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[[image:w_a_mozart.jpg|frame|Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]
:''This page is primarily about the Nazi Holocaust of the 1930s and 40s. Many other groups have used the word "holocaust" to describe things that have happened to them. For these uses, see [[Holocaust (disambiguation)|this page]].''
'''Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart''' ([[January 27]][[1756]] – [[December 5]][[1791]]) was one of the most significant and influential of all [[composer]]s of [[Western world|Western]] [[classical music]]. His works are loved by many and are frequently performed.


[[Image:Holocaust.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust]]
The word '''Holocaust''' ([[Greek language|Greek]] for "a completely (''holos'') burnt (''kaustos'') sacrificial offering") was introduced in the late [[20th century]] to refer to the attempt of [[Nazi]]-ruled [[Germany]] to exterminate those groups of people it found "undesirable".


== ==Life==
'''Shoa''' (השואה), also spelled '''Shoah''' and '''Sho'ah''', [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] for "Calamity", is the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] term for the Holocaust; '''Churban Europa''' [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] for "European Destruction" (as opposed to simply '''Churban''', the destruction of the [[Second Temple]]), is also used. The '''Shoa''' in particular is used by many [[Jew]]s and a growing number of [[Christianity|Christians]] due to [[theology|theological]] discomfort with the literal meaning of the word ''Holocaust''. These groups believe it is theologically offensive to imply that the Jews of Europe were a sacrifice to God. It is nonetheless recognized that most people who use the term ''Holocaust'' do not intend such a meaning. Similarly, many Roma (Gypsy) people use the word ''[[Porajmos]]'', meaning "Devouring", to describe the Nazi attempt to exterminate that group.


Mozart was born in [[Salzburg (city)|Salzburg]] in modern-day [[Austria]], but at the time was the capital of a small independent [[Archbishopric]] within the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. He was [[baptism|baptized]] on the day after his birth at [[St. Rupert's Cathedral]] as ''Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart''.
Today, the term "holocaust" is also used to describe other attempts at [[genocide]], both before and after [[World War II]] and, more generally, for any overwhelmingly massive and deliberate loss of life, such as that which would result from a [[nuclear war]] (sometimes called a "nuclear holocaust").
[[Image:Bergen_Belsen.jpg|thumb|Bergen Belsen]]


The full version of Mozart's name fluctuated considerably during his lifetime; for details, see the article [[Mozart's name]].
==Overview==


===The years of travel===
''Holocaust'' refers to the [[Nazi]]s' systematic extermination of various groups they deemed undesirable during [[World War II]]: primarily [[Jew]]s, but also [[Communist]]s, [[homosexual]]s, [[Roma and Sinti]] (also known as gypsies), the physically [[handicapped]], the mentally [[retarded]], [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] prisoners of war, [[Poland|Polish]], [[Russia]]n, and other [[Slav]]ic [[intelligentsia]], political activists, [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], some [[Catholic]] and [[Protestant]] clergy, [[trade union]]ists, [[psychiatric]] patients, and common [[criminal]]s all perished alongside one another in the camps, according to the extensive documentation left behind by the Nazis themselves (written and photographed), eye-witness testimony (by survivors, perpetrators, and bystanders), and the statistical records of the various countries under occupation. The exact number of deaths during the Holocaust is unknown ''(see Extent of the Holocaust below).''


Mozart's musical ability started to become apparent when he was a toddler. He was the son of [[Leopold Mozart]], one of Europe's leading musical [[pedagogy|pedagogues]], whose influential textbook ''Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule'' ("Essay on the fundamentals of violin playing") was published in 1756, the same year as Mozart's birth. Mozart received intensive musical training from his father, including instruction in both the [[piano]] and [[violin]]. Musically, he developed very rapidly and began to compose his own works at the age of five.
One feature of the Nazi Holocaust that distinguishes it from other mass murders was the efficient and systematic method with which the mass killings were conducted. Detailed lists of present and future potential victims were made, and meticulous records of the killings have been found. As prisoners entered the death camps, they had to surrender all personal property to the Nazis - which was precisely catalogued and tagged, and for which receipts were issued. In addition, considerable effort was expended over the course of the Holocaust to find increasingly efficient means of killing more people, for example, by switching from [[carbon monoxide]] poisoning in the [[Aktion Reinhard]] death camps of [[Belzec]], [[Sobibor]], and [[Treblinka]] to the use of [[Zyklon-B]] at [[Majdanek]] and [[Auschwitz]].


Leopold soon realized that he could earn a substantial income by showcasing his son as a ''[[Wunderkind]]'' in the courts of Europe. Mozart's older sister, [[Maria Anna "Nannerl" Mozart|Maria Anna]], nicknamed "Nannerl", was a talented pianist and often accompanied her brother on Leopold's tours. Mozart wrote a number of [[piano]] pieces, in particular [[Duet (music)|duets]] and [[Duo (music)|duos]], to play with her. On one occasion when Mozart became ill, Leopold expressed more concern over the loss of income than over Mozart's well-being. Constant travel and cold weather may have contributed to his subsequent illness later in life.
Unlike other mass killings, which were usually carried out in a specific area or country, the Holocaust was methodically carried out in virtually every inch of Nazi-occupied territory, with Jews and other victims being persecuted and killed in what are now 35 present-day nations of Europe, being sent to concentration camps in some nations, and death camps in other nations.


During his formative years, Mozart completed several journeys throughout [[Europe]], beginning with an exhibition in [[1762]] at the Court of the Prince of [[Bavaria]] in [[Munich]], then in the same year at the Imperial Court in [[Vienna]]. A long concert tour soon followed, (three and a half years) which took him with his father to the courts of [[Munich]], [[Mannheim]], [[Paris]], [[London]], [[The Hague]], again to [[Paris]], and back home via [[Zurich]], [[Donaueschingen]], and [[Munich]]. They went to Vienna again in late [[1767]] and remained there until December [[1768]].
In addition to mass killings, Nazis carried out sadistic [[Nazi human experimentation|medical experiments]] on prisoners, including children. Dr. [[Josef Mengele]], one of the most widely known Nazis, was known as the "Angel of Death" by the inmates of Auschwitz for his cruel and bizarre experiments.


