Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (, English see fn.), baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791), was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers.

Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood in Salzburg. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, he was engaged as a court musician in Salzburg, but grew restless and travelled in search of a better position, always composing abundantly. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the ''Requiem'', which was largely unfinished at the time of Mozart's death. The circumstances of his early death have been much mythologized. He was survived by his wife Constanze and two sons.

Mozart learned voraciously from others, and developed a brilliance and maturity of style that encompassed the light and graceful along with the dark and passionate. His influence on subsequent Western art music is profound. Beethoven wrote his own early compositions in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote that "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years."

Biography

Family and early years

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born to Leopold and Anna Maria Pertl Mozart at 9 Getreidegasse in Salzburg, capital of the sovereign Archbishopric of Salzburg in what is now Austria, but then was part of the Holy Roman Empire. His only sibling to survive infancy was his elder sister Maria Anna (1751–1829), nicknamed "Nannerl". Mozart was baptized the day after his birth at St. Rupert's Cathedral. The baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form as ''Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart''. He generally called himself "Wolfgang Amadè Mozart" as an adult, but there were many variants.

His father (1719–1787) was from Augsburg. He was deputy Kapellmeister to the court orchestra of the Archbishop of Salzburg, a minor composer, and an experienced teacher. In the year of Mozart's birth, his father published a violin textbook, ''Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule'', which achieved success.

When Nannerl was seven, she began keyboard lessons with her father while her three-year-old brother would look on. Years later, after her brother's death, she reminisced:

He often spent much time at the clavier, picking out thirds, which he was ever striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good. [...] In the fourth year of his age his father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and pieces at the clavier. [...] He could play it faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time. [...] At the age of five, he was already composing little pieces, which he played to his father who wrote them down.

These early pieces, K. 1–5, were recorded in the ''Nannerl Notenbuch''.

Biographer Maynard Solomon notes that, while Mozart's father was a devoted teacher to his children, there is evidence that Mozart was keen to progress beyond what he was taught. His first ink-spattered composition and his precocious efforts with the violin were of his own initiative and came as a surprise to his father. Mozart's father eventually gave up composing when his son's musical talents became evident. In his early years, Mozart's father was his only teacher. Along with music, he also taught his children languages and academic subjects.

1762–1773: Years of travel

During Mozart's youth, his family made several European journeys in which he and Nannerl performed as child prodigies. These began with an exhibition, in 1762, at the court of the Prince-elector Maximilian III of Bavaria in Munich, and at the Imperial Court in Vienna and Prague. A long concert tour spanning three and a half years followed, taking the family to the courts of Munich, Mannheim, Paris, London, The Hague, again to Paris, and back home via Zurich, Donaueschingen, and Munich. During this trip, Mozart met a great number of musicians and acquainted himself with the works of other composers. A particularly important influence was Johann Christian Bach, whom Mozart visited in London in 1764 and 1765. The family again went to Vienna in late 1767 and remained there until December 1768. In 1767, during this period, he composed the Latin drama ''Apollo et Hyacinthus'' first performed in Salzburg University.

These trips were often difficult and travel conditions were primitive. The family had to wait for invitations and reimbursement from the nobility and they endured long, near-fatal illnesses far from home.

After one year in Salzburg, father and son set off for Italy, leaving Mozart's mother and sister at home. This travel lasted from December 1769 to March 1771. As with earlier journeys, Mozart's father wanted to display his son's abilities as a performer and a rapidly maturing composer. Mozart met G. B. Martini, in Bologna, and was accepted as a member of the famous ''Accademia Filarmonica''. In Rome, he heard Gregorio Allegri's ''Miserere'' once in performance in the Sistine Chapel. He wrote it out in its entirety from memory, only returning to correct minor errors—thus producing the first illegal copy of this closely guarded property of the Vatican.

In Milan, Mozart wrote the opera ''Mitridate, re di Ponto'' (1770), which was performed with success. This led to further opera commissions. He returned with his father later twice to Milan (August–December 1771; October 1772 – March 1773) for the composition and premieres of ''Ascanio in Alba'' (1771) and ''Lucio Silla'' (1772). Mozart's father hoped these visits would result in a professional appointment for his son in Italy, but these hopes were never fulfilled.

Toward the end of the final Italian journey, Mozart wrote the first of his works to be still widely performed today, the solo motet ''Exsultate, jubilate'', K. 165.

1773–1777: The Salzburg court

After finally returning with his father from Italy on 13 March 1773, Mozart was employed as a court musician by the ruler of Salzburg, Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo. The composer had a great number of friends and admirers in Salzburg and had the opportunity to work in many genres, composing symphonies, sonatas, string quartets, serenades, and a few minor operas. Between April and December 1775, Mozart developed an enthusiasm for violin concertos, producing a series of five (the only ones he ever wrote), which steadily increased in their musical sophistication. The last three—K. 216, K. 218, K. 219—are now staples of the repertoire. In 1776 he turned his efforts to piano concertos, culminating in the E-flat concerto K. 271 of early 1777, considered by critics to be a breakthrough work.

Despite these artistic successes, Mozart grew increasingly discontented with Salzburg and redoubled his efforts to find a position elsewhere. One reason was his low salary, 150 florins a year; Mozart also longed to compose operas, and Salzburg provided only rare occasions for these. The situation worsened in 1775 when the court theater was closed, especially since the other theater in Salzburg was largely reserved for visiting troupes.

Two long expeditions in search of work interrupted this long Salzburg stay: Mozart and his father visited Vienna from 14 July to 26 September 1773, and Munich from 6 December 1774 to March 1775. Neither visit was successful, though the Munich journey resulted in a popular success with the premiere of Mozart's opera ''La finta giardiniera''.

1777–1778: The Paris journey

In August 1777, Mozart resigned his Salzburg position and, on September 23, ventured out once more in search of employment, with visits to Augsburg, Mannheim, Paris, and Munich.

Mozart became acquainted with members of the famous orchestra in Mannheim, the best in Europe at the time. He also fell in love with Aloysia Weber, one of four daughters in a musical family. There were prospects of employment in Mannheim, but they came to nothing, and Mozart left for Paris on 14 March 1778 to continue his search. One of his letters from Paris hints at a possible post as an organist at Versailles, but Mozart was not interested in such an appointment. He fell into debt and took to pawning valuables. The nadir of the visit occurred when Mozart's mother took ill and died on 3 July 1778. There had been delays in calling a doctor—probably, according to Halliwell, because of a lack of funds.

While Mozart was in Paris, his father was pursuing opportunities for his son back in Salzburg. With the support of local nobility, Mozart was offered a post as court organist and concertmaster. The yearly salary was 450 florins, but he was reluctant to accept. After leaving Paris on in September 1778, he tarried in Mannheim and Munich, still hoping to obtain an appointment outside Salzburg. In Munich, he again encountered Aloysia, now a very successful singer, but she was no longer interested in him. Mozart finally reached home on 15 January 1779 and took up the new position, but his discontent with Salzburg was undiminished.

Among the better known works that Mozart wrote on the Paris journey are the A minor piano sonata K. 310/300d and the "Paris" Symphony (no. 31); these were performed in Paris on 12 and 18 June 1778.

1781: Departure to Vienna

In January 1781, Mozart's opera ''Idomeneo'' premiered with "considerable success" in Munich. The following March the composer was summoned to Vienna, where his employer, Archbishop Colloredo, was attending the celebrations for the accession of Joseph II to the Austrian throne. Mozart, fresh from the adulation he had earned in Munich, was offended when Colloredo treated him as a mere servant and particularly when the archbishop forbade him to perform before the Emperor at Countess Thun's for a fee equal to half of his yearly Salzburg salary. The resulting quarrel came to a head in May: Mozart attempted to resign and was refused. The following month, permission was granted but in a grossly insulting way: the composer was dismissed literally "with a kick in the ass", administered by the archbishop's steward, Count Arco. Mozart decided to settle in Vienna as a freelance performer and composer.

The quarrel with the archbishop went harder for Mozart because his father sided against him. Hoping fervently that he would obediently follow Colloredo back to Salzburg, Mozart's father exchanged intense letters with his son, urging him to be reconciled with their employer. Mozart passionately defended his intention to pursue an independent career in Vienna. The debate ended when Mozart was dismissed by the archbishop, freeing himself both of his employer and his father's demands to return. Solomon characterizes Mozart's resignation as a "revolutionary step", and it greatly altered the course of his life.

Early Vienna years

Mozart's new career in Vienna began well. He performed often as a pianist, notably in a competition before the Emperor with Muzio Clementi on 24 December 1781, and he soon "had established himself as the finest keyboard player in Vienna". He also prospered as a composer, and in 1782 completed the opera ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'' ("The Abduction from the Seraglio"), which premiered on 16 July 1782 and achieved a huge success. The work was soon being performed "throughout German-speaking Europe", and fully established Mozart's reputation as a composer.

Near the height of his quarrels with Colloredo, Mozart moved in with the Weber family, who had moved to Vienna from Mannheim. The father, Fridolin, had died, and the Webers were now taking in lodgers to make ends meet. Aloysia, who had earlier rejected Mozart's suit, was now married to the actor and artist, Joseph Lange. Mozart's interest shifted to the third Weber daughter, Constanze. The courtship did not go entirely smoothly; surviving correspondence indicates that Mozart and Constanze briefly separated in April 1782. Mozart also faced a very difficult task in getting his father's permission for the marriage. The couple were finally married on 4 August 1782 in St. Stephen's Cathedral, the day before his father's consent arrived in the mail.

