[Illustration: WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART]
Mozart's boyhood and youth had been filled with sunshine. At many of the
courts of Europe he had been praised and petted. Kings and queens were
proud to be numbered among his friends. The remainder of his life was
not so bright, and he learned how sad a thing it is to be without a home
and friends.
When Mozart was twenty-one years of age, he set out for Paris,
accompanied by his mother. They traveled in a carriage, as Wolfgang and
his father had done in Italy. On their way to the French capital they
made several stops. Mozart gave a concert in each of the towns in which
they stopped.
The people of Paris had been so kind to Mozart when he had visited it
long ago, that he expected the same treatment again. In that he was
disappointed. He was now a man and they treated him as a man.
Mozart was looking for some work as a musician and composer, but found
none. That made him sad. It troubled him, too, that the Parisians were
no longer eager to hear his music; but a still greater sorrow came to
him. His dear mother died in Paris, and Mozart returned to Salzburg
alone.
During the next few years, Mozart spent much time in composing. Among
his compositions were several operas. An opera is much like a play,
except that all the parts are sung instead of spoken. When a composer
wishes to write an opera, he generally selects some beautiful story or
poem. He then writes music that will help to tell the story.
In an opera some parts are sung by many voices; others are sung as
solos. The composer must arrange parts of music for women's voices.
Some, too, must be suited to the voices of men. Still other music must
be written for the orchestra. All this requires a musician of great
talent.
In August, 1782, Mozart married and settled in Vienna. His wife was the
daughter of a musician. Mozart and his wife were always poor; yet they
were very happy.
Once upon a time Mozart was invited to write an opera for a festival. By
and by the work was all finished except one part for the orchestra. The
singers had learned their parts and all was ready but the one piece of
music. When it lacked only one day of the time when the opera was to be
given, Mozart had not completed his work.
The day passed by, but nothing had been done. Evening came, and Mozart
had a merry time with his friends. He knew that the music must be
written that night; so he asked his wife to sit up with him while he
wrote it.
When he grew sleepy, she told him fairy stories. She made the stories of
_Cinderella_ and _Aladdin's Lamp_ so funny that Mozart laughed till the
tears rolled down his cheeks. In spite of the tales he grew so sleepy
that he felt obliged to lie down. His wife promised to call him after he
had slept an hour.
The hour passed and Mozart was sleeping soundly. Another hour and still
he did not waken. At last, when his wife called him, he arose and began
his work. In two hours he had written a beautiful composition for the
orchestra.
Mozart was fond of playing at night and often played for hours at a
time. If he sat down to the piano at nine o'clock in the evening, he
seldom left it before midnight.
In 1785 Mozart's father visited Vienna. He attended a concert given by
his son. He was pleased to see that the emperor was there. Leopold
Mozart watched him to see how he was enjoying the music. At the end of
the concert the emperor rose and, waving his hat, cried, "Bravo,
Mozart!" The father was delighted that his son had won the emperor's
praise.
While in Vienna, Mozart's father talked with the great musician Haydn,
who said, "I declare to you before God and as an honest man that I
regard your son as the greatest composer I have ever heard."
This was high praise from so great a man as Haydn. It was a fine
compliment, too, to have the emperor shout "Bravo"; yet Mozart was poor
and often sad. He worked hard and composed much beautiful music.
Sometimes he received no pay for his work; sometimes he was cheated out
of money that he had honestly earned.
Once the king asked Mozart to write music for a court concert. He put it
off until he had no time to write the part which he was to perform
himself. So he went to the concert with his part unwritten. He placed a
sheet of paper on the piano, and looked at it as if the notes were
written there.
The king, who was peeping everywhere, happened to look at the sheet of
paper. Surprised to see nothing but empty lines, he said to Mozart,
"Where is your part?" "Here," replied the musician, tapping his
forehead.
Mozart is best known as a writer of operas. Most of his operas were
composed in Vienna. One of them is called _The Marriage of Figaro_.
Another is named _The Magic Flute_. Many people like it the best of any
opera that Mozart ever wrote. It was composed a short time before his
death.
Mozart was ill before _The Magic Flute_ was finished. After it had been
completed, he grew much worse. His only pleasure, during his suffering,
was to hear the news of how well the people liked his opera.
Only the day before his death, he wished that he might hear the music of
_The Magic Flute_ once again. A friend who was with him at the time went
to the piano, and played and sang some parts of it. This seemed to cheer
the sick man greatly.
On the 5th of December, 1791, the master passed away. No stone marked
Mozart's grave, and to-day no one knows where the great composer was
laid to rest. More than a century after his death, the people of his own
city erected a fine monument in his memory.
When Haydn heard of Mozart's death, his eyes filled with tears. He
exclaimed, "Oh, my friends, will the world ever find such an artist
again?" Years afterward, when some one spoke of Mozart, Haydn wept
bitterly. "Pardon me," said he, "but I can never hear the name of my
gentle Mozart without breaking my heart."