Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756 - 1791)

He created twenty-four operas including such famous works as The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro, seventeen masses, and over fifty symphonies. Mozart’s work, however, extended to all styles and types of music. He knew how to blend traditional and contemporary elements to create his own distinctive style, which is characterized by thematic and tonal variety melded with a high degree of formal discipline. Mozart’s compositions live from their melodic, rhythmic and dynamic contrasts. Following his break with the archbishop of Salzburg, Mozart moved to Vienna in 1781, where a year later he married the singer Constanze Weber. In 1787 he was appointed court chamber composer. Mozart died in 1791 while working on his famed requiem.