The couple had six children, of whom only two survived infancy:

Raimund Leopold (17 June – 19 August 1783)

Karl Thomas Mozart (21 September 1784 – 31 October 1858)

Johann Thomas Leopold (18 October – 15 November 1786)

Theresia Constanzia Adelheid Friedericke Maria Anna (27 December 1787 – 29 June 1788)

Anna Maria (died soon after birth, 25 December 1789)

Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart (26 July 1791 – 29 July 1844)

In the course of 1782 and 1783 Mozart became intimately acquainted with the work of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel as a result of the influence of Gottfried van Swieten, who owned many manuscripts of the Baroque masters. Mozart's study of these scores inspired compositions in Baroque style, and later influenced his personal musical language, for example in fugal passages in ''Die Zauberflöte'' ("The Magic Flute") and the finale of Symphony No. 41.

In 1783, Mozart and his wife visited his family in Salzburg. His father and sister were cordially polite to Constanze, but the visit prompted the composition of one of Mozart's great liturgical pieces, the Mass in C minor. Though not completed, it was premiered in Salzburg, with Constanze singing a solo part.

Mozart met Joseph Haydn in Vienna around 1784, and the two composers became friends. When Haydn visited Vienna, they sometimes played together in an impromptu string quartet. Mozart's six quartets dedicated to Haydn (K. 387, K. 421, K. 428, K. 458, K. 464, and K. 465) date from the period 1782 to 1785, and are judged to be a response to Haydn's Opus 33 set from 1781. Haydn in 1785 told Mozart's father: "I tell you before God, and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer known to me by person and repute, he has taste and what is more the greatest skill in composition." (''See also: Haydn and Mozart'')

From 1782 to 1785 Mozart mounted concerts with himself as soloist, presenting three or four new piano concertos in each season. Since space in the theaters was scarce, he booked unconventional venues: a large room in the Trattnerhof (an apartment building), and the ballroom of the Mehlgrube (a restaurant). The concerts were very popular, and the concertos he premiered at them are still firm fixtures in the repertoire. Solomon writes that during this period Mozart created "a harmonious connection between an eager composer-performer and a delighted audience, which was given the opportunity of witnessing the transformation and perfection of a major musical genre".

With substantial returns from his concerts and elsewhere, Mozart and his wife adopted a rather plush lifestyle. They moved to an expensive apartment, with a yearly rent of 460 florins. Mozart also bought a fine fortepiano from Anton Walter for about 900 florins, and a billiard table for about 300. The Mozarts sent their son Karl Thomas to an expensive boarding school, and kept servants. Saving was therefore impossible, and the short period of financial success did nothing to soften the hardship the Mozarts were later to experience.

On 14 December 1784, Mozart became a Freemason, admitted to the lodge Zur Wohltätigkeit ("Beneficence"). Freemasonry played an important role in the remainder of Mozart's life: he attended meetings, a number of his friends were Masons, and on various occasions he composed Masonic music. (''See also: Mozart and Freemasonry'')

1786–1787: Return to opera

Despite the great success of ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'', Mozart did little operatic writing for the next four years, producing only two unfinished works and the one-act ''Der Schauspieldirektor''. He focused instead on his career as a piano soloist and writer of concertos. However, around the end of 1785, Mozart moved away from keyboard writing and began his famous operatic collaboration with the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. 1786 saw the successful premiere of ''The Marriage of Figaro'' in Vienna. Its reception in Prague later in the year was even warmer, and this led to a second collaboration with Da Ponte: the opera ''Don Giovanni'', which premiered in October 1787 to acclaim in Prague, and also met with success in Vienna in 1788. The two are among Mozart's most important works and are mainstays of the operatic repertoire today, though at their premieres their musical complexity caused difficulty for both listeners and performers. These developments were not witnessed by Mozart's father, who had died on 28 May 1787.

In December 1787, Mozart finally obtained a steady post under aristocratic patronage. Emperor Joseph II appointed him as his "chamber composer", a post that had fallen vacant the previous month on the death of Gluck. It was a part-time appointment, paying just 800 florins per year, and only required Mozart to compose dances for the annual balls in the Redoutensaal. However, even this modest income became important to Mozart when hard times arrived. Court records show that Joseph's aim was to keep the esteemed composer from leaving Vienna in pursuit of better prospects.

In 1787 the young Ludwig van Beethoven spent several weeks in Vienna, hoping to study with Mozart. No reliable records survive to indicate whether the two composers ever met. (''See also section "Influence" below'')

1788–1790

Toward the end of the decade, Mozart's circumstances worsened. Around 1786 he had ceased to appear frequently in public concerts, and his income shrank. This was a difficult time for musicians in Vienna because Austria was at war, and both the general level of prosperity and the ability of the aristocracy to support music had declined. Mozart began to borrow money, most often from his friend and fellow Mason Michael Puchberg; "a pitiful sequence of letters pleading for loans" survives. Maynard Solomon and others have suggested that Mozart was suffering from depression, and it seems that his output slowed. Major works of the period include the last three symphonies (Nos. 39, 40, and 41, all from 1788), and the last of the three Da Ponte operas, ''Così fan tutte'', premiered in 1790.

Around this time Mozart made long journeys hoping to improve his fortunes: to Leipzig, Dresden, and Berlin in the spring of 1789, and to Frankfurt, Mannheim, and other German cities in 1790. The trips produced only isolated success and did not relieve the family's financial distress. (''See also: Mozart's Berlin journey'')

1791

Mozart's last year was, until his final illness struck, a time of great productivity—and by some accounts a time of personal recovery. He composed a great deal, including some of his most admired works: the opera ''The Magic Flute'', the final piano concerto (K. 595 in B-flat), the Clarinet Concerto K. 622, the last in his great series of string quintets (K. 614 in E-flat), the motet Ave verum corpus K. 618, and the unfinished ''Requiem'' K. 626.

Mozart's financial situation, a source of extreme anxiety in 1790, finally began to improve. Although the evidence is inconclusive, it appears that wealthy patrons in Hungary and Amsterdam pledged annuities to Mozart in return for the occasional composition. He probably also benefited from the sale of dance music written in his role as Imperial chamber composer. Mozart no longer borrowed large sums from Puchberg, and made a start on paying off his debts.

He experienced great satisfaction in the public success of some of his works, notably ''The Magic Flute'' (performed many times in the short period between its premiere and Mozart's death) and the Little Masonic Cantata K. 623, premiered on 15 November 1791.

Final illness and death

Mozart fell ill while in Prague for the premiere on 6 September of his opera ''La clemenza di Tito'', written in 1791 on commission for the Emperor's coronation festivities. He was able to continue his professional functions for some time, and conducted the premiere of ''The Magic Flute'' on 30 September. The illness intensified on 20 November, at which point Mozart became bedridden, suffering from swelling, pain, and vomiting.

Mozart was nursed in his final illness by his wife and her youngest sister, and was attended by the family doctor, Thomas Franz Closset. It is clear that he was mentally occupied with the task of finishing his ''Requiem''. The evidence, however, that he actually dictated passages to his student Süssmayr is minimal.

Mozart died at 1 am on 5 December 1791 at the age of 35. The New Grove gives a matter-of-fact description of his funeral:

Mozart was buried in a common grave, in accordance with contemporary Viennese custom, at the St. Marx Cemetery outside the city on 7 December. If, as later reports say, no mourners attended, that too is consistent with Viennese burial customs at the time; later Jahn (1856) wrote that Salieri, Süssmayr, van Swieten and two other musicians were present. The tale of a storm and snow is false; the day was calm and mild.

The cause of Mozart's death cannot be known with certainty. The official record has it as "hitziges Frieselfieber" ("severe miliary fever", referring to a rash that looks like millet seeds), a description that does not suffice to identify the cause as it would be diagnosed in modern medicine. Researchers have posited at least 118 causes of death, including trichinosis, influenza, mercury poisoning, and a rare kidney ailment. The most widely accepted hypothesis is that Mozart died of acute rheumatic fever.

Mozart's modest funeral did not reflect his standing with the public as a composer: memorial services and concerts in Vienna and Prague were well attended. Indeed, in the period immediately after his death, Mozart's reputation rose substantially: Solomon describes an "unprecedented wave of enthusiasm" for his work; biographies were written (first by Schlichtegroll, Niemetschek, and Nissen; see Biographies of Mozart); and publishers vied to produce complete editions of his works.

Appearance and character

Mozart's physical appearance was described by tenor Michael Kelly, in his ''Reminiscences'': "a remarkably small man, very thin and pale, with a profusion of fine, fair hair of which he was rather vain". As his early biographer Niemetschek wrote, "there was nothing special about [his] physique. [...] He was small and his countenance, except for his large intense eyes, gave no signs of his genius." His facial complexion was pitted, a reminder of his childhood case of smallpox. His nose was "large" and "aquiline" and “became so prominent a feature in the last years of his life...that a scribber in one of the journals of the day, the Morgenblatter of Vienna, honoured him with the epithet 'enourmous-nosed.'" He loved elegant clothing. Kelly remembered him at a rehearsal: "[He] was on the stage with his crimson pelisse and gold-laced cocked hat, giving the time of the music to the orchestra." Of his voice his wife later wrote that it "was a tenor, rather soft in speaking and delicate in singing, but when anything excited him, or it became necessary to exert it, it was both powerful and energetic".

Mozart usually worked long and hard, finishing compositions at a tremendous pace as deadlines approached. He often made sketches and drafts; unlike Beethoven's these are mostly not preserved, as his wife sought to destroy them after his death.He was raised a Roman Catholic and remained a member of the Church throughout his life. (''See also: Mozart and Roman Catholicism'')

Mozart lived at the center of the Viennese musical world, and knew a great number and variety of people: fellow musicians, theatrical performers, fellow Salzburgers, and aristocrats, including some acquaintance with the Emperor Joseph II. Solomon considers his three closest friends to have been Gottfried von Jacquin, Count August Hatzfeld, and Sigmund Barisani; others included his older colleague Joseph Haydn, singers Franz Xaver Gerl and Benedikt Schack, and the horn player Joseph Leutgeb. Leutgeb and Mozart carried on a curious kind of friendly mockery, often with Leutgeb as the butt of Mozart's practical jokes.

