Amadeus Mozart

In 1787, he was appointed imperial chamber composer at the meager salary of 800 florins, went to Prague for a performance of his opera, le nozze di figarro(The marriage of figaro) composed in 1786, and was commissioned to write Don Giovanni. 

Three years later, at the Austrian emperor’s request, Mozart wrote the opera buffa cosipan tutte(Thus Do They All). In 1791, the year of his death, he created La Clemenza di Tito( The Clemency of Tito) for the coronation of  Emperor Leopold II in Prague. In this Opera, he was unable to rise to the heights of his previous dramatic creations.

His genius is once again at its apex, however, in his German opera Die Zauberflote(The Magic Flute), composed in the same year for a Viennese suburban theater. This work is a mixture of comic elements. 

As early as 1784, Mozart had joined the masons and a number of his compositions were written for them. His last important work was the Requiem which he was unable to complete. 

The causes of Mozart’s early death are still far from clear. He was scarcely dead when the rumour arose that he had been poisoned, a legend which still holds today. In any event, he had a typical pauper’s funeral and a few days after the funeral, identification of his grave was no longer possible.

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