Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Breitkopf & Härtel has always felt obligated to Mozart and his works, and has thus produced – partly in cooperation with the G. Henle Verlag – many Urtext editions that have been brought to the latest stand of international Mozart scholarship since 2003.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was celebrated as a wunderkind in his youth. He began playing keyboard instruments at the age of three and undertook his first concert tours to Munich and Vienna with his father Leopold and his sister Nannerl. These were followed by further tours to Italy. He wrote his first pieces as a child before assuming posts as court organist and Imperial
Chamber Composer in Salzburg. His compositional oeuvre comprises more than 600 works including orchestral pieces, piano compositions, chamber and church music works as well as operas such as “Le nozze di Figaro,” “Don Giovanni” and “Die Zauberflöte.” Mozart died in Vienna on 5 December 1791.
In the long
history of the Mozart editions, Breitkopf & Härtel has left a lasting mark
through the first Complete Edition (1876 ff), the historically important
biographies of Georg Nikolaus Nissen (1828) and Hermann Abert (1919/21) as well
as the Köchel Catalogue of his works, which remains a groundbreaking editorial achievement
to this day.