● Mozart wrote more than 600 works, including more than 40 symphonies, 27 piano concertos, his unfinished Requiem Mass and numerous operas. "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik," his serenade for string quintet or small string orchestra, rates by some as the most popular example of chamber music from the Classical era. The familiar intro has provided the soundtrack for numerous commercials and is in the movies "Amadeus" and "The Witches of Eastwick."
Jan. 27, 1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is born, Salzburg, Austria.
1759Begins playing harpsichord at age 3.
1761 At age 5, begins to compose simple pieces that are far more complex and sophisticated than anyone could imagine for a child.
1762Plays before the Bavarian elector and the Austrian empress at age 6.
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1763Hits the road with dad and big sister and fellow prodigy Nannerl for a concert tour that lasts three years.
1764Composes his first symphony; he's 8 years old. Meets Johann Christian Bach, Johann Sebastian Bach's youngest son.
1768Completes his first opera, "La Finta Semplice" (The Simple Pretense).
1771Premiere of his first major opera, "Mitridate, Rè di Ponte" (Mithridates, King of Pontus), in Milan. He's 14.
1782Marries Constanze Weber. The couple have two sons.
1783Mozart composes the Mass in C minor.
1786"The Marriage of Figaro" premieres in Vienna and is a tremendous success in Prague the following year.
1787His father, Leopold, dies; "Don Giovanni" is a triumph in Prague.
1790"Così fan tutte" premieres in Vienna and flops; Mozart's health deteriorates.
1791"The Magic Flute" opens in Vienna. A mysterious count commissions him to write Requiem Mass. Months later, he dies at age 35 on Dec. 5 and never finishes the piece. His pupil Franz Süssmayer is entrusted to finish it.