[[image:mozart.birth.500pix.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Mozart's birthplace at 9 Getreidegasse, [[Salzburg]], [[Austria]]]]
The full extent of what was happening in German-controlled areas was not known until after the war. However, numerous rumors and eye-witness accounts from escapees and others did give some indication that Jews were being killed in large numbers. Some protests were held. For example, on [[October 29]], [[1942]], in the [[United Kingdom]], leading clergymen and political figures held a public meeting to register outrage over Germany's persecution of Jews.


After one year spent in [[Salzburg]], three trips to [[Italy]] followed: From December [[1769]] to March [[1771]], August to December [[1771]], and October [[1772]] to March [[1773]]. During the first of these trips, Mozart met [[Giovanni Battista Martini|G.B. Martini]] in [[Bologna]], and was accepted as a member of the famous ''[[Accademia Filarmonica]]''. A highlight of the Italian journey, which is now an almost legendary tale, occurred when he heard [[Gregorio Allegri]]'s ''[[Miserere (Allegri)|Miserere]]'' once in performance, then wrote it out in its entirety from memory, only returning a second time to correct minor errors.
While the '''Holocaust''' stands as a reminder that modern, 'civilized' nations can engage in the most horrific of organized group behavior, it is also important to remember that during the '''Holocaust''', many nonJews risked (and often lost) their lives attempting to aid [[Jew]]s and other victims of [[Nazi]] persecution, for no conceivable gain other than to satisfy their own consciences. In order to recognize these examples of the most noble of human behaviors among the most debased, the [[Israeli]] government through the [[Yad Vashem]] [[Holocaust Memorial]] set up a [[Righteous gentiles]] program to honor and memorialize as many of these heroic individuals as can be found.


In September of [[1777]], accompanied only by his mother, Mozart began a tour of [[Europe]] that included [[Munich]], [[Mannheim]], and [[Paris]], where she died.
== Concentration and extermination camps ==
[[Image:Mass_Grave_Bergen_Belsen_May_1945.jpg|thumb|Mass grave at Bergen Belsen concentration camp 1945]]


During his trips, Mozart met a great number of musicians and aquainted himself with the works of other great composers: Amongst them were [[J.S. Bach]], [[Handel|G.F. Handel]], and [[Joseph Haydn]]. Even non-musicians caught his attention: He was so taken by the sound created by [[Benjamin Franklin]]'s [[glass harmonica]], he composed several pieces of music for it.
[[Concentration camp]]s for "undesirables" were spread throughout Europe, with new camps being created near centers of dense "undesirable" populations, often focusing on heavily Jewish, Polish intelligentsia, communists, or Roma groups. Most of the camps were located on the area of [[General Government]].


===Mozart in Vienna===
Concentration camps for Jews and other, "undesirables," also existed in Germany itself, and while not specifically designed for systematic extermination, many concentration camp prisoners died because of harsh conditions or were executed.


In [[1781]], Mozart visited [[Vienna]] in the company of his employer, the harsh [[Hieronymus Colloredo|Prince-Archbishop Colloredo]], and had a falling out with him. According to Mozart's own testimony, he was dismissed literally "with a kick in the seat of the pants." Despite this, Mozart chose to settle and develop his career in Vienna after its aristocracy began to take an interest in him.
Some camps, such as [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz-Birkenau]], combined slave labor with systematic extermination. Upon arrival in these camps, prisoners were divided into two groups: those too weak for work were immediately murdered in [[gas chamber]]s (which were sometimes disguised as showers) and their bodies burned, while others were first used for slave labor in factories or industrial enterprises located in the camp or nearby. The Nazis also forced some prisoners to work in the removal of the corpses and to harvest elements of the bodies. Gold teeth were extracted from the corpses and women's hair (shaved from the heads of victims before they entered the gas chambers) was recycled for use in products such as rugs and socks.


On [[August 4]], [[1782]], he married [[Constanze Weber]] against his father's wishes. He and Constanze had six children, of whom only two survived infancy. Neither of these two, Karl Thomas ([[1784]]–[[1858]]) or [[Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart|Franz Xaver Wolfgang]] ([[1791]]–[[1844]]), married or had children.
Four camps — [[Belzec]], [[Chelmno concentration camp|Chelmno]], [[Sobibor]], and [[Treblinka]] II — were used exclusively for extermination. Only a small number of prisoners were kept alive to work at the task of disposing of the bodies of people murdered in the gas chambers.


[[1782]] was an auspicious year for Mozart's career; his opera [[The Abduction from the Seraglio]] was a great success, and he began a series of concerts at which he premiered his own [[piano concerto]]s as [[conducting|conductor]] and [[soloist]].
The transport was often carried out under horrifying conditions using rail freight cars.


As an adult, Mozart became a [[Freemason]] and worked fervently and successfully to convert his father before his death in [[1787]]. His late opera ''[[The Magic Flute]]'' includes Masonic themes and allegory. He was in the same [[Masonic Lodge]] as [[Joseph Haydn]].
=== Jews ===
[[Image:Vienna_1938_pavement_scrub.jpg|thumb|Nazis in uniform in Vienna, Austria 1938 degrade Jewish men scrubbing streets]]
[[Anti-Semitism]] was common in Europe in the [[1920s]] and [[1930s]] (though its history extends far back throughout many centuries during the course of [[Judaism]]). [[Adolf Hitler]]'s fanatical anti-Semitism was laid out in his [[1925]] book [[Mein Kampf]], largely ignored when it was first printed, but which later became popular in Germany once Hitler acquired political power.


Mozart's life was fraught with financial difficulty and illness. Often, he received no payment for his work, and what sums he did receive were quickly consumed by his extravagant lifestyle.
On [[April 1]], [[1933]] the recently elected [[Nazism|Nazis]], under [[Julius Streicher]], organized a one-day boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses in [[Germany]]. This policy helped to usher-in a series of [[anti-Semitism|anti-Semitic]] acts that would eventually culminate in the Holocaust. The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany were closed on [[July 6]], [[1939]].


Mozart spent the year 1786 in [[Vienna]] in an apartment which may be visited today at Domgasse 5 behind St. Stephen's Cathedral; it was here that Mozart composed ''[[Le nozze di Figaro]]'' in 1786.
In many cities throughout Europe, Jews had been living in concentrated areas. During the first years of World War II, the Nazis formalized the borders of these areas and restricted movement, creating modern [[ghetto]]s to which Jews were confined.


