Cause of Mozart's death revealed — 218 years late - Houston Chronicle Cause of Mozart's death revealed — 218 years late What killed Mozart? Likely strep JOANN LOVIGLIO, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER Published 5:30 am, Tuesday, August 18, 2009 PHILADELPHIA — For more than two centuries, the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has endured — as has the speculation about what led to his sudden death at age 35 on Dec. 5, 1791. Was the wunderkind composer poisoned by a jealous rival? Did he have an intestinal parasite from an undercooked pork chop? Could he have accidentally poisoned himself with mercury used to treat an alleged bout of syphilis? A report in Tuesday's Annals of Internal Medicine suggests the exalted Austrian composer might have succumbed to something far more commonplace: a streptococcal infection — possibly strep throat — that led to kidney failure. The researchers looked at death records in Vienna during the months surrounding Mozart's death — November and December 1791 and January 1792, and compared causes of death with the previous and following years.

“We saw that at the time of Mozart's death there was a minor epidemic in deaths involving edema (swelling), which also happened to be the hallmark of Mozart's final disease,” said Dr. Richard Zegers of the University of Amsterdam , one of the study's authors. There was a spike in swelling-related deaths among younger men in Vienna at the time of Mozart's death compared to the other years studied, suggesting a minor epidemic of streptococcal disease, Zegers said. The cause of death recorded in Vienna's official death register was “fever and rash,” though even in Mozart's time those were recognized to be merely symptoms and not an actual disease. His surviving letters and creative output suggest that he was feeling well in the months before his death and was not suffering from any chronic ailment. Many accounts note that he fell ill not long before he died — suffering from swelling so severe, his sister-in-law recalled three decades later, that the composer was unable to turn in bed. Others who reported to have been witnesses to Mozart's final days also described swelling, as well as back pain, malaise and rash — all symptoms that indicate Mozart may have died of kidney disease brought on by a strep infection.

“It's not definitive, but it's certainly food for thought,” said Dr. William Schaffner , an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who was not involved in the study. He said it was not unreasonable to presume that Mozart died from strep complications, based on the information presented, but he pointed out that the authors had scant data to go on. “Serious streptococcal infections were much more common than they are now and, indeed, they had very serious complications,” he said. “This is sure to set off many discussions going forward.” Latest from the Chron.com Homepage Click below for the top news from around the Houston area and beyond. Sign up for our newsletters to be the first to learn about breaking news and more. Go to 'Sign In' and 'Manage Profile' at the top of the page. Mozart's final year and death - 1791 | Mozart - Classic FM Become a VIP Mozart's final year and death - 1791 One of the greats of classical music bows out, but how did Mozart die? Was it Salieri, the mysterious Count von Walsegg, or some badly cooked chops? Here's what happened in his final year.

April In Vienna, each year usually ended with court balls and so Mozart , as one of the court composers, was required to supply dance music. He treated the task with all the care and attention that he would have lavished on his greatest works and many of his minuets and dances continued to be popular in the great dance halls of Vienna — primarily the Redoutensaal — even after his death. Just as had been the case in the previous few years, many of Mozart’s letters concerned the need for money. He had played his last public concert on 4 March and just over a month later was clearly beginning to feel the pinch again, On 13 April, he fired off a letter to the seemingly ever-faithful Puchberg, his fellow mason, asking for just a small loan: "I’ll get my quarterly pay on the 20th — is there any chance you’ll lend me something like 20 gulden?

If you can, I’d be much obliged, best friend, and, as soon as I’m paid, I’ll give it back to you." There’s a note scribbled at the bottom of the letter, in Puchberg’s handwriting, which reads: "Sent 30 gulden, 13th April" By sending more money than Mozart had requested and by dispatching it the very same day, Puchberg was proving to be a very true friend indeed. April was to bring more hope to Mozart in the form of Leopold Hofmann. He was a 61-year-old composer who had, for some time, held the top job of Kapellmeister at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna. In April 1791 Mozart found out that Hofmann was seriously ill. Mozart wrote to the city magistrates, who controlled the jobs at St Stephen’s, suggesting that, given Hofmann’s somewhat tenuous grasp on good health, they consider taking on Mozart as an unpaid assistant, on the understanding that Mozart take over as soon as the old man was gone.

