Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

(1756 - 1791)

Between 1777 and 1781, while in his twenties, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote twelve letters to this cousin Maria Anna Thekla Mozart—the early ones are often alliterative and obscene—during which time he and his father were seeking out a new post for him; he had been installed at the Salzburg court since the age of thirteen. In 1785 Franz Joseph Haydn said to Mozart’s father, “Your son is the greatest composer known to me either in person or by name.” The Magic Flute premiered on September 30, 1791; less than three months later, Mozart was dead at the age of thirty-five.