===Final illness and death===
[[Image:Jewish woman abused.jpg|right|Jewish woman in Poland pleading for her life, as she is humiliated by Nazis on the street]]
The ghettos were, in effect, prisons in which many Jews died from hunger and disease; others were executed by the Nazis and their collaborators. [[Concentration camp]]s for Jews existed in Germany itself. During the invasion of the [[Soviet Union]], over 3,000 special killing units (''[[Einsatzgruppen]]'') followed the [[Wehrmacht]] and conducted mass killings of Communist officials and of the Jewish population that lived on Soviet territory. Entire communities were wiped out by being rounded up, robbed of their possessions and clothing, and shot at the edges of ditches.


Mozart's final illness and death are difficult scholarly topics, obscured by Romantic legends and replete with conflicting theories. Scholars disagree about the course of decline in Mozart's health--particularly at what point Mozart became aware of his impending death, and whether this awareness influenced his final works. The Romantic view holds that Mozart declined gradually, and that his outlook and compositions paralleled this decline. In opposition to this, some contemporary scholarship points out correspondence from Mozart's final year indicating that he was in good cheer, as well as evidence that Mozart's death was sudden and a shock to his family and friends.
[[Image:Himmler_Hitler.jpg|left|Heinrich Himmler (left) chief of the SS (responsible for rounding up Jews), with Adolf Hitler (right), during the Holocaust]]
In December of [[1941]], Hitler had finally decided to exterminate the Jews of Europe. In January of [[1942]], during the [[Wannsee conference]], several Nazi leaders discussed the details of the "[[final solution|Final Solution of the Jewish question]]" (''Endlösung der Judenfrage'').


The actual cause of Mozart's death (described in the death record as "hitziges Frieselfieber") is also a matter of conjecture. There are many different views.
[[Dr. Josef Buhler]] pushed [[Reinhard Heydrich]] to take off the Final Solution in the [[General Government]]. They began to systematically deport the Jewish populations of the ghettos and from all occupied territories to the seven camps designated as ''Vernichtungslager,'' or [[extermination camp]]s: [[Auschwitz]], [[Belzec]], [[Chelmno concentration camp|Chelmno]], [[Majdanek]], [[Maly Trostenets]], [[Sobibor]] and [[Treblinka extermination camp|Treblinka II]].


Mozart's death occurred while he was working on his final composition, the [[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]].
=== Slavs ===


According to popular legend, Mozart penniless and forgotten when he died, and was buried in a pauper's grave. In fact, though he was no longer as fashionable in [[Vienna]] as he had once been, he continued to have a well paid job at court and receive substantial commissions from more distant parts of Europe, [[Prague]] in particular. Many of his begging letters survive, but they are evidence not so much of poverty than his ability to always spend more than he earned. He was not buried in a mass grave but a regular communal grave according to the 1783 laws.
Poles were one of the first targets of extermination by Hitler, as outlined in the [[Armenian quote|speech he gave the Wehrmacht commanders]] before the invasion of Poland in [[1939]]. The [[intelligentsia]] and socially prominent or powerful people were primarily targeted, although there were some mass murders and instances of genocide (notoriously, the [[Croatia]]n [[Ustashe]]).


In [[1809]], Constanze married [[Danish]] diplomat [[Georg Nikolaus von Nissen]] ([[1761]]–[[1826]]). Being a fanatic of Mozart, he edited vulgar passages out of many of the composer's letters and wrote a Mozart biography.
During [[Operation Barbarossa]], the German invasion of the Soviet Union, hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of Russian Army [[POW]]s were arbitrarily executed in the field by the invading German armies (in particular by the notorious [[Waffen SS]]), or were shipped to extermination camps for execution simply because they were of Slavic extraction. Thousands of Russian peasant villages were annihilated by German troops for more or less the same reason.
==


=== Gypsies ===
== Headline text ==


==Works, musical style and innovations==
''Main article: [[Porajmos]]''


:See also: [[Musical works of Mozart]].
Hitler's campaign of [[genocide]] against the [[Roma and Sinti|Roma]] people of Europe was seen by many as a particularly bizarre application of Nazi [[racial science]]. German anthropologists were forced to contend with the fact that Gypsies were descendants of the original Aryan invaders of [[India]], who made their way back to Europe. Ironically, this made them no less [[Aryan]] than the German people itself, in practice if not in theory. This dilemma was resolved by Professor Hans Gunther, a leading racial scientist, who wrote:
: "''The Gypsies have indeed retained some elements from their Nordic home, but they are descended from the lowest classes of the population in that region. In the course of their migration, they absorbed the blood of the surrounding peoples, thus becoming an Oriental, West-Asiatic racial mixture with an addition of Indian, mid-Asiatic, and European strains.''"
As a result, however, and despite discriminatory measures, some groups of Roma, including the Sinti and Lalleri tribes of Germany, were spared deportation and death. Remaining Gypsy groups suffered much like the Jews (and in some instances, were degraded even more than Jews). In Eastern Europe, Gypsies were deported to the Jewish ghettoes, shot by SS ''Einsatzgruppen'' in their villages, and deported and gassed in Auschwitz and Treblinka.


Mozart was a prolific composer and wrote for many genres. Among his best works are his [[opera]]s, the [[piano concerto]]s, his [[symphonies]], [[string quartet]]s and [[string quintet]]s. Mozart also wrote voluminously for solo piano, [[chamber music]], [[mass (music)|mass]]es and other religious music, dances, [[divertimento|divertimenti]], and other forms of light entertainment.
===Others===


===Influence===
[[Homosexuality|Homosexuals]] were another of the groups targeted during the time of the Holocaust. However, the Nazi party made no systematic attempt to exterminate all homosexuals; according to Nazi law, being homosexual itself was not grounds for arrest. Some prominent members of the Nazi leadership were known to other Nazi leaders to be homosexual, which may account for the fact that the leadership offered mixed signals on how to deal with homosexuals. Some leaders clearly wanted homosexuals exterminated; others wanted them left alone, while others wanted laws against homosexual acts enforced, but otherwise allowed homosexuals to live as other citizens did. Many Germans suspected of homosexuality wisely kept their orientation hidden.


