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He's a child prodigy, a keyboard wiz, and maybe the most famous composer ever. Mozart’s music is everywhere—from the concert hall to television and back again. This week, have a slice of Austrian genius with your morning toast.
Howdy, howdy, howdy! I’m Solomon Reynolds, and this is Saturday Morning Car Tunes!
This morning… What is a prodigy? Mozart was one of the greatest. Prodigies are kids who can do really hard things, like play the piano or write music, just as well as a grown-up who does it for a job.
Ever since he was little, Mozart wrote all kinds of music—and he was great at every single one. Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria, in 1756. Mozart’s dad, Leopold, was a famous musician and teacher. He homeschooled Mozart and his sister, Nannerl, writing easy keyboard pieces for their lessons. By the time Mozart was four, he’d already learned some of ‘em—and at five, he started composing his own. This is the Andante in C, the first piece Mozart ever wrote... with his dad’s help in writing it down.
Mozart and his sister were keyboard prodigies, and their dad, Leopold, wanted the rest of Europe to hear. They went on tour as child superstars, performing for royalty and aristocrats. Even though his tiny hands could barely reach a fifth on the harpsichord, Mozart would amaze audiences by playing with a handkerchief covering the keys. This is one of his pieces from that time, a sonata for keyboard and violin.
When Mozart was 8, his family toured London, where they met Johann Christian Bach, the son of Johann Sebastian. J.C.’s symphonies inspired Mozart to write some himself. This is his Symphony No. 1.
When 14-year-old Mozart toured Rome with his dad, they arrived just in time for Holy Week. The church there had exclusive rights to a famous choral piece—Allegri’s Miserere—and no one else was allowed to see the music.
The story goes that after hearing it once, Mozart wrote down the entire 13-minute piece from memory. When he wasn’t touring, Mozart spent a lot of time in his hometown writing sacred music for church services. Two years after hearing the Miserere in Rome, he went back to Italy and wrote the famous “Alleluia” from Exsultate, jubilate, a religious motet.
But church music wasn’t very exciting for the teenage Mozart. He was more interested in writing pieces for friends, patrons, and for fun, like this string quartet.
Mozart wasn’t a boy genius anymore—he was growing up and dreamed of being famous in the big city. Can you hear any of that frustration in his Symphony No. 25?
At 26, Mozart finally left Salzburg for Vienna, ready to make it on his own as a composer. His big breakthrough? The opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, which proved he was more than a prodigy and began his career as a truly great composer.
I’m Solomon Reynolds. I write and produce Saturday Morning Car Tunes with research assistant Carolina Correa and audio engineer Stephen Page, only on Classical California. Tune in—or out of your car—next Saturday morning!