He enjoyed billiards and dancing, and kept pets: a canary, a starling, a dog, and also a horse for recreational riding. He had a startling fondness for scatological humor, which is preserved in his surviving letters, notably those written to his cousin Maria Anna Thekla Mozart around 1777–1778, but also in his correspondence with his sister and parents. Mozart even wrote scatological music, a series of canons that he sang with his friends. (''See also: Mozart and scatology'')

Rumors of Tourette Syndrome

Although some authors have speculated Mozart had Tourette syndrome, evidence for this hypothesis is lacking. Endocrinologist Benjamin Simkin, however, argues in his book, ''Medical and Musical Byways of Mozartiana'', that Mozart suffered from Tourette's. This claim was picked up by newspapers worldwide and internet websites have further fueled the speculation. A German psychiatrist examined the question of Mozart's diagnoses and concluded, "Tourette’s syndrome is an inventive but implausible diagnosis in the medical history of Mozart". Evidence of a motor tic was found lacking and the notion that involuntary vocal tics transferred to the written form was labeled "problematic". Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks published an editorial disputing Simkin's claim, and the Tourette Syndrome Association pointed to the speculative nature of such information. So far, no expert on Tourette's or organization has voiced concurrence that there is credible evidence to conclude Mozart had the syndrome.

Works, musical style, and innovations

Style

Mozart's music, like Haydn's, stands as an archetype of the Classical style. At the time he began composing, European music was dominated by the ''style galant'', a reaction against the highly evolved intricacy of the Baroque. Progressively, and in large part at the hands of Mozart himself, the contrapuntal complexities of the late Baroque emerged once more, moderated and disciplined by new forms, and adapted to a new aesthetic and social milieu. Mozart was a versatile composer, and wrote in every major genre, including symphony, opera, the solo concerto, chamber music including string quartet and string quintet, and the piano sonata. These forms were not new, but Mozart advanced their technical sophistication and emotional reach. He almost single-handedly developed and popularized the Classical piano concerto. He wrote a great deal of religious music, including large-scale masses, but also dances, divertimenti, serenades, and other forms of light entertainment.

The central traits of the Classical style are all present in Mozart's music. Clarity, balance, and transparency are the hallmarks of his work, but simplistic notions of its delicacy mask the exceptional power of his finest masterpieces, such as the Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491, the Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550, and the opera ''Don Giovanni''. Charles Rosen makes the point forcefully:

"It is only through recognizing the violence and sensuality at the center of Mozart's work that we can make a start towards a comprehension of his structures and an insight into his magnificence. In a paradoxical way, Schumann's superficial characterization of the [second] G minor Symphony can help us to see Mozart's daemon more steadily. In all of Mozart's supreme expressions of suffering and terror, there is something shockingly voluptuous."

Especially during his last decade, Mozart exploited chromatic harmony to a degree rare at the time, with remarkable assurance and to great artistic effect.

Mozart always had a gift for absorbing and adapting valuable features of others' music. His travels helped in the forging of a unique compositional language. In London as a child, he met J.C. Bach and heard his music. In Paris, Mannheim, and Vienna he met with other compositional influences, as well as the avant-garde capabilities of the Mannheim orchestra. In Italy he encountered the Italian overture and opera buffa, both of which deeply affected the evolution of his own practice. In London and Italy, the galant style was in the ascendent: simple, light music with a mania for cadencing; an emphasis on tonic, dominant, and subdominant to the exclusion of other harmonies; symmetrical phrases; and clearly articulated partitions in the overall form of movements. Some of Mozart's early symphonies are Italian overtures, with three movements running into each other; many are homotonal (all three movements having the same key signature, with the slow middle movement being in the relative minor). Others mimic the works of J.C. Bach, and others show the simple rounded binary forms turned out by Viennese composers.

As Mozart matured, he progressively incorporated more features adapted from the Baroque. For example, the Symphony No. 29 in A major K. 201 has a contrapuntal main theme in its first movement, and experimentation with irregular phrase lengths. Some of his quartets from 1773 have fugal finales, probably influenced by Haydn, who had included three such finales in his recently published Opus 20 set. The influence of the ''Sturm und Drang'' ("Storm and Stress") period in music, with its brief foreshadowing of the Romantic era, is evident in the music of both composers at that time. Mozart's Symphony No. 25 in G minor K. 183 is another excellent example.

Mozart would sometimes switch his focus between operas and instrumental music. He produced operas in each of the prevailing styles: opera buffa, such as ''The Marriage of Figaro'', ''Don Giovanni'', and ''Così fan tutte''; opera seria, such as ''Idomeneo''; and Singspiel, of which ''Die Zauberflöte'' is the most famous example by any composer. In his later operas he employed subtle changes in instrumentation, orchestral texture, and tone color, for emotional depth and to mark dramatic shifts. Here his advances in opera and instrumental composing interacted: his increasingly sophisticated use of the orchestra in the symphonies and concertos influenced his operatic orchestration, and his developing subtlety in using the orchestra to psychological effect in his operas was in turn reflected in his later non-operatic compositions.

Influence

Mozart's most famous pupil, whom the Mozarts took into their Vienna home for two years as a child, was probably Johann Nepomuk Hummel, a transitional figure between Classical and Romantic eras. More important is the influence Mozart had on composers of later generations. Ever since the surge in his reputation after his death, studying his scores has been a standard part of the training of classical musicians.

Ludwig van Beethoven, Mozart's junior by fifteen years, was deeply influenced by his work, with which he was acquainted as a teenager. He is thought to have performed Mozart's operas while playing in the court orchestra at Bonn, and he traveled to Vienna in 1787 hoping to study with the older composer. Some of Beethoven's works have direct models in comparable works by Mozart, and he wrote cadenzas (WoO 58) to Mozart's D minor piano concerto K. 466.

A number of composers have paid homage to Mozart by writing sets of variations on his themes. Beethoven wrote four such sets (Op. 66, WoO 28, WoO 40, WoO 46). Others include Frédéric Chopin's Variations on "Là ci darem la mano" from ''Don Giovanni'' (1827), Max Reger's Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Mozart (1914), based on the variation theme in the piano sonata K. 331, Fernando Sor's Introduction and Variations on a Theme by Mozart (1821) and Mikhail Glinka's Variations on a Theme from Mozart's Opera Die Zauberflöte in E♭ major (1822). Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote his Orchestral Suite No. 4 in G, "Mozartiana" (1887), as a tribute to Mozart.

Köchel catalogue

For unambiguous identification of works by Mozart, a ''Köchel catalogue number'' is used. This is a unique number assigned, in regular chronological order, to every one of his known works. A work is referenced by the abbreviation "K." followed by this number. The first edition of the catalogue was completed in 1862 by Ludwig von Köchel. It has since been repeatedly updated, as scholarly research improves knowledge of the dates and authenticity of individual works.

See also

Mozart and dance

''The Complete Mozart Edition'', 180 compact discs arranged into 45 themed volumes released by Philips Classics Records in 2000.

Mozart effect

Mozart family

Mozart in fiction

Mozartkugel

Mozarteum

Mozarthaus Vienna

Notes

References

;Cited sources

Fradkin, Robert A. (1996) ''The well-tempered announcer: a pronunciation guide to classical music.'' Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 025321064X.

;Other sources

External links

Mozarthaus Salzburg

Salzburg Tourist Office – Salzburg City Tourist Board website.

Chronological-Thematic Catalog

Digitized, scanned material (books, sheet music)

"Mozart" Titles; Mozart as author from archive.org

"Mozart" Titles; Mozart as author from books.google.com

Digital Mozart Edition (''Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum'')

"Mozart" titles from Gallica

From the British Library

*Mozart's Thematic Catalogue (view with "Turning the Pages")

*Mozart's Musical Diary

*Background information on Mozart and the Thematic Catalogue

Letters of Leopold Mozart und Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Badische Landesbibliothek)

Sheet music

Complete sheetmusic (scores) from the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe (''Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum'')

"Mozart" Titles from the Munich Digitisation Centre (MDZ)

"Mozart" Titles from the University of Rochester

Free typeset sheet music of Mozart's works from ''Cantorion.org''

Mozart as author from archive.org

Mozart as author from books.google.com

Category:Classical era composers Category:Austrian composers Category:German composers Category:Opera composers Category:Organ improvisers Category:Viennese composers Category:Austrian classical pianists Category:Child classical musicians Category:People from Salzburg Category:Austrian Roman Catholics Category:Knights of the Golden Spur Category:1756 births Category:1791 deaths Category:Composers for piano

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Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
Art	Stadt (City)
Name	Salzburg
Wappen	Wappen at salzburg stadt.png
Image photo	Old Town Salzburg across the Salzach river.jpg
Lat deg	47 | lat_min 48 | lat_sec 0
Lon deg	13 | lon_min 02 | lon_sec 0
Lageplan
Bundesland	Salzburg
Bezirk	Statutarstadt
Höhe	424
Fläche	65.678
Einwohner	147571
Stand	13.07.2010
Plz	5020
Vorwahl	0662
Kfz	S
Gemeindekennziffer	50 101
Nuts	323 Population 9,382,278
Locode
Straße	Mirabellplatz 4
Website	www.stadt-salzburg.at
Bürgermeister	Heinz Schaden
Partei	SPÖ
Gemeinderatanzahl	40
Wahljahr	2004
Gemeinderat	19 SPÖ, 9 ÖVP, 6 BL, 2 FPÖ, 4 Parteilose }}

Whs	Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg
State party
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv, vi
Id	784
Region	Europe and North America
Year	1996
Session	20th
Link	http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/784 }}

(; literally: "Salt Castle") is the fourth-largest city in Austria and the capital city of the federal state of Salzburg.

Salzburg's "Old Town" (''Altstadt'') has internationally renowned baroque architecture and one of the best-preserved city centres north of the Alps. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The city is noted for its Alpine setting.