Many important composers since Mozart's time have worshipped or been in awe of Mozart. [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] told his pupil [[Ferdinand Ries|Ries]] that he (Beethoven) would never be able to think of a melody as great as that of the first movement of Mozart's [[Piano concerto No. 24 (Mozart)|Piano concerto No. 24]], and paid homage to Mozart by writing variations on several of his themes; for example, the two sets of Variations for Cello and Piano on themes from Mozart's [[The Magic Flute|Magic Flute]], and cadenzas to several of the Mozart's piano concertos, most notably the [[Piano concerto No. 20 (Mozart)|Piano concerto No. 20]] K. 466. After the only meeting between the two composers, Mozart noted that Beethoven would "give the world something to talk about." As well, [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]] wrote his ''Mozartiana'' in praise of him; [[Gustav Mahler|Mahler]] died with the word "Mozart" on his lips.
Several hundred thousand mentally and physically disabled were exterminated. The Nazis believed that the disabled were a burden to society because they needed to be taken care of. Around 400,000 individuals were [[compulsory sterilization|sterilized against their will]] for having mental deficiencies or illnesses deemed as hereditary in nature.


===The Köchel catalog===
Estimates vary wildly as to the number of homosexuals killed for the specific reason of being homosexual. Most estimates give number around 10,000. The larger numbers include those who were Jewish and homosexual, or even Jewish, homosexual and Communist. In addition, records as to the specific reasons for internment are non-existent in many areas. ''See [[Homosexuals in Nazi Germany]] for more information.''


In the decades following Mozart's death there were several attempts to catalog his compositions, but was not until [[1862]] that [[Ludwig von Köchel]], a Viennese [[botanist]], [[mineralogist]], and educator, succeeded in this enterprise. Köchel's book of 551 pages was entitled ''Chronological-Thematic Catalogue of the Complete Musical Works of WOLFGANG AMADE MOZART''. The prefix ''[[Köchel-Verzeichnis|K]]'' or ''KV'' which accompanies catalog numbers assigned to Mozart's works, instead of [[Opus_number|Opus]], are derivative of Köchel's name. Köchel catalog numbers not only attempts to establish chronology, but also gives a helpful shorthand to refer to Mozart's works. Many of his famous works are referred to now by only their Köchel catalog number; for example, the Piano concerto in A major is often referred to simply as "K. 488."
Around 2000 [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] perished in concentration camps, where they were held for political and ideological reasons. They refused involvement in politics, would not say "Heil Hitler", and did not serve in the German army. ''See [[Jehovah's Witnesses and the Holocaust]].''


In [[1937]], [[Alfred Einstein]] published a corrected and expanded edition of the Köchel catalog which is the version most commonly in use today.
The [[T-4 Euthanasia Program]] was established in [[1939]] in order to maintain the supposed purity of the so-called [[Aryan]] race by systematically killing children and adults born with physical deformities or suffering from mental illness.


==The Myth of Mozart==
On [[August 18]], [[1941]], Hitler ordered a temporary halt to T-4. Graduates of the Aktion T4 program were then transferred to the concentration camps, where they continued in their trade.


Mozart is unusual among composers for being the subject of many legends and myths. An example is the story that Mozart composed his [[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]] with the belief it was for himself. Some of these myths may be based in fact, but sorting out fabrications from real events is a vexing and continuous task for Mozart scholars. Dramatists and screenwriters, free from responsibilities of scholarship, have found excellent material amongst these legends.
Euthanasia did not end in [[1941]], however; it still took place in hospitals around Germany and Austria, and crept East into a few of the occupied territories.


An especially popular case is the supposed rivalry between Mozart and [[Antonio Salieri]]; this is the subject of [[Aleksandr Pushkin]]'s play ''[[Mozart and Salieri]]'', [[Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov]]'s opera ''[[Mozart et Salieri]]'', and [[Peter Shaffer]]'s [[play]] ''[[Amadeus]]''; the last of these has been made into a feature-length [[film]] of the same name. In fact, Salieri admired Mozart. Shaffer's play attracted criticism for portraying Mozart as vulgar and loutish, a characterization felt by many to be unfairly exaggerated.
=== Extent of the Holocaust ===
Supreme Allied Commander, General (subsequently a US President) [[Dwight Eisenhower]] inspects bodies of prisoners at a liberated German concentration camp in 1945 (from the official government files):
[[Image:Gen_Eisenhower_at_death_camp_report.jpg]]


See also: [http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/2915/amadeus.html].
The exact number of people killed by the Nazi regime is still subject to further research. Recently declassified [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] documents have indicated the total may be somewhat higher than previously believed [http://www.jpost.com/com/Archive/20.May.1997/News/Article-2.html]. However, the following estimates are considered to be highly reliable.


== See also ==
The Nazis persecuted many groups of people deemed inferior to the Nazi Aryan ideal. The following estimates refer to groups that were actively singled out in Nazi ideology as being 'unfit for life' and were part of the Nazi's planned and systematic genocide.
* [[:Category:Mozart compositions]]

* [[List of compositions by Mozart]], which directly links to several Wikipedia articles about separate compositions by Mozart.
* 5.6 – 6.1 million Jews
* [[Mozart's name]]
**3.0 – 3.5 million Polish Jews
* [[Mozartkugel]], a sweet named in his honor.
* 200 000 – 800 000 Roma & Sinti
* [[Mozart effect]], a disputed theory that certain kinds of music enhance performance on certain mental tasks; the researchers who coined the term used a Mozart piece in their first study.
* 200 000 – 300 000 handicapped
* 10 000 – 25 000 homosexuals
* 2 000 Jehovah's Witnesses

:"There is no precise figure for the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust. The figure commonly used is the six million quoted by Adolf Eichmann, a senior SS official. Most research confirms that the number of victims was between five and six million. Early calculations range from 5.1 million (Professor Raul Hilberg) to 5.95 million (Jacob Leschinsky). More recent research, by Professor Yisrael Gutman and Dr. Robert Rozett in the Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, estimates the Jewish losses at 5.59-5.86 million, and a study headed by Dr. Wolfgang Benz presents a range from 5.29 million to six million. The main sources for these statistics are comparisons of prewar censuses with postwar censuses and population estimates. Nazi documentation containing partial data on various deportations and murders is also used. " From [http://www.yad-vashem.org.il/about_holocaust/faqs/answers/faq_3.html Yad Vashem]

The following groups of people were also victimized by the Nazi regime but there is little evidence that the Nazis planned to systematically target them for genocide as was the case for the groups above.