The job paid some 2000 gulden a year and, with all due respect to Mr Hofmann, his early departure would have made a huge difference to the Mozart family finances. Ironically, Hofmann was set to become yet another name added to the long list that is 'people who outlived Mozart'. Despite his illness, he was still around a good 2 years after Mozart had gone. Nevertheless, the city magistrates agreed to the unpaid appointment on 28 April. Nowadays, Mozart is not specifically remembered for his church music, but this — and, perhaps, the course of religious music in general — might have been different had he survived long enough to become the boss of such an important a cathedral as St Stephen’s. May By May 1791 Constanze would have been around 6 months pregnant with their son, Franz. She was keen to take the restful spa waters of Baden, just a few miles outside Vienna. Mozart wrote to his friend in Baden, the schoolteacher Anton Stoll, who was also director of music at the Baden parish church, to arrange for her accommodation: "Please arrange for a small apartment for my wif’.

She only needs a couple of rooms — or a room and a small chamber. The main thing is, though, it needs to be on the ground floor. I’d really like it to be the one on the ground floor, at the butcher's. . . She’ll be there on Saturday — Monday at the latest. It’s important that it is near the baths, but more important that it is on the ground floor. The one at the town clerk’s, on the ground floor, would be fine too, but the one at the butcher’s would be better." As if aware of the curiously mundane nature of his writing, Mozart adds: "PS, this is the silliest letter I’ve ever written in my life — but it’s just right for you." June Constanze left on 4 June, with little Carl, and Mozart missed her madly. Despite the fact that he was in perfectly good health physically, it has been suggested that his mental state was somewhat dark and that he may have been beginning to suffer some sort of breakdown. Certainly, he found the separation from Constanze harder to bear than normal.

His letters to her in Baden were still filled with the usual sweet nothings: "Farewell, then, my one and only. Take these as they fly through the air: 2999 and a half kisses are flying, eager to be snapped up. Now, let me tell you something in your ear [Mozart leaves a space] and now you me [he leaves another space]. Now, let’s open and close our mouths [another space] ever more [space] and more [space] at last we say: it’s because of PlumpiStrumpi... Farewell, a thousand tender kisses from, always your Mozart." The letters also suggest that Mozart was, at this time, less able to be alone than ever before. Take, for example, this note from July that year, which goes beyond the normal lovers’ talk: "You won’t be able to imagine how long it’s felt without you. It’s impossible to explain, it’s a certain emptiness — painful — a certain longing which can’t be satisfied and, consequently, doesn’t stop.

It just keeps on and on, getting bigger each day." In the end, despite the potential precariousness of the family finances, Mozart felt compelled to join his wife and son in June 1791. He was held up by his promise to take part in a Viennese concert, which was then ultimately postponed. Mozart wrote again on 6 June, this time revealing that he had been composing: "Out of sheer boredom, I wrote an aria for my opera, today." The opera in question was to become The Magic Flute. Once out in Baden with his family, Mozart settled a little. He obliged his friend Stoll — who had arranged Constanze’s accommodation — with a little something for his parish church choir. The manuscript is dated 17 June 1791 and it was first performed on the feast of Corpus Christi. It is a deceptively simple piece, which has since become one of Mozart’s best-loved works. When heard alongside his Requiem , which was soon to follow, it is easy to see why musical historians have wondered over the years since, what Mozart’s contribution to church music would have been had he had lived longer.

Many music lovers feel certain that, had he lived, Mozart’s church music would have changed the face of the genre completely. The simple yet profoundly beautiful nature of the Ave verum corpus, in particular, has led some to suggest that he was on the verge of revealing a whole new style of church music to the world. The last 12 months of Mozart’s life are often cast as a time of darkness for the composer. It is too simple to say that he was effectively 'dying' all year long. Money troubles were nothing new for Mozart, but if anything, there appeared to be more light than shade at the end of the financial tunnel for him. He was very much in love with his wife, as we have seen. There was no sign either, as yet, of any major illness. Against this backdrop, then, the appearance in July of a messenger, asking for a commission for his boss, was probably not the sinister, spooky affair that some versions of the Mozart legend now insist to be the case. Mozart had been working on his latest opera, The Magic Flute , for much of the year.