Salzburg was the birthplace of 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In the mid-20th century, the city was the setting for parts of the American musical and film ''The Sound of Music'', which features famous landmarks in Austria. The musical was a partnership between Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

The capital city of the State of Salzburg (''Land Salzburg''), the city has three universities. It has a large population of students who add liveliness and energy to the area, and the universities provide culture to the community.

Geography

Salzburg is on the banks of the Salzach River, at the northern boundary of the Alps. The mountains to Salzburg's south contrast with the rolling plains to the north. The closest alpine peak—the 1972 m Untersberg—is only a few kilometres from the city centre. The ''Altstadt'', or "old town", is dominated by its baroque towers and churches and the massive ''Festung Hohensalzburg''. This area is surrounded by two smaller mountains, the ''Mönchsberg'' and ''Kapuzinerberg'', which act as the green lungs of the city. Salzburg is approximately 150 km east of Munich, 281 km northwest of Ljubljana, and 300 km west of Vienna.

Climate

The climate of Salzburg is cool and humid (Köppen ''Cfb'').

Population development

In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for refugees when they left. In around 1950 Salzburg passed the mark of 100,000 citizens, and in 2006 it reached the mark of 150,000 citizens. In the agglomeration, about 210,000 are residing as of 2007.

History

Antiquity to Early Modern period

Traces of human settlements have been found in the area dating to the Neolithic Age. The first settlements at Salzburg were apparently begun by the Celts around the 5th century BC.

Around 15 BC the separate settlements were merged into one city by the Roman Empire. At this time the city was called ''Juvavum'' and was awarded the status of a Roman ''municipium'' in 45 AD. Juvavum developed into an important town of the Roman province of Noricum. After the collapse of the Norican frontier, Juvavum declined so sharply that by the late 7th century it had become a "near ruin".

The ''Life of Saint Rupert'' credits the 8th-century saint with the city's rebirth. When Theodo of Bavaria asked Rupert to become bishop c. 700, Rupert reconnoitered the river for the site of his basilica. Rupert chose Juvavum, ordained priests, and annexed the manor Piding. Rupert named the city "Salzburg". He traveled to evangelise among pagans.

The name Salzburg means "Salt Castle". It derives its name from the barges' carrying salt on the Salzach River, which were subject to a toll in the 8th century, as was customary for many communities and cities on European rivers.

The Festung Hohensalzburg, the city's fortress, was built in 1077 and expanded during the following centuries.

Independence of Salzburg

Independence from Bavaria was secured in the late 14th century. Salzburg was the seat of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire.

Modern Era

Religious conflict

On 31 October 1731, the 214th anniversary of Martin Luther's nailing of his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg School door, Roman Catholic Archbishop Count Leopold Anton von Firmian signed an Edict of Expulsion, the ''Emigrationspatent'', directing all Protestants to recant their non-Catholic beliefs or be banished from the city. (This is not to be confused with many similar edicts of expulsion issued against the Jews in various cities in Europe.)

Landowners were given two days to sell their lands and leave. Cattle, sheep, furniture and land all had to be dumped on the market, and the Salzburgers received little money from the well-to-do Catholic allies of Von Firmian. Von Firmian confiscated much of their land for his own family, and ordered all Protestant books and Bibles burned. Many children aged 12 and under were seized to be raised as Roman Catholics. But those who owned land benefited from one key advantage: the three-month deadline delayed their departure until after the worst of winter.

Tenant farmers, tradesmen, labourers and miners were given only eight days to sell what they could and leave. The first refugees marched north in desperately cold temperatures and snow storms, seeking shelter in the few cities of Germany controlled by Protestant princes. Their children walked or rode on wooden wagons loaded with baggage. As they travelled, the exiles' savings were quickly drained. They were set upon by highwaymen, who seized taxes, tolls and payment for protection by soldiers from robbers.

The story of their plight spread quickly as their columns marched north. Goethe wrote the poem "Hermann and Dorothea", which,though depicting disruptions caused in the aftermath of the French Revolution, was prompted by the story of the Salzburg exiles' march. Protestants and some Catholics were horrified at the cruelty of their expulsion in winter, and the courage they had shown by not renouncing their faith. Slowly at first, the refugees arrived at towns that welcomed them and offered them aid. But there was no place where so many refugees could settle. Finally, in 1732 King Frederick William I of Prussia accepted 12,000 Salzburger Protestant emigrants, who settled in areas of East Prussia that had been devastated by the plague twenty years before. Other smaller groups made their way to Debrecen and the Banat regions of the Kingdom of Hungary, to what is now Slovakia and Serbia; the Kingdom of Hungary recruited Germans to repopulate areas along the Danube River decimated by the plague and the Ottoman invasion. The Salzburgers also migrated to Protestant areas near Berlin and Hanover in Germany; and to the Netherlands.

On 12 March 1734, a small group of about sixty exiles from Salzburg, who had travelled to London first, arrived in the British North American colony of Georgia seeking religious freedom. Later in that year, they were joined by a second group, and, by 1741, a total of approximately 150 of the Salzburg exiles had founded the town of Ebenezer on the Savannah River (see John A. Treutlen).

The Protestant Salzburgers in Prussian Lithuania kept a distinct ethnic German identity over the following centuries, keeping their language in churches and schools. Their descendants were expelled after World War II.

The ethnic German refugees went to western Europe, the United States and other western nations. Those who settled in West Germany founded a community association to preserve their historic identity as Salzburgers.

Illuminism

In 1772-1803, under archbishop Hieronymus Graf von Colloredo, Salzburg was a centre of late Illuminism.

The Electorate of Salzburg

In 1803, the archbishopric was secularised by Emperor Napoleon and handed over to Ferdinand III of Tuscany, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, as the Electorate of Salzburg.

Austrian Annexation of Salzburg

In 1805, Salzburg was annexed to the Austrian Empire together with Berchtesgaden.

Salzburg under Bavarian rule

In 1809, the territory of Salzburg was transferred to the Kingdom of Bavaria after Austria's defeat at Wagram.

The division of Salzburg and the annexation by Austria and Bavaria

At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, it was definitively returned to Austria, but without Rupertigau and Berchtesgaden, which passed to Bavaria. Salzburg was integrated into the Salzach province and Salzburgerland was ruled from Linz. In 1850, Salzburg's status was once more restored as the capital of the Duchy of Salzburg, a crownland of the Austrian Empire. The city became part of Austria-Hungary in 1866 as the capital of a crownland into the Austrian Empire.

20th Century

World War I

Salzburg, which was a capital of an Austro-Hungarian territory, became part of German Austria in 1918 and the First Austrian Republic in 1919, after the Treaty of Versailles.

Part of German Third Reich

During the Anschluss, Austria, with Salzburg being a part of it, was annexed to the German Third Reich on 12 March 1938, one day before a scheduled referendum about Austria's independence. German troops were moved to the city. Political opponents, Jewish citizens and other minorities were subsequently arrested and deported. The synagogue was destroyed and several POW camps for prisoners from the Soviet Union and other nations were organized in the area.

World War II

During World War II, the KZ Salzburg-Maxglan concentration camp was located here. It was a Roma camp and provided slave labour to local industry.

Allied bombing destroyed 7,600 houses and killed 550 inhabitants. A total of 15 strikes destroyed 46 percent of the city's buildings especially around Salzburg train station. Although the town's bridges and the dome of the cathedral were demolished, much of its Baroque architecture remained intact. As a result, it is one of the few remaining examples of a town of its style. American troops entered Salzburg on 5 May 1945.

In the city of Salzburg there were several DP Camps following World War II. Among these were Riedenburg, Camp Herzl (Franz-Josefs-Kaserne), Camp Mülln, Bet Bialik, Bet Trumpeldor, and New Palestine. Salzburg was the centre of the American-occupied area in Austria.

Present Day

After World War II Salzburg became the capital city of the State of Salzburg (''Land Salzburg'').

On 27 January 2006, the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Mozart, all 35 churches of Salzburg rang their bells a little after 8:00 p.m. (local time) to celebrate the occasion. Major celebrations took place throughout the year.

Districts

Salzburg has 24 urban districts and 3 extra-urban populations.

Urban districts (''Stadtteile''):

Aigen

Altstadt

Elisabeth-Vorstadt

Gneis

Gneis-Süd

Gnigl

Itzling

Itzling-Nord

Kasern

Langwied

Lehen

Leopoldskron-Moos

Liefering

Maxglan

Maxglan-West

Morzg

Mülln

Neustadt

Nonntal

Parsch

Riedenburg

Salzburg-Süd

Taxham

Schallmoos

Extra-urban populations (''Landschaftsräume'')

Gaisberg

Hellbrunn

Heuberg

Main sights

Salzburg is a tourist favourite, with the number of tourists outnumbering locals by a large margin in peak times. In addition to Mozart's birthplace noted above, other notable places include:

Old Town

The entire Old Town of Salzburg was nominated as a World Heritage Site in 1996.

The baroque architecture including the many churches are world famous.

The Salzburg Cathedral (''Salzburger Dom'')

The Hohensalzburg Castle (''Festung Hohensalzburg'') on a hill dominating the old town is one of the largest castles in Europe, with views over Salzburg.

The Franziskanerchurch

The St Peter's Abbey with the ''Petersfriedhof''

The Nonnberg Abbey a Benedictine monastery

The Residenz Palace (the magnificent former Prince-Archbishop's residence), containing the Residenzgalerie

Mozart's Birthplace

Mozart's Residence

The University Church

The Siegmundstor (or Neutor)

The Getreidegasse

Outside the Inner Old Town

Palace of Mirabell with its wide gardens full of flowers.

St. Sebastian's cemetery (''Sebastiansfriedhof'')

The palace of Leopoldskron is a rococo palace and a national historic monument in Leopoldskron-Moos, a southern district of the city of Salzburg.

Hellbrunn with its parks and castles

Tour companies operate tours of locations used in the film ''The Sound of Music''.