* 2.5 – 3.5 million non-Jewish Poles
* 3.5 – 6 million other Slavic civilians
* 2.5 – 4 million Soviet POWs
* 1 – 1.5 million political dissidents

===Searching for Records of Victims===
Initially after [[WWII]], of course, there were millions of members of families broken up by the war or the '''Holocaust''' searching for some record of the fate and/or whereabouts of their missing friends and relatives, which became much less intense as the years went by. More recently, however, there has a been a resurgence of interest by descendants of '''Holocaust''' survivors in researching the fates of their lost relatives. [[Yad Vashem]] provides a searchable database of three million names. Although not accessible via the [[Internet]], they will accept search requests via [[Email]]:

:"Yad Vashem's databank containing information on approximately three million victims of the Shoah is not accessible on the Internet. However, a large subset of it, containing information on over two million victims, is accessible on an Intranet browser application for visitors who come to the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem for short queries, or in the new Archives building for research. The use of the facilities is free of charge, but there is a small fee for the printing of copies. A member of the Hall of Names staff is available at all times to offer assistance and guidance with searches whenever necessary. If you cannot come to Yad Vashem, it is possible to request a names search via email: names.research@yadvashem.org.il"

Other databases and lists of victims' names, some searchable over the Web, are listed in the [[#External Links]] below.

=== The triangles ===
''Main article: [[Inverted triangle]]''

To identify prisoners in the camps according to their "offense", they were required to wear colored triangles on their clothing. Although the colors used differed from camp to camp, the colors most commonly were:
[[Image:Yellow star Jude Jew.jpg|thumb|79px|Yellow Star of David with German word Jude (Jew) on it]]

* '''[[Yellow badge|Yellow]]:''' [[Jew]]s -- two overlaid to form a [[Star of David]], with the word "Jude" (Jew) inscribed; ''mischlings,'' i.e., those who were deemed to be only part Jewish, often wore a single yellow triangle
* '''Red:''' Political dissidents, including [[Communists]]
* '''Green:''' Common [[criminal]]s. Criminals of Aryan descent were frequently given special privileges at the camps, and power over other prisoners.
* '''[[Purple triangle|Purple]]:''' Religious fundamentalists (defined as persons belonging to [[Christian]] sects whose teachings forbid fighting in wars), most notably [[Jehovah's Witnesses]]
* '''Blue:''' Immigrants.
* '''Brown:''' [[Roma and Sinti]] (Gypsies)
* '''[[Black triangle|Black]]:''' Lesbians and "anti-socials" ([[alcoholic]]s and the "work-shy")
* '''[[Pink triangle|Pink]]:''' Gay men

== Historical interpretations ==

As with any historical event, scholars continue to argue over what exactly happened, and why. Among the major questions historians have sought to answer are:
*how many people were killed in the Holocaust?
*who was directly involved in the killing?
*who authorized the killing?
*who knew about the killing?
*why did people directly participate in, authorize, or tacitly accept the killing?

=== Functionalism versus intentionalism ===

A major issue in contemporary Holocaust studies is the question of ''functionalism'' versus ''intentionalism''. Intentionalists like [[Lucy Davidowicz]] argue that the Holocaust was planned by Hitler from the very beginning. More moderate recent intentionalist historians like [[Eberhard Jäckel]] continue to emphasize the relative earliness of the decision to murder the Jews, although they are not willing to claim that Hitler planned the Holocaust from the beginning. Functionalists like [[Hans Mommsen]] hold that the Holocaust was started in 1942 as a result of the failure of the Nazi deportation policy and the impending military losses in Russia. They claim that extermination fantasies outlined in Hitler's ''[[Mein Kampf]]'' and other Nazi literature were mere propaganda and did not constitute concrete plans.

Another controversy was started by the historian [[Daniel Goldhagen]], who argues that ordinary Germans were knowing and willing participants in the Holocaust, which he claims had its roots in a deep eliminationist German [[anti-Semitism]]. Most other historians have disagreed with Goldhagen's thesis, arguing that while anti-Semitism undeniably existed in Germany, Goldhagen's idea of a uniquely German "eliminationist" anti-semitism is untenable, and that the extermination was unknown to many and had to be enforced by the dictatorial Nazi apparatus.

=== Revisionists and deniers ===

Some groups, commonly referred to as ''[[Holocaust denial|Holocaust deniers]]'', deny that the Holocaust happened. Many of the Holocaust deniers are [[neo-Nazi]]s or [[anti-Semite]]s.

The cause of the deniers was helped by the fact that many Germans did not talk about their war-time ventures, for fear of persecution.

''[[Holocaust revisionism]]'' claims that far fewer than 5-6 million Jews were killed, and that the killing was not a result of deliberate Nazi policy. Although Holocaust revisionists claim to present documentary evidence to support their claims, critics argue that the evidence is flawed, the research is specious, and the conclusions are pre-determined. Many claim that such revisionism is a form of anti-Semitism and tantamount to denial. However, many revisionists claim no anti-Semitism, saying that they merely want to "set the record straight". These people say they are glad that not as many people were killed as previously thought, and that they wish others would take revisionist evidence as good news.

== Holocaust theology ==
[[Image:Eli_Wiesel_US_Congress.jpg|left|thumb|Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, writer and spokesman on Holocaust issues, addressing the US Congress]]

In light of the magnitude of what was seen in the Holocaust, many people have re-examined the classical theological views on God's goodness and actions in the world. How can people still have any faith after the Holocaust? For the theological responses to questions raised by the Holocaust, see [[Holocaust theology]].

== Origin and use of the term ==

The word 'Holocaust', from the Greek word ''holokauston'' meaning "a burnt sacrifice offered to God", originally referred to a sacrifice Jews were required to make by the [[Torah]], and later to large scale catastrophes or massacres. Due to the theological meaning that this word carries, many Jews find the use of this word problematic, as it could imply that Jews were a sacrifice. Instead of ''holocaust'' many Jews prefer the Hebrew word ''Shoah'', which means "desolation".

While nowadays the term 'Holocaust' usually refers to the above-mentioned large-scale killings of Jews, it is also sometimes used to refer to other occurrences of [[genocide]] or [[ethnic cleansing]]. See [[Holocaust (disambiguation)]] for details.

