Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
One of the bosses of Classical music is clearly Mozart. A child prodigy by the age of five Mozart was composing and performing in front of royals. I heard a story once where someone went to Mozart and asked him, “I really would like to start composing sonatas, could you give me any tips on how to do it?” “Sonatas are extremely complicated pieces of music, maybe you should try something else first.” The man was clearly confused. “But you were composing sonatas since you were five!” Mozart replied, “But I never asked anyone how to compose a sonata.” How much truth there is to that story I don’t know, but I also heard that on his manuscripts there are no mistakes or evidence of the music being changed. It was said that he could hear whole orchestras in his head and would simply write down the parts. Whatever the rumours Mozart was a genius in his field, but unfortunately died in poverty. He did however pioneer for musicians to become independent. Before this they were only employed by royal courts or churches, sometimes, for special occasions, to compose or perform. Musicians of the classical era began to break away from these traditions, people like Mozart. And his compositions are amazing!
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