Page 40 - (DK) How to be a GENIUS?

Wolfgang

Amadeus

Mozart

Some people seem to have a genius for music
and can play it superbly when they are very
Wolfgang at the age of six, performing with his
sister, Nanneri, and their father, Leopold, during
their first trip to Paris, France, in 1762.
young. A few are even able to compose complex
orchestral music when they are only children—
Child prodigy
Born in Austria in 1756, Mozart was the son of something that most people would find impossible.
a professional musician, so he was in the right The most celebrated of these musical geniuses is
family to learn his art. He could read music
before he could read words, and began playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the greatest
and composing music at the age of five. His composers who ever lived.
sister was also a musician, and when Wolfgang
was six, their father took them around Europe
to show them off as child prodigies.

Improvising talent
Mozart was terrific at dreaming
up variations on a musical theme
while he was playing. According
to a witness who saw him perform
as a teenager, he would improvise
like this for more than an hour, with
such skill that even accomplished
musicians were astounded. But to
him this talent for fitting musical
ideas together was just a party
trick. The real challenge was to
compose original, exciting music,

which took a little longer.

This portrait of Mozart at the age of around
26 shows his love for fine clothing.

Perched on a thick pillow, the young Despite his musical genius, Mozart did not have a
Fun and games
Mozart demonstrates his skill at the
organ to an aristocratic audience.
one-track mind. He enjoyed horse riding, dancing,
and billiards. When he started earning serious
I
r J
I
rJ
o
ep
ep
s
I In 1787, Emperor Joseph II money in Vienna, he bought a billiard table as well
h
7
n
8
Em
1
7
p
ero
Em
,
ro
er
as a new piano. He was well known for his sense
tr
of Austria made Mozart his
oz
ri
o f A u s tri a m a d e M oz a rt h i s of humor, partly because he enjoyed practical
rt
rt
jokes. He also liked showy clothes and was once
court composer.
rt
rt
er
r.
c o u rt c o m p o s er . decribed as appearing onstage “with his crimson
pelisse and gold-laced cocked hat.”
38
2011
Dorling
(c) 2011 Dorling Kindersley. All Rights Reserved.
(c)
Rights
Reserved.
Kindersley.
All