=== Political ramifications ===

The Holocaust has had a number of political and social ramifications which reach to the present. The need to find a homeland for many Jewish refugees led to a great many Jews emigrating to [[British Mandate of Palestine|Palestine]], most of which was soon to become the modern [[State of Israel]]. This immigration had a direct effect on the Arabs of the region, which is discussed in the articles on the [[Arab-Israeli conflict]], the [[Israeli-Palestinian conflict]] and in many articles linked to these.

==Related topics==

''See also:'' [[Generalplan Ost]], [[Anti-Semitism]],
[[Auschwitz]],
[[eugenics]],
[[final solution]],
[[genocide]],
''[[The Holocaust Industry]]'',
[[Holocaust memorials]],
[[Jews in Poland]],
[[Judenrat]],
[[phases of the Holocaust]],
[[Righteous Among the Nations]],
[[List of people who helped Jews during the Holocaust]],
[[Rhineland Bastard]],
[[Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl]],
[[Protest of Zofia Kossak-Szczucka]],
[[History of the Jews in Carpathian Ruthenia]],
[[Nazi concentration camp badges]],
''[[Black Book]]'', [[Oskar Schindler]], [[Aristides Sousa Mendes]]
''[[An_Eye_For_An_Eye:_The_Untold_Story_of_Jewish_Revenge_Against_Germans_in_1945|An Eye For an Eye]]''
[[Katyn Massacre]]


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* Christopher R. Browning, ''The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1942'', Univ. of Nebraska Press, 2004, ISBN 0803213271
* Christopher R. Browning, ''Ordinary Men'', Perennial, 1998 (reprint), ISBN 0060995068.
* John V. H. Dippel, ''Bound Upon a Wheel of Fire: Why so many German Jews made the tragic decision to remain in Nazi Germany'', Basic Books, 1996, hardback, ISBN 0465091032.
* Henry Friedlander, ''The Origins of Nazi Genocide: From Euthanasia to the Final Solution'', Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1997 (reprint), ISBN 0807846759
* Saul Friedländer, ''Nazi Germany and the Jews : Volume 1: The Years of Persecution 1933-1939'', Perennial, 1998, ISBN 0060928786
* Martin Gilbert, ''Auschwitz and the Allies'', Henry Holt and Company, 1982, hardback, ISBN 0030592844. A devastating account of how the Allies responded to the news of Hitler's mass-murder.
* [[Daniel Goldhagen|Daniel J. Goldhagen]], ''Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust'', New York: Knopf, 1996, hardback, ISBN 0679446958.
* [[Norman G. Finkelstein]], Ruth Bettina Birn, ''A nation on trial: the Goldhagen thesis and historical truth'', Owl books, 1998, hardback, ISBN 0929087755. Criticizes Goldhagen's methods and theses.
* Raul Hilberg, ''Perpetrators, Victims, Bystanders: The Jewish Catastrophe 1933-1945'', HarperCollins Publishers, 1992, hardcover, ISBN 0060190353.
* Raul Hilberg, ''The Destruction of the European Jews'', Yale University Press, 2003, revised hardcover edition, ISBN 0300095570
* [[Primo Levi]], ''If This Is A Man'' [published in the U.S. as ''Survival At Auschwitz'']
* Deborah Lipstadt, ''Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory'', Plume (The Penguin Group), 1994, hardback, ISBN 0029192358.
* Richard C. Lukas, Norman Davies, ''Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation 1939-1944'', 2001, Hippocrene Books, ISBN 0781809010
* Karl A. Schleunes, ''The Twisted Road to Auschwitz: Nazi Policy Toward German Jews, 1933-1939''. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1990, hardback, ISBN 0252000927. An argument for functionalism.
* [[Art Spiegelman]], <cite>Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History</cite>, Pantheon Books, New York, 1991, hardback, ISBN 0394541553
* [[Art Spiegelman]], <cite>Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here my Troubles Began</cite>, Pantheon Books, New York, 1991, hardback, ISBN 0-394-55655-0. Comic book format; story is of author's father, a survivor.
* [[Elie Wiesel]], [[Night (book)|''Night'']], Bantam Books, 1982 (First published in 1960), ISBN 0553272535. One of the most seminal accounts of the Holocaust.
* John Weiss, ''Ideology of Death: Why the Holocaust Happened in Germany'',1997, paperback, ISBN 1566631742.
* ''[[Shoah (film)|Shoah]]'' is a nine-hour documentary completed by [[Claude Lanzmann]] in 1985. The film, unlike most historical documentaries, does not feature reenactments or historical photos; instead it consists of interviews with people who were involved in various ways in the Holocaust, and visits to different places they discuss. The quality of the undertaking suffers from sloppy translations.