Within the greater Salzburg area

Anif Castle

The Basilika Maria Plain on the Calvary Hill, a late Baroque church, on the northern edge of Salzburg.

Salzburger Freilichtmuseum Großgmain, an open-air museum containing old farmhouses/farm buildings from all over the state assembled in historic setting.

The Schloss Klessheim Palace (today a Casino) was formerly used by Adolf Hitler.

The Berghof, Hitler's mountain retreat of which only the Eagle's Nest remains, was in nearby Berchtesgaden.

The Salzkammergut is an area of lakes in the Salzburg state, east of the city and further on into the provinces of Upper Austria and Styria.

The Untersberg mountain is next to the city, straddling the German-Austrian border, and on a clear day provides panoramic views of the city and the Alps.

Skiing is an attraction during winter. Salzburg itself has no skiing facilities, but it acts as a gateway to skiing areas to the south. During the winter months its airport receives charter flights from around Europe.

Zoo Salzburg

The Salzburg Zoo is in the south of the city, in the municipality of Anif.

Notable citizens

The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born and raised in Salzburg and worked for the archbishops from 1769 to 1781. His house of birth and residence are tourist attractions. His family is buried in a small church graveyard in the old town, and there are many monuments to "Wolferl" in the city.

The composer Johann Michael Haydn, brother of the composer Joseph Haydn. His works were admired by Mozart and Schubert. He was also the teacher of Carl Maria von Weber and Anton Diabelli and is known for his sacred music.

Christian Doppler, an expert on acoustic theory, was born in Salzburg. He is most known for his discovery of the Doppler effect.

Josef Mohr was born in Salzburg. Together with Franz Gruber, he composed and wrote the text for "Silent Night". As a priest in neighbouring Oberndorf he performed the song for the first time in 1818.

King Otto of Greece was born Prince Otto Friedrich Ludwig of Bavaria at the Palace of Mirabell, a few days before the city reverted from Bavarian to Austrian rule.

Noted writer Stefan Zweig lived in Salzburg for about 15 years, until 1934.

Maria Von Trapp (later Maria Trapp) and her family lived in Salzburg until they fled to the United States following the Nazi takeover.

Salzburg is the birthplace of Hans Makart, a 19th-century Austrian painter-decorator and national celebrity. Makartplatz (''Makart Square'') is named in his honour.

Writer Thomas Bernhard was raised in Salzburg and spent part of his life there.

Herbert von Karajan was a notable musician and conductor. He was born in Salzburg and died in 1989 in neighbouring Anif.

Anthropologist Udo Ludwig was born here.

Roland Ratzenberger, Formula One driver, was born in Salzburg. He died in practice for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Joseph Leutgeb, French horn virtuoso

Klaus Ager, the distinguished contemporary composer and Mozarteum professor, was born in Salzburg on 10 May 1946.

Alex Jesaulenko, Australian rules footballer and AFL Hall of Fame player with "Legend" status was born in Salzburg on 2 August 1945.

Georg Trakl is one of the most important voices in German literature and he was also born in Salzburg.

Theodor Herzl worked in the courts in Salzburg during the year after he earned his law degree in 1884.

Events

The Salzburg Festival is a famous music festival that attracts visitors during the months of July and August each year. A smaller Salzburg Easter Festival is held around Easter each year.

The Europrix multimedia award takes place in Salzburg.

Transportation

The city is serviced by comprehensive rail connections, with frequent east-west trains servicing Vienna, Munich, Innsbruck, and Zürich, including daily high-speed ICE services. The city acts as a hub for south-bound trains through the Alps into Italy.

Salzburg Airport has scheduled flights to European cities such as Frankfurt, Vienna, London, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Brussels, Düsseldorf and Zürich, as well as Hamburg and Dublin. In addition to these, there are numerous charter flights.

In the main city there is the Salzburg trolleybus system and bus system with a total of more than 20 lines, and service every 10 minutes. Salzburg has an S-Bahn system with four Lines (S1, S2, S3, S11), trains depart from the main station every 30 minutes, and they are in the ÖBB net. Suburb line number S1 reaches the world famous Silent Night chapel in Oberndorf in about 25 minutes.

Popular culture

In the 1960s, the movie ''The Sound of Music'' was filmed in Salzburg and the state of Salzburg. The movie was based on the true story of Maria von Trapp, a Salzburg-based nun who took up with an aristocratic family and fled the German Anschluss. Although the film is not particularly popular among Austrians, the town draws many visitors who wish to visit the filming locations, alone or on tours.

Salzburg is the setting for the Austrian crime series Stockinger.

In the 2010 film Knight & Day, Salzburg serves as the backdrop for a large portion of the film.

Language

Austrian German is widely written. Austro-Bavarian is the German dialect of this territory and widely spoken.

Sports

The former SV Austria Salzburg reached the UEFA Cup final in 1994. On 6 April 2005 Red Bull bought the club and changed the name into FC Red Bull Salzburg. The club's future plans are to be among the 10 best European football clubs. The home stadium of Red Bull Salzburg is the Wals Siezenheim Stadium in a suburb in the agglomeration of Salzburg and was one of the venues for the 2008 European Football Championship.

Salzburg was a candidate city for the 2010 & 2014 Winter Olympics, but lost to Vancouver and Sochi respectively.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

* Reims, France, since 1964

Atlanta, Georgia>Atlanta, United States, since 1967

* Verona, Italy, since 1973

León, Nicaragua>León, Nicaragua, since 1984

* Vilnius, Lithuania, since 1989

* Dresden, Germany, since 1991

Kawasaki, Kanagawa>Kawasaki, Japan, since 1992

* Merano, Italy, since 2000

* Shanghai, China, since 2004

* São João da Madeira, Portugal, since 2007

Airdrie - Scotland

See also

Salzburgerland

Gallery

References

External links

;Information-related

Salzburg.eu – The official information platform for Salzburg

City Bus System - Official Site

"Business Location Salzburg - A powerful region"'', Salzburg's economy

;Culture-related

Fine Arts and Culture in Salzburg – article by local students

Official Website of the Salzburg Festival Salzburger Festspiele

Mozart's Salzburg – article by Brian Robins

Digitized Salzburg objects in The European Library

Georgia Salzburger Society – The website of the Georgia Salzburger Society, descendents of the refugees who settled in Georgia after their expulsion from Salzburg in 1731.

;Olympic-related Salzburg 2014 2014 Olympic bid website

;Tourism-related

Salzburg Tourist Office – salzburg city tourist board website.

Salzburg Region Tourist Office – tourist board website.

More than 1000 articles and photos from Salzburg

Various Salzburg Information Sorted by categories. Choose from 5 languages.

Salzburg Photo Galery

The Sound Of Music : Salzburg 1964-2011

Category:Cities and towns in Salzburg (state) Category:Displaced Persons camps Category:World Heritage Sites in Austria Category:15 BC establishments Category:Districts of Salzburg (state)

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Coordinates	23°33′″N46°38′″N
Art	Stadt
Image photo	Mannheim.jpg
Wappen	Wappen Mannheim.svg
Lat deg	49 | lat_min 29 | lat_sec 20
Lon deg	8 | lon_min 28 | lon_sec 9
Lageplan	Baden-Württemberg MA.svg
Lageplanbeschreibung	Location of Mannheim in Baden-Württemberg
Bundesland	Baden-Württemberg
Regierungsbezirk	Karlsruhe
Landkreis	urban district
Höhe	97
Fläche	144.96
Einwohner	311142
Stand	2008-12-31
Plz	68001–68309
Gemeindeschlüssel	08222000
Vorwahl	0621
Kfz	MA
Website	www.mannheim.de
Bürgermeister	Peter Kurz
Bürgermeistertitel	Lord Mayor
Partei	SPD }}

Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart.

Mannheim is located at the confluence of the River Rhine and the River Neckar in the northwestern corner of Baden-Württemberg. The Rhine separates Mannheim from the city of Ludwigshafen, just to the west of it in Rhineland-Palatinate. The border of Baden-Württemberg with the Bundesland of Hesse is just north of Mannheim, and Mannheim is just downstream along the Neckar from the city of Heidelberg. Mannheim is the largest city of the Rhine Neckar Area, a metropolitan area with about 2.4 million inhabitants.

Mannheim is unusual among German cities in that the streets and avenues of Mannheim's central area are laid out in a grid pattern, just like most North American and Australian cities and towns. Because of this, the city's nickname is "die Quadratestadt" (the German word for "''city of the squares''"). One main route through the streets and avenues runs by a large 18th century palace, the Mannheim Palace. This former home of the rulers of the Palatinate now houses part of the University of Mannheim.

The civic symbol of Mannheim is ''der Wasserturm'' (the water tower), an old tower that is located just east of the city's centre.

Mannheim is also the location of both the start and the finish of Bertha Benz Memorial Route.

History

Early history

"Mannenheim" ("Home of Manno") is first mentioned in connection with a legal transaction in the year 766, in the "Codex Laureshamensis" from Lorsch Abbey. Mannheim remained a mere village until Frederick IV, Elector Palatine started building the fortress of Friedrichsburg and the adjacent city centre (die Stadt) in 1606 – with its grid of streets and avenues. On January 24, 1607, Frederick IV gave Mannheim the status of a "city", whether it really was one by then or not.

Middle Ages

Mannheim was mostly leveled during the Thirty Years War in about 1622 by Johan Tilly's troops, and once again during the Nine Years' War in 1689 by the French Army.

After the rebuilding of Mannheim that began in 1698, the capital of the Electoral Palatinate was moved from Heidelberg to Mannheim in 1720. This was when Karl III Philip, Elector Palatine began the construction of the Mannheim Palace and the Jesuit Church. These were completed in the year 1760.

18th and 19th centuries

During the 18th century, Mannheim was the home of the "Mannheim School" of classical music composers. Mannheim was said to have one of the best court orchestras in Europe under the leadership of the conductor Carlo Grua. The royal court of the Palatinate left Mannheim in 1778, and just over two decades later, Mannheim was removed from the Palatinate and given to the Grand Duchy of Baden (in 1802).

