When three year old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart watched his seven year old sister, Maria Anna, play a keyboard, he imitated her. His father, Leopold Mozart, an Austrian musician in Salzburg, soon recognized his son’s musical ability. Wolfgang it seemed understood music.

Leopold now tutored both Maria Anna and Wolfgang. He demanded musical perfection, but he also made his lessons fun for his children. In his book, Play, Mozart, Play, Peter Sis writes that Leopold Mozart had the children incorporate music into their play. When the children brought their toys to another room, “one of them carried the toys and the other played a march on the violin.” At age five, Wolfgang could play both the harpsichord and violin. And he composed his first piece of music. Wolfgang soon became proficient on the viola, piano, and organ.

Wolfgang and Maria Anna

When Wolfgang was only six years old, Leopold took him and Maria Anna on their first musical tour, playing for royalty in Munich. They were instantly recognized as child prodigies. Traveling to cities in England, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Austria, Wolfgang and Maria Anna showed off their musical skills in the European courts.

From Play, Mozart, Play

At age eight, Wolfgang composed his first symphony, and at age eleven, his first opera. Leopold took Wolfgang on an extended tour of Italy when he was thirteen. Maria Anna was no longer allowed to perform in public. It was not thought proper for a young woman of seventeen. In Italy, Wolfgang attended a performance in the Sistine Chapel of Miserere, by composer Gregorio Allegri. Remembering the piece later, Wolfgang wrote it down with few mistakes. Young Wolfgang soon composed operas, symphonies, sonatas, and string quartets. He especially loved composing concertos for the violin.

Over his short lifetime, only thirty-five years, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composed over six hundred pieces of music. He is considered to be one of the world’s most accomplished musicians.

If you like this post, then please consider sharing it and/or leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author

Books For Kids:

Play, Mozart, Play

by Peter Sis

For the Love of Music: The Remarkable Story of Maria Anna Mozart

by Elizabeth Rusch, Illustrated by Lou Fancher