==External links==

*[http://www.ushmm.org/ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum]
*[http://www.yad-vashem.org.il/ Yad Vashem (Israeli Holocaust Memorial)]
*[http://www.mhmc.ca/ Montreal Holocaust Memorial Center Museum]
*[http://www.holocaustforgotten.com/ Nonjewish Holocaust victims]
*[http://www.shoah.de]
*[http://muweb.millersville.edu/~holo-con/ Millersville University Annual Holocaust Conference]
*[http://www.holocaustchronicle.org/Index.html The Holocaust Chronicle]
*[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust/timeline/ The Holocaust Chronology (PBS)]
*[http://www.holocaust-history.org Holocaust History]
*[http://www.tulane.edu/~so-inst/dindex.htm Deathly Silence: Everyday People in the Holocaust (By Plater Robinson)]
*[http://www.ericdigests.org/1992-3/holocaust.htm "Remember Our Faces"--Teaching about the Holocaust.]
*[http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=108398 Belief in God After the Holocaust]
*[http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/jewvicts.html Breakdown of Jewish population by country, before and after WWII]
*[http://holocaust-info.dk/statistics/ Detailed breakdown of Holocaust victim statistics]
*[http://www.uwm.edu/~baugrud/helpfiles/concamps.html Info on victim tracing services]
*[http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/de-gednk.txt Info on archive of 128,000 victim records]
*[http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/de-gedbr.txt Info on archive of 56,000 victim records from Berlin]
*[http://jewish-weblife.com/m1_engl.html Online searchable database of 55,000 victim records from Berlin]
*[http://www.jewishgen.org/GerSig/holocaust-db.htm Links to several online searchable victim databases]
*[http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/stutthof.htm Link to searchable online victim database of 2,700 from Stutthof]
*[http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Strasse/5960/names.html Link to searchable online victim database from Augsburg]
*[http://www.juedischesbingen.de/zeitungsartikel/liste_der_ermordeten.html Link to searchable online victim database from Bingen]
*[http://www.erinnerung.org/gg/bevnam.htm Lists of people from Gerau region noted by the Nazis for being insufficiently Aryan; Nazi murder victims listed at the bottom]
*[http://www.jewishgen.org/GerSig/hamburg_deportation.htm Lists of Jews sent from Hamburg, organized by concentration camp]
*[http://www.nananet.de/institut/juedischegeschichte/seiten/namena_b.html Lists of Jews sent from Hanover]
*[http://www.hagalil.com/deutschland/west/hattingen-0.htm Lists of Jews sent from Hattingen]
*[http://www.jewishgen.org/GerSig/shoah_hofgeismar.htm Lists of victims from Hofgeismar, Kassel and Wolfhagen (Hessen)]
*[http://mitglied.lycos.de/ThomFried/gedenkse.htm Hohenschoenhausener Victims of the Holocaust]
*[http://www.jewishgen.org/GerSig/holocaust.htm Names of 173 Jewish victims from Kaiserslautern]
*[http://ns-gedenkstaetten.de/nrw/de/krefeld/thema_3/opfer.rtf List of Krefelder Jews who died in institutes, prisons or camps, or suicide during WWII]
*[http://www.geschichtswerkstatt.de/mord/02a.html Death Lists from concentration camps near Muehldorf am Inn]
*[http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Nuremberg/Nuremberg.html#search Searchable list of 2300 victims from Nuremberg]
*[http://spielberg.bildung-rp.de/Todestransporx.htm List of Jews from Speyer rounded up by Nazis with notation regarding their fate]



* Aloys Greither: <cite>Wolfgang Amade' Mozart</cite> Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, 1962
* Robert W. Gutman: <cite>Mozart: A Cultural Biography.</cite> Random, 2001 ISBN 015100482X
* [[H. C. Robbins Landon]]: <cite>1791: Mozart's Last Year.</cite> Thames & Hudson, 1988 ISBN 0500281076
* Massimo Mila: <cite>Lettura delle Nozze di Figaro</cite>, Einaudi, 1979, ISBN 8806189379
* Stanley Sadie, ed.: <cite>Mozart and His Operas</cite>. St. Martin's, 2000 ISBN 031224410X
* Maynard Solomon: <cite>Mozart: a life.</cite> Harper, 1996 ISBN 0060926929
* Hershel Jick: <cite>A Listener's Guide to Mozart's Music</cite> Vantage, 1997 ISBN 0553123089


== External links ==
[[Category:Holocaust]]
*A collection of [http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart quotations] by Mozart, from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiquote Wikiquote]
*Additional source material on Mozart from [http://wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart Wikisource]
* Autobiographical texts by Mozart (amongst which a collection of his letters), published by [[Gutenberg]], can be downloaded here: http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/authrec?fk_authors=1368
* [http://hebb.mit.edu/FreeMusic/MIT_Music/Mozart/ Free recordings of Vesperae de Dominica by the MIT choir]
* [http://www.centrebouddhisteparis.org/En_Anglais/Sangharakshita_en_anglais/Mozart_and_pauses/mozart_and_pauses.html Mozart and pauses]
* [http://www.mozartproject.org The Mozart Project]the life, times and music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
* [http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?Composer=MozartWA&preview=1 Mozart's Scores by Mutopia Project]
* [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6304712936/superstorelin-20?creative=327641&camp=14573&link_code=as1 Amadeus]
{{lived|b=1756|d=1791|key=Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus}}
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Revision as of 23:56, 28 January 2005

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 271756 – December 51791) was one of the most significant and influential of all composers of Western classical music. His works are loved by many and are frequently performed.


==Life

Mozart was born in Salzburg in modern-day Austria, but at the time was the capital of a small independent Archbishopric within the Holy Roman Empire. He was baptized on the day after his birth at St. Rupert's Cathedral as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart.

The full version of Mozart's name fluctuated considerably during his lifetime; for details, see the article Mozart's name.

The years of travel

Mozart's musical ability started to become apparent when he was a toddler. He was the son of Leopold Mozart, one of Europe's leading musical pedagogues, whose influential textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule ("Essay on the fundamentals of violin playing") was published in 1756, the same year as Mozart's birth. Mozart received intensive musical training from his father, including instruction in both the piano and violin. Musically, he developed very rapidly and began to compose his own works at the age of five.

Leopold soon realized that he could earn a substantial income by showcasing his son as a Wunderkind in the courts of Europe. Mozart's older sister, Maria Anna, nicknamed "Nannerl", was a talented pianist and often accompanied her brother on Leopold's tours. Mozart wrote a number of piano pieces, in particular duets and duos, to play with her. On one occasion when Mozart became ill, Leopold expressed more concern over the loss of income than over Mozart's well-being. Constant travel and cold weather may have contributed to his subsequent illness later in life.

During his formative years, Mozart completed several journeys throughout Europe, beginning with an exhibition in 1762 at the Court of the Prince of Bavaria in Munich, then in the same year at the Imperial Court in Vienna. A long concert tour soon followed, (three and a half years) which took him with his father to the courts of Munich, Mannheim, Paris, London, The Hague, again to Paris, and back home via Zurich, Donaueschingen, and Munich. They went to Vienna again in late 1767 and remained there until December 1768.

Mozart's birthplace at 9 Getreidegasse, Salzburg, Austria

After one year spent in Salzburg, three trips to Italy followed: From December 1769 to March 1771, August to December 1771, and October 1772 to March 1773. During the first of these trips, Mozart met G.B. Martini in Bologna, and was accepted as a member of the famous Accademia Filarmonica. A highlight of the Italian journey, which is now an almost legendary tale, occurred when he heard Gregorio Allegri's Miserere once in performance, then wrote it out in its entirety from memory, only returning a second time to correct minor errors.

In September of 1777, accompanied only by his mother, Mozart began a tour of Europe that included Munich, Mannheim, and Paris, where she died.