In 1819, Norwich Duff made the following observations about Mannheim:

Mannheim is in the Duchy of Baden and situated at the confluence of the Rhine and Neckar over both of which there is a bridge of boats. This is the third town of this name having been twice burnt. The houses are large, and the streets broad and at right angles to each other, and is one of the most airy clean towns I have seen in Germany. It was formerly fortified, but the fortifications were rased in 1806 and gardens fill their places. There is a large chateau here belonging to the Grand Duke and a very good garden; part of the chateau was destroyed when the town was bombarded and has never since been repaired, the other part is occupied by the Grand Duchess widow of the late Grand Duke who was succeeded by his uncle having left only three daughters. She is the sister of Eugene Beauharnais [sic, she was in fact his second cousin]. There is a cathedral, a theatre which is considered good, an observatory, a gallery of pictures at the chateau, and some private collections. About two km (one mile) below the town the Russian Army crossed the Rhine in 1813. Population 18,300.

Early 20th century and World War I

Inter-war period

World War II

During World War II, since Mannheim was an important industrial centre for Nazi Germany, Mannheim was heavily damaged during aerial bombing by the R.A.F. and the U.S. Air Force. In addition to bombing the important factories, the R.A.F. razed the city center of Mannheim with nighttime area bombing.

Some sources state that the first deliberate "terror bombing" of German civilians by the R.A.F. occurred at Mannheim on December 16, 1940.

The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Mannheim in late March 1945, which was potentially well-defended by German forces. However, these suddenly abandoned the city and the US 44th Infantry Division entered unopposed on 29 March 1945.

There has been a large American military presence in the Mannheim area ever since (see ''United States military installations'' below).

1950s to 1980s

Post-reunification

In 2007, Mannheim celebrated its 400th birthday with a series of cultural and other events spread over the whole year. The 400th birthday proper was in 2006, since Frederick IV, Elector Palatine laid the foundations of the Mannheim citadel, on March 17, 1606.

Inventions

Some important inventions were made in Mannheim.

Karl Drais built the first two-wheeled ''draisine'' in 1817.

Karl Benz' first car appeared on the streets of Mannheim in 1886. At his workshop in Mannheim he produced a lightweight three-wheeled vehicle powered by a single cylinder petrol/gasoline-fueled engine, first shown in public around 1886. This powered tricycle subsequently came to be widely regarded as the first automobile/motor car powered by an internal-combustion engine. Karl's wife Bertha Benz undertook the world’s first road trip by automobile from Mannheim to Pforzheim in August 1888.

The Lanz Bulldog, a popular tractor with a rugged, simple Diesel engine was introduced in 1921.

Julius Hatry built the world's first rocket plane in 1929.

Theatre

The "Nationaltheater Mannheim" was founded in 1779 and is the oldest "Stage" in Germany. In 1782 the premier of ''Die Räuber'', written by Friedrich Schiller, was shown.

Climate

Mannheim is located in Germany's warmest region, the "Rhine shift". In summer, temperatures sometimes rise up to 35 C° and higher. The highest recorded temperature was 41 C° during the 2003 European heat wave. The daily lows during that time were also very high (around 25 C°). In comparison to other regions of Germany, Mannheim has a higher humidity in summer which causes a higher heat index. Snow is rare, even in the cold months. Precipitation occurs mostly during afternoon thunderstorms during the warmer period (average days of thunderstorms in a year is 40–50).

Main sights

Fernmeldeturm Mannheim

Synagogue Mannheim - imposing post-WWII synagogue

Yavuz Sultan Selim Mosque

Luisenpark – named one of the most beautiful parks of Europe

Mannheim Palace (''Mannheimer Schloss'') – the city castle and main building of the University of Mannheim

Wasserturm – the town's landmark water tower

Jesuit Church

SAP Arena – multifunctional Stadium, home of the Mannheim ice-hockey Team "Die Adler", which means "The Eagles."

Breite Strasse, Kunststrasse, and Kapuzinerplanken – Mannheim's main shopping destination

International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg

Wildpark and Waldvogelpark am Karlstern

The city centre, designed in squares (Quadratestadt)

Reißinsel, a natural area that an honorary citizen of Mannheim, Carl Reiß, bequeathed to the inhabitants of Mannheim

Marktplatz (Market place), this is the square where fresh farmer's market takes place every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Fresh fruits, vegetables, and flowers can be purchased.

Industry

The successor to the Karl Benz automobile manufacturing companies begun in Mannheim, Daimler AG has had a large presence in Mannheim. Today, diesel engines and buses are assembled there. The Swiss Roche Diagnostic group (formerly known as Boehringer Mannheim) has its division headquarters in Mannheim. Additionally, the city also hosts large factories and offices of ABB, Alstom, BASF (Ludwigshafen), Bilfinger Berger, Bombardier, Fuchs Petrolub AG, John Deere, Siemens, SCA, Südzucker and other companies.

U.S. Army locations

A number of U.S. Army Europe installations are located in and near Mannheim. The following locations provide services to and house the "U.S. Army Garrison Mannheim", and the U.S. Army everywhere in Europe.

The Benjamin Franklin Village (Mannheim-Käfertal), housing. Also, it was the home of the Mannheim American High School and the Middle School , which closed on June 9, 2011.

Coleman Barracks and Coleman Army Airfield (Mannheim-Schönau) (The headquarters of the American Forces Network-Europe, and the home of the Army's 28th Transportation Battalion. Also, the location of the "U.S. Army Confinement Facility Europe"

Funari Barracks (Mannheim-Käfertal)

Spinelli Barracks (Mannheim-Feudenheim)

Sullivan Barracks (Mannheim-Käfertal) – the headquarters of the U.S. Army's 7th Signal Brigade.

Taylor Barracks (Mannheim-Vogelstang) – the headquarters of the U.S. Army's 2nd Signal Brigade

The following locations are part of the "U.S. Army Garrison Heidelberg" but are within the area of the city of Mannheim:

Friedrichsfeld Service Center (Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld)

Hammonds Barracks (Mannheim-Seckenheim)

Stem Kaserne (Mannheim-Seckenheim)

The long-term future of the U.S. Army military community at Mannheim is in doubt since it was not included in the announcement by the U.S. Army Europe in 2004 of those military units that would remain following a long-term restructuring and downsizing of American armed forces in Europe. The U.S. Army has already closed several installations in Mannheim – the Rhine River Patrol compound in Sandhofen (1958), the Gendarmerie Kaserne in Schönau, the NATO bunker (?) in Feudenheim, and the Turley Barracks in Wohlgelegen.

Transport

Roads

The Mannheim/Ludwigshafen area is surrounded by a ring of motorways connecting it to Frankfurt in the north, Karlsruhe in the south, Saarbrücken in the west and Nuremberg in the east.

Railway

Mannheim Hauptbahnhof (central station) is at the end of the Mannheim-Stuttgart high-speed rail line and is the most important railway junction in the southwest of Germany, served by ICE high-speed train system with connections to Frankfurt am Main / Berlin, Karlsruhe / Basel and Stuttgart / Munich. A new high speed line to Frankfurt is also planned to relieve the existing Ried Railway (''Riedbahn''). Mannheim Harbour is the second largest river port in Germany.

Airports

Although Frankfurt International Airport is only 65 km to the north, since 2004 there have been daily passenger flights from Mannheim City Airport (IATA code MHG) to Berlin, Hamburg and Saarbrücken.

Local Public Transport

Local public transport in Mannheim includes the RheinNeckar S-Bahn, eleven tram lines and numerous bus lines operated by Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (Rhine-Neckar transport).

The RheinNeckar S-Bahn, established in 2003, connects most of the Rhine-Neckar area including lines into the Palatinate, Odenwald and southern Hesse. All S-Bahn lines run through Mannheim Hauptbahnhof, except S5. Further S-Bahn stations are at present Mannheim-Rangierbahnhof, Mannheim-Seckenheim and Mannheim-Friedrichsfeld-Süd.

Metre-gauge trams are operated in Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and Heidelberg by Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH (RNV), a company wholly owned by the three cities mentioned and a couple of municipalities in the Palatinate. RNV is the result of a merger on 1 October 2009 between the region's five former municipal transportation companies. Interurban trams are operated by RNV on a triangular route between Mannheim, Heidelberg and Weinheim, and the company also operates interurban trams between Bad Dürkheim, Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. In the 1970s a proposal to build a U-Bahn out of the Mannheim and Ludwigshafen tramways was begun, but only small sections were in fact built due to lack of funds. The only underground station in Mannheim is the Haltestelle Dalbergstraße. U-Bahn planning has now stopped. All public transport is offered at uniform prices set by the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (Rhine-Neckar transport union, VRN).

Sport

There are two nationally renowned football clubs in Mannheim, SV Waldhof Mannheim 07, who are currently playing in the 4th tier Regionalliga Süd, but who have played in the top tier, the Fußball-Bundesliga; and VfR Mannheim, winner of the German championship in 1949, now playing in the 5th tier Oberliga Baden-Württemberg.

The Adler Mannheim (formerly MERC, Mannheimer Eis- und Rollsport-Club) are an ice hockey team playing in the professional Deutsche Eishockey Liga, having won the championship a total of six times.

The city is home to the Mannheim Tornados, the oldest operational baseball and softball club in Germany. The Tornados play in the first division of the Baseball Bundesliga and have won the championship 11 times, more than any other club.

The Rhein-Neckar-Loewen (Rhine-Neckar-Lions) is a Handball team (formerly SG Kronau-Oestringen) playing in the professional German Handball League.

The WWE visited Mannheim in 2008 and grossed over half a million dollars with over 6500 fans attending the event.

Mannheim hosted the European Show Jumping Championships in 1997, and the FEI European Jumping Championships in 2007 14–19 August, in the MVV-riding stadium.

