?

Q.3. How old was Mozart when he died?

Mnemonic Recap

Mozart – Top 6 Compositions Mnemonic – Salzburg TRaPS Composer

(Picture Mozart being trapped in boring job in Salzburg, which he essentially was, before he decided to travel)

Symphony No. 41 ‘Jupiter’
The Marriage of Figaro
Requiem - Lacrimosa
Piano Sonata No. 11
Sinfonia Concertante
Clarinet Concerto

Three Question Quiz Answers

Q.1. Apart from his father Leopold, Mozart he had many influences. The most famous and most influential was who?

The options are: Johann Christian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven or Johann Nepomuk Hummel

A. Johann Christian Bach. Beethoven tried to secure lessons unsuccessfully, though some sources differ, and Hummel was a pupil

Q.2. The idea a baby can become more intelligent by listening to Mozart’s music, by increasing “Spatial temporal reasoning” is called the Mozart what?

A. Mozart Effect and was coined by Alfred A. Tomatis

Q.3. How old was Mozart when he died?

A. 35

Word of the Week

conundrum

[ kuh-nuhn-druhm ]

noun

anything that puzzles.

Example

Mozart loved his conundrums especially word play and riddles.

Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]

Website: https://www.themnemonictreepodcast.com/