Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been immortalized through numerous works recognized by people of all interests and through pop culture mediums as in the movie Amadeus. His audacious personality, extreme musical talent and untimely death live on through collections of letters and stories behind the music, such as the incomplete Requiem that was subsequently completed by Süßmayr. He is worthy of the praise, though, given his major contributions to almost every classical genre including symphonies, opera, concertos, chamber music, solo works, and choral music. Although Mozart was a sensation in his lifetime, he struggled financially and died in debt, leaving his wife to repay a substantial sum of money.
Mozart was born in Salzburg, the younger of two surviving children. His sister, Nannerl, was also a prodigious musician at a very young age, and both of the children had their earliest musical training with their father, Leopold Mozart, himself a composer and violinist with the Court Orchestra of Salzburg. As a child, Mozart was a European sensation, performing in numerous concert tours to Paris, London, Mannheim and Bologna. In London, Mozart met J.C. Bach whose father, J. S. Bach, had an immense influence on Mozart’s compositional style. Mozart returned to Salzburg for employment as a court musician, but soon wanted to leave and in 1781 arrived in Vienna. At the beginning, Mozart had a successful career there as pianist and composer, enjoying operatic premieres such as Die Entführung aus dem Serail in 1782. Unfortunately, his popularity waned. By 1788 Mozart had barely any money and in 1791 he fell gravely ill.
Mozart’s music is a prime example of classical style, constructed with clarity and balance of musical phrases. Through the collection of Baron von Swieten, Mozart was introduced to the music of the Baroque master J.S. Bach, whose contrapuntal wizardry appears in Mozart’s works such as The Magic Flute and Symphony No. 41. The String Quintet, K. 516, in G minor is scored for two violins, two violas, and cello, which is the same scoring Brahms uses in his String Quintet in F Major (see Concert IV). Mozart’s quintet is in four movements and is solidly in G minor, creating a very dark atmosphere throughout a majority of the work. The only time Mozart lightens the mood is in the fourth movement, where he unexpectedly moves into G Major.
-- Kyle Blaha