Twin towns

Mannheim is twinned with: Bydgoszcz, Poland Chişinău, Moldova Haifa, Israel Klaipėda, Lithuania Swansea, Wales Toulon, France Ulan Ude, Russia Windsor, Canada Zhenjiang, China

Famous people from Mannheim

1762: Constanze Mozart, wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)

1821: Friedrich Engelhorn, founder of BASF

1856: Henry Morgenthau, Sr., United States politician and manager

1897: Sepp Herberger, coach of the German national soccer team 1936–1964 ("The Miracle of Bern", world champion with his team in 1954)

1905: Albert Speer, Nazi architect, Minister for Armaments and Munitions during World War II

1939: Christiane Schmidtmer, Hollywood actress

1946: Fred Breinersdorfer, writer

1960: Norbert Schwefel, musician

1969: Steffi Graf, tennis player

1971: Xavier Naidoo, pop singer

1972: Christian Wörns, football player for Borussia Dortmund and formerly Germany

1977: Jochen Hecht, Buffalo Sabre National Hockey League

See also: Famous people from Mannheim (German)

References

External links

Official page of Mannheim

Rhein-Neckar Metropoliten Region Visitors' Site

Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar (Rhine-Neckar Transport)

Gourmet Guide Mannheim

Parks in Mannheim

Bertha Benz Memorial Route

504th Signal Battalion Photos and maps of Benjamin Franklin Village (Käfertal), Sullivan Barracks (Käfertal)and the Mannheim Military Community in the 1960s

U.S. Army Garrison Mannheim homepage

Category:Cities in Baden-Württemberg Category:Electoral Palatinate Category:Historic Jewish communities Category:Karlsruhe region Category:Populated places on the Rhine Category:Turkish communities in Germany

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Jascha Heifetz (, – December 10, 1987) was a violinist, born in Vilnius, then Russian Empire, now Lithuania. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time.

Early life

Heifetz was born into a Jewish family in Vilnius, Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire. His father, Reuven Heifetz, son of Elie, was a local violin teacher and served as the concertmaster of the Vilnius Theatre Orchestra for one season before the theatre closed down. Jascha took up the violin when he was three years old and his father was his first teacher. At five he started lessons with Ilya D. Malkin, a former pupil of Leopold Auer. He was a child prodigy, making his public debut at seven, in Kovno (now Kaunas, Lithuania) playing the Violin Concerto in E minor by Felix Mendelssohn. In 1910 he entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory to study under Leopold Auer himself.

He played in Germany and Scandinavia, and met Fritz Kreisler for the first time in a Berlin private house together with other noted violinists in attendance. Kreisler, after accompanying the 12-year-old Heifetz at the piano in a performance of the Mendelssohn concerto, said to all present, "We may as well break our fiddles across our knees." Heifetz visited much of Europe while still in his teens. In April 1911, Heifetz performed in an outdoor concert in St. Petersburg before 25,000 spectators; there was such a sensational reaction that police officers needed to protect the young violinist after the concert. In 1914, Heifetz performed with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Arthur Nikisch. The conductor was very impressed, saying he had never heard such an excellent violinist.

Career

Heifetz and his family left Russia in 1917, traveling by rail to the Russian far east and thence by ship to the United States, arriving in San Francisco.

On October 27, 1917, Heifetz played for the first time in the United States, at Carnegie Hall in New York, and became an immediate sensation. Fellow violinist Mischa Elman in the audience asked "Do you think it's hot in here?", whereupon Leopold Godowsky, in the next seat, imperturbably replied, "Not for pianists." The reviews by the New York critics were rapturous.

In 1917, Heifetz was elected as an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music, by the fraternity's Alpha chapter at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. As he was aged 16 at the time, he was perhaps the youngest person ever elected to membership in the organization. Heifetz remained in the country and became an American citizen in 1925. When he told admirer Groucho Marx he had been earning his living as a musician since the age of seven, Groucho answered, "And I suppose before that you were just a bum."

Technique and timbre

Heifetz is considered to be one of the finest violinists of all time. Heifetz's technical command of his instrument -- his physical ability to play the violin with stunning precision -- is regarded by many critics as unequaled. That physical control enabled Heifetz to produce a distinctive tone quality, intense and shimmering, that came to be regarded as his trademark. Yet, from time to time his near-perfect technique and conservative stage demeanor caused some critics to accuse him of being overly mechanical, even cold. Virgil Thomson called Heifetz's style of playing "silk underwear music", a term he did not intend as a compliment. Other critics argue that he infused his playing with feeling and reverence for the composers' intentions. His style of playing was highly influential in defining the way modern violinists approach the instrument. His use of rapid vibrato, emotionally charged portamento, fast tempos, and superb bow control coalesced to create a highly distinctive sound that make Heifetz's playing instantly recognizable to aficionados. The violinist Itzhak Perlman, who himself is noted for his rich warm tone and expressive use of portamento, describes Heifetz's tone as like "a tornado" because of its emotional intensity. Perlman also said that Heifetz preferred to be recorded relatively close to the microphone; as a result, one would perceive a somewhat different tone quality when listening to Heifetz during a concert hall performance as opposed to a recording.

In creating his sound, Heifetz was very particular about his choice of strings. He used a silver wound Tricolore gut g-string, plain gut unvarnished D and A strings, and a Goldbrokat steel E string medium including clear Hill brand rosin sparingly. Heifetz believed that playing on gut strings was important in rendering an individual sound.

Early recordings

Heifetz made his first recordings in Russia during 1910–11, while still a student of Leopold Auer. The existence of these recordings was not widely known until after Heifetz's death, when several sides (most notably Franz Schubert's ''L'Abeille'') were reissued on an LP included as a supplement to The Strad magazine.

Shortly after his Carnegie Hall debut on November 7, 1917, Heifetz made his first recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company; he would remain with Victor and its successor, RCA Victor, for most of his career. For several years, in the 1930s, Heifetz recorded primarily for HMV in the UK because RCA cut back on classical recordings during the Great Depression; these discs were issued in the US by RCA Victor. Heifetz often enjoyed playing chamber music. Various critics have blamed his limited success in chamber ensembles to the fact that his artistic personality tended to overwhelm his colleagues. Some notable collaborations include his 1941 recordings of piano trios by Beethoven, Schubert, and Brahms with cellist Emanuel Feuermann and pianist Arthur Rubinstein as well as a later collaboration with Rubinstein and cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, with whom he recorded trios by Maurice Ravel, Tchaikovsky, and Felix Mendelssohn. Both formations were sometimes referred to as the ''Million Dollar Trio''.

He recorded the Beethoven Violin Concerto in 1940 with the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini, and again in stereo in 1955 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Munch. A live performance from April 9, 1944, of Heifetz playing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, again with Toscanini and the NBC Symphony, has also been released.

He performed and recorded Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Violin Concerto, at a time when many classical musicians avoided Korngold's music because they did not consider him a "serious" composer after he wrote many film scores for Warner Brothers.

Wartime

Heifetz commissioned a number of pieces, perhaps most notably the Violin Concerto by William Walton. He also arranged a number of pieces, such as ''Hora Staccato'' by Grigoraş Dinicu, a Romanian whom Heifetz is rumoured to have called the greatest violinist he had ever heard. Heifetz also played and composed for the piano; he performed mess hall jazz for soldiers at Allied camps across Europe during the Second World War, and under the alias Jim Hoyl he wrote a hit song, "When You Make Love to Me (Don't Make Believe)", which was sung by Bing Crosby.

Decca recordings

From 1944 to 1946, largely a result of the American Federation of Musicians recording ban (which actually began in 1942), Heifetz went to American Decca Records to make recordings because Decca settled with the union in 1943, well before RCA Victor resolved their dispute with the musicians. He recorded primarily short pieces, including his own arrangements of music by George Gershwin and Stephen Foster; these were pieces he often played as encores in his recitals. He was accompanied on the piano by Emanuel Bay or Milton Kaye. Among the more uncommon discs featured one of Decca's most popular artists, Bing Crosby, in the "Lullaby" from Benjamin Godard's opera ''Jocelyn'' and ''Where My Caravan Has Rested'' (arranged by Heifetz and Crosby) by Hermann Lohr (1872–1943); Decca's studio orchestra was conducted by Victor Young in the July 27, 1946, session. Recorded mostly in small studios, the digitally remastered performances (issued by MCA) have remarkably clear, high fidelity sound. However, Heifetz soon returned to RCA Victor, where he continued to make recordings until the early 1970s.

Later recordings

Returning to RCA in 1946, Heifetz continued to make a number of 78-rpm discs for the company, including solo, chamber, and orchestral recordings.

RCA began releasing long-playing recordings in 1950, including concertos taken from 78-rpm masters. The company began to make new high fidelity recordings with Heifetz, primarily with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Charles Munch and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Reiner. Beginning in early 1954, most of RCA's classical sessions were also taped on triple track stereophonic tape recorders. These were eventually issued in the "Living Stereo" series, which began in 1958. RCA later reissued the recordings on a series of CDs. While many earlier Heifetz recordings used close miking, which led to a dry sound, the post 1954 RCA concerto recordings have somewhat more distant and effective miking, creating a more effective concert ambience that shows Heifetz's tone to excellent advantage.

A 2000 two-CD RCA compilation titled ''Jascha Heifetz – The Supreme'' gives a sampling of Heifetz's major recordings, including the 1955 recording of Brahms's Violin Concerto with Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; the 1957 recording of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto (with the same forces); the 1959 recording of Sibelius's Violin Concerto with Walter Hendl and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; the 1961 recording of Max Bruch's ''Scottish Fantasy'' with Sir Malcolm Sargent and the New Symphony Orchestra of London; the 1963 recording of Glazunov's A minor Concerto with Walter Hendl and the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra (drawn from New York musicians); the 1965 recording of George Gershwin's ''Three Preludes'' (transcribed by Heifetz) with pianist Brooks Smith; and the 1970 recording of Bach's unaccompanied ''Chaconne'' from the Partita No. 2 in D minor.