During his trips, Mozart met a great number of musicians and aquainted himself with the works of other great composers: Amongst them were J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel, and Joseph Haydn. Even non-musicians caught his attention: He was so taken by the sound created by Benjamin Franklin's glass harmonica, he composed several pieces of music for it.

Mozart in Vienna

In 1781, Mozart visited Vienna in the company of his employer, the harsh Prince-Archbishop Colloredo, and had a falling out with him. According to Mozart's own testimony, he was dismissed literally "with a kick in the seat of the pants." Despite this, Mozart chose to settle and develop his career in Vienna after its aristocracy began to take an interest in him.

On August 4, 1782, he married Constanze Weber against his father's wishes. He and Constanze had six children, of whom only two survived infancy. Neither of these two, Karl Thomas (1784–1858) or Franz Xaver Wolfgang (1791–1844), married or had children.

1782 was an auspicious year for Mozart's career; his opera The Abduction from the Seraglio was a great success, and he began a series of concerts at which he premiered his own piano concertos as conductor and soloist.

As an adult, Mozart became a Freemason and worked fervently and successfully to convert his father before his death in 1787. His late opera The Magic Flute includes Masonic themes and allegory. He was in the same Masonic Lodge as Joseph Haydn.

Mozart's life was fraught with financial difficulty and illness. Often, he received no payment for his work, and what sums he did receive were quickly consumed by his extravagant lifestyle.

Mozart spent the year 1786 in Vienna in an apartment which may be visited today at Domgasse 5 behind St. Stephen's Cathedral; it was here that Mozart composed Le nozze di Figaro in 1786.

Final illness and death

Mozart's final illness and death are difficult scholarly topics, obscured by Romantic legends and replete with conflicting theories. Scholars disagree about the course of decline in Mozart's health--particularly at what point Mozart became aware of his impending death, and whether this awareness influenced his final works. The Romantic view holds that Mozart declined gradually, and that his outlook and compositions paralleled this decline. In opposition to this, some contemporary scholarship points out correspondence from Mozart's final year indicating that he was in good cheer, as well as evidence that Mozart's death was sudden and a shock to his family and friends.

The actual cause of Mozart's death (described in the death record as "hitziges Frieselfieber") is also a matter of conjecture. There are many different views.

Mozart's death occurred while he was working on his final composition, the Requiem.

According to popular legend, Mozart penniless and forgotten when he died, and was buried in a pauper's grave. In fact, though he was no longer as fashionable in Vienna as he had once been, he continued to have a well paid job at court and receive substantial commissions from more distant parts of Europe, Prague in particular. Many of his begging letters survive, but they are evidence not so much of poverty than his ability to always spend more than he earned. He was not buried in a mass grave but a regular communal grave according to the 1783 laws.

In 1809, Constanze married Danish diplomat Georg Nikolaus von Nissen (1761–1826). Being a fanatic of Mozart, he edited vulgar passages out of many of the composer's letters and wrote a Mozart biography. 

==

Headline text

Works, musical style and innovations

See also: Musical works of Mozart.

Mozart was a prolific composer and wrote for many genres. Among his best works are his operas, the piano concertos, his symphonies, string quartets and string quintets. Mozart also wrote voluminously for solo piano, chamber music, masses and other religious music, dances, divertimenti, and other forms of light entertainment.

Influence

Many important composers since Mozart's time have worshipped or been in awe of Mozart. Beethoven told his pupil Ries that he (Beethoven) would never be able to think of a melody as great as that of the first movement of Mozart's Piano concerto No. 24, and paid homage to Mozart by writing variations on several of his themes; for example, the two sets of Variations for Cello and Piano on themes from Mozart's Magic Flute, and cadenzas to several of the Mozart's piano concertos, most notably the Piano concerto No. 20 K. 466. After the only meeting between the two composers, Mozart noted that Beethoven would "give the world something to talk about." As well, Tchaikovsky wrote his Mozartiana in praise of him; Mahler died with the word "Mozart" on his lips.

The Köchel catalog

In the decades following Mozart's death there were several attempts to catalog his compositions, but was not until 1862 that Ludwig von Köchel, a Viennese botanist, mineralogist, and educator, succeeded in this enterprise. Köchel's book of 551 pages was entitled Chronological-Thematic Catalogue of the Complete Musical Works of WOLFGANG AMADE MOZART. The prefix K or KV which accompanies catalog numbers assigned to Mozart's works, instead of Opus, are derivative of Köchel's name. Köchel catalog numbers not only attempts to establish chronology, but also gives a helpful shorthand to refer to Mozart's works. Many of his famous works are referred to now by only their Köchel catalog number; for example, the Piano concerto in A major is often referred to simply as "K. 488."

In 1937, Alfred Einstein published a corrected and expanded edition of the Köchel catalog which is the version most commonly in use today.

The Myth of Mozart

Mozart is unusual among composers for being the subject of many legends and myths. An example is the story that Mozart composed his Requiem with the belief it was for himself. Some of these myths may be based in fact, but sorting out fabrications from real events is a vexing and continuous task for Mozart scholars. Dramatists and screenwriters, free from responsibilities of scholarship, have found excellent material amongst these legends.

An especially popular case is the supposed rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri; this is the subject of Aleksandr Pushkin's play Mozart and Salieri, Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Mozart et Salieri, and Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus; the last of these has been made into a feature-length film of the same name. In fact, Salieri admired Mozart. Shaffer's play attracted criticism for portraying Mozart as vulgar and loutish, a characterization felt by many to be unfairly exaggerated.

See also: [1].

See also

Further reading

  • Aloys Greither: Wolfgang Amade' Mozart Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, 1962
  • Robert W. Gutman: Mozart: A Cultural Biography. Random, 2001 ISBN 015100482X
  • H. C. Robbins Landon: 1791: Mozart's Last Year. Thames & Hudson, 1988 ISBN 0500281076
  • Massimo Mila: Lettura delle Nozze di Figaro, Einaudi, 1979, ISBN 8806189379
  • Stanley Sadie, ed.: Mozart and His Operas. St. Martin's, 2000 ISBN 031224410X
  • Maynard Solomon: Mozart: a life. Harper, 1996 ISBN 0060926929
  • Hershel Jick: A Listener's Guide to Mozart's Music Vantage, 1997 ISBN 0553123089

External links

Template:Lived

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