Third Israel tour

On his third tour to Israel in 1953, Heifetz included in his recitals the Violin Sonata by Richard Strauss. At the time, Strauss was considered by many to be a Nazi composer, and his works were unofficially banned in Israel along with those of Richard Wagner. Despite the fact that the Holocaust had occurred less than ten years earlier and a last-minute plea from the Israeli Minister of Education, the defiant Heifetz argued, "The music is above these factors ... I will not change my program. I have the right to decide on my repertoire." Throughout his tour the performance of the Strauss sonata was followed by dead silence.

Heifetz was attacked after his recital in Jerusalem outside his hotel by a young man who struck Heifetz's violin case, Heifetz resorting to using his right hand to protect his priceless violins from the crowbar. As the attacker started to flee, Heifetz alerted his companions, who were armed, "Shoot that man, he tried to kill me." The attacker escaped and was never found. The attack has since been attributed to the Kingdom of Israel terrorist group. The incident made headlines in the press and Heifetz defiantly announced that he would not stop playing the Strauss. Threats continued to come, however, and he omitted the Strauss from his next recital without explanation. His last concert was cancelled after his swollen right hand began to hurt. He left Israel and did not return until 1970.

Russian defector

Soviet musicians considered Heifetz and his teacher Leopold Auer as traitors to their home country for emigrating to the US, and Heifetz especially because of his very young age. Meanwhile, musicians who remained, such as David Oistrakh, were seen as patriots. Heifetz greatly criticized the Soviet regime; he condemned the International Tchaikovsky Competition for being biased against Western competitors. During the Carl Flesch Competition in London, Oistrakh tried to persuade Erick Friedman, Heifetz's star student, to enter the Tchaikovsky Competition, of which he was the principal juror. Hearing of this, Heifetz strongly advised against it, warning Friedman, "You will see what will happen there." Consequently, the competition received international outrage after Friedman, already a seasoned performer and recording artist for RCA, who had performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, among many others, placed sixth behind players who had yet to establish their potent careers. Joseph Szigeti later informed Heifetz himself that he had given his student top scores.

Later life

After an only partially successful operation on his right shoulder in 1972, Heifetz ceased giving concerts and making records. Although his prowess as a performer remained intact and he continued to play privately until the end, his bow arm was affected and he could never again hold the bow as high as before.

Heifetz taught the violin extensively, holding masterclasses first at UCLA, then at the University of Southern California, where the faculty included renowned cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and violist William Primrose. For a few years in the 1980s he also held classes in his private studio at home in Beverly Hills. His teaching studio can be seen today in the main building of the Colburn School, where it is now used for masterclasses and serves as an inspiration to the students there. During his teaching career Heifetz taught, among others, Erick Friedman, Pierre Amoyal, Rudolf Koelman, Endre Granat,Eugene Fodor, Paul Rosenthal, and Ayke Agus.

It was rumored that Heifetz was such a strict discipline observer that the main gate of his Beverly Hills home was closed sharp at the appointment time of his classes to shut out students who arrived late. Heifetz died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California in December 1987.

Heifetz owned the 1714 ''Dolphin Stradivarius'', the 1731 "Piel" Stradivarius, the 1736 Carlo Tononi, and the 1742 ''ex David'' Guarneri del Gesù, the last of which he preferred and kept until his death. The Dolphin Strad is currently owned by the Nippon Music Foundation. The Heifetz Tononi violin used at his 1917 Carnegie Hall debut was left in his will to Sherry Kloss, Master-Teaching Assistant to Heifetz, with "one of my four good bows" (Violinist/author Kloss wrote "Jascha Heifetz Through My Eyes" and is a co-founder of the Jascha Heifetz Society). The famed Guarneri is now in the San Francisco Legion of Honor Museum, as instructed by Heifetz in his will, and may only be taken out and played "on special occasions" by deserving players. The instrument has recently been on loan to San Francisco Symphony's concertmaster Alexander Barantschik, who featured it in concertos with Andrei Gorbatenko and the San Francisco Academy Orchestra in 2006. In 1989, Heifetz received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Family life

Heifetz was married in 1928 to the silent motion picture actress Florence Vidor, ex-wife of King Vidor, whose seven year old daughter, Suzanne, Heifetz adopted. The couple had two more children, Josefa (born 1930) and Robert (1932–2001) before divorcing in 1945. In 1947, Heifetz took a sabbatical during which he married Frances Spiegelberg, with whom he had another son, Joseph. The second marriage ended in divorce in 1962.

Heifetz's son Jay is a professional photographer. He was formerly head of marketing for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Hollywood Bowl, and the Chief Financial Officer of Paramount Pictures' Worldwide Video Division. He lives and works in Fremantle, Western Australia. Heifetz's daughter, Josefa Heifetz Byrne, is a lexicographer, the author of the ''Dictionary of Unusual, Obscure and Preposterous Words''.

Heifetz's grandson Danny Heifetz is an accomplished drummer/percussionist and has played with Mr. Bungle, Dieselhed, Secret Chiefs 3 and Link Wray.

His extended family was active in Los Angeles progressive political circles in addition to music. His niece Frances Heifetz was an artist who married Kalman Bloch, the first chair clarinetist of the L.A. Philharmonic for over 40 years. Their daughter Michele Zukovsky is the current co-principal clarinetist for the L.A. Philharmonic. Their son Gregory Bloch (d.1987) was a noted violinist and member of the Italian rock group PFM as well as the American progressive rock groups It's a Beautiful Day and String Cheese.

Jascha Heifetz's great nephew, Stefano Bloch, is a music geographer at the University of Minnesota and lives in Los Angeles.

Heifetz had a difficult personality, and has even been described as "misanthropic". He tended to drive away the very people who could have been his most trusted allies. His own childhood had been difficult; his father was an extremely stern man who, even after Jascha had become the family's sole breadwinner, would still roundly criticise every performance.

Notable Instruments

''Dolphin'' 1714 Stradivarius

''Heifetz-Piel'' 1731 Stradivarius

Antonio Stradivari 1734

Carlo Tononi 1736

''ex-David'' 1742 Guarneri

Filmography

Heifetz played a featured role in the movie ''They Shall Have Music'' (1939) directed by Archie Mayo and written by John Howard Lawson and Irmgard von Cube. He played himself, stepping in to save a music school for poor children from foreclosure. He later appeared in the 1947 film, ''Carnegie Hall'', performing an abridged version of the first movement of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto, with the orchestra led by Fritz Reiner, and consoling the star of the picture, who had watched his performance. Heifetz later recorded the complete Tchaikovsky concerto with Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as one of RCA Victor's "Living Stereo" discs. In 1951, he appeared in the film ''Of Men and Music''. In 1962. he appeared in a televised series of his master classes, and, in 1971, ''Heifetz on Television'' aired, an hour-long color special that featured the violinist performing a series of short works, the "Scottish Fantasy" by Max Bruch, and the Chaconne from the Partita No. 2 by Bach. Heifetz even conducted the orchestra, as the surviving video recording documents.

The most recent film featuring Heifetz, ''Jascha Heifetz: God's Fiddler'', premiered on April 16th, 2011 at the Colburn School of Music. It is "The only film biography of the world's most renowned violinist, featuring family home movies in Los Angeles and all over the world."

Bibliography

In popular culture

Heifetz was often mentioned by Jack Benny in his long-running radio program. Benny often cited his violin playing as being on par with Heifetz.

Heifetz is referenced in ''The Muppet Show'' (1977) where Rowlf the Dog opposite George Burns mentions "Oh listen, I can play any key. I'm another Jascha Heifetz", to which George replies, "Jascha Heifetz played the violin." Rowlf then replies, "Nobody will know the difference, George".

Heifetz is later mentioned in ''The Muppet Movie'' (1979) when Rowlf the Dog, after being praised by Kermit the Frog for playing an impressive piece of music on the piano, shrugged modestly and replied, "I'm no Heifetz, but I get by."

Heifetz is mentioned by Woody Allen in ''Broadway Danny Rose'' (1984). As one of Danny Rose's clients plays a glass harmonica Danny remarks "She's the Jascha Heifetz of her instrument!"

In Season 3, Episode 5 of ''The Golden Girls'', "Nothing Left To Fear But Fear Itself" (1987), Sophia Petrillo (played by Estelle Getty) makes reference to Jascha Heifetz in sarcastic retort, when her daughter Dorothy (Bea Arthur) asks an obvious question: "Ma, are you going to tell a story?" Sophia: "Please! Does Heifetz rosin a bow?"

He was mentioned by the character, Data, on the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode "The Ensigns of Command" (1989) as one of the violinists he studied prior to his concert in Ten-Forward aboard the ''USS Enterprise''.

From Woody Allen's ''Hollywood Ending'' (2002): "If there's a brownout, Heifetz will still be on key, but your guitarist won't be."

The character of Yasha the violinist in Marc Blitzstein's ''The Cradle Will Rock'' is a reference to Jascha Heifetz.

See also

Lithuanian Jews

Strauss and the Nazis

References

External links

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Jascha Heifetz official website

Jascha Heifetz fan website

Prominent People – Jascha Heifetz

Jascha Heifetz at Sony BMG Masterworks

NPR Classical Music: Heifetz at War: Behind the Scenes, Near the Front

"The Violinist of the Century" – 3-part series on AdventuresInMusic.biz

Category:Classical violinists Category:Lithuanian classical violinists Category:American classical violinists Category:American Jews Category:Jewish violinists Category:Jewish classical musicians Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Child classical musicians Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:Lithuanian emigrants to the United States Category:Lithuanian Jews Category:Thornton School of Music faculty Category:Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni Category:American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from Vilnius Category:1987 deaths Category:1901 births

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