In it, he would pay tribute to many of the principles and practices of the masons, incorporating many masonic symbols into the plot. By July, however, it is most likely he had completed it and maybe even had some parts of his next opera, La clemenza di Tito (The Clemency of Thus), sketched out or finished too. The so-called 'mysterious' messenger visited Mozart back at home in Vienna and asked him how long it would take him to write a requiem for his master. July Who was that masked man? The mysterious messenger and his anonymous boss have given dramatists, conspiracy theorists and even Hollywood producers more than enough ammunition over the years to weave a dark tapestry of shadowy, sinister tales surrounding the 'masked man'. Right up there on the grassy knoll is 'the devil': yes, some say the mystery man was the devil emissary who was making Mozart write his own requiem before his death. Far more, however think it's something to do with Salieri. Now this one is far too tempting for people to leave alone. Salieri and Mozart were great rivals as composers and it is true to say that they had a strong dislike for each other.

So, some conspiracy theorists claim that Salieri commissioned the Requiem, which he might then be able to pass off as his own once be had murdered Mozart. Although the story is undoubtedly an attractive one, we would like to consign that one to the bottom of the basket, too. The true identity of the commissioner of the Requiem is now actually known to be Count Franz von Walsegg. In its own way, the true story of how it came to be written is quite intriguing enough in itself without all of the layers of conspiracy being placed on top… A musical Taj Mahal Franz von Walsegg was a count. A rich, musical man, he owned some lovely land and estates around the River Enns in Austria. He employed a number of servants and staff at his residences. He was particularly proud of his musicians, with whom he whiled away many an affluent afternoon, playing arrangements of various pieces of music that had, at some point, taken his fancy. He also played the cello . Not content with simply playing music, Walsegg was keen to be seen to compose music too. The mere fact that he actually couldn’t compose was not going to stop him.

He commissioned many people, over the years, to write him music, which he then copied out, in his own handwriting. Almost always, the true composer’s name was missing from his version of the score. When folk asked him who composed the work, he would apparently smile, blush, and let those around him infer that it was his own work, although he appears to have fooled very few. When Walsegg's beloved wife died at the age of just 20, he was grief-stricken. He decided to do two things to commemorate her life. First, he commissioned the respected sculptor, Johann Fischer, to make an epitaph to his wife. Once complete. it was positioned near to his castle in Stuppach, Austia. He also decided to commission a requiem for her, which would be played every year on the anniversary of her death. For this, only the best composer would be good enough. And so he decided to approach Mozart. It is probably true to say that he intended to pass the work off as his own, although the Requiem was such a strong piece of music that it is even more doubtful than usual that anyone would have believed him.

And besides he was, sadly, never to get his requiem finished by Mozart anyway. August Mozart told Walsegg's messenger that he was due to go to Prague for the coronation of the new emperor, Leopold, as King of Bohemia, and was to contribute an opera to the general festivities. (The plot of La clemenza di Tito , which centred on the leniency and moderation of its hero, was obviously considered a suitable match for the enlightened character of the new emperor.) Therefore, he could only start work on a requiem when he returned. This was agreed. Mozart and the messenger also agreed that the work, when complete, was to be owned by its commissioner. They settled on a fee, with which the messenger returned some days later, adding that his boss had considered the payment too low and would give Mozart more on receipt of the work. They also agreed that the man who commissioned the work was never to be known to Mozart. August was a busy month for the Mozarts. Mozart himself was working hard and there was no let up in the concerns about money. For Constanze, though, everything had changed.

On 26 July, she had given birth to their son, Franz Xaver Wolfgang. When Mozart set off, in late August, for the coronation festivities of Leopold II, Constanze went with him. Their new baby was just I month old, yet the Mozarts left him behind and headed for Prague. They did not travel completely alone, though: Mozart’s composition pupil, the 25-year-old Franz Xaver Süssmayr, went with them. At the time, it was quite common for composition pupils and teachers to work jointly on pieces of music, which would then be published in the teacher’s name. In much the same way as artists worked in 'schools', with pupils — sometimes teams of pupils — completing works that today bear the name of just one artist, so it was in classical music at the time. Indeed, the practice is not unheard of today, too: many a Hollywood movie score will credit a team of composers, sometimes working to one uber-composer. Süssmayr would almost certainly have been invited to work on Mozart’s opera, La clemenza di Tito . Mozart was said to have honed it in the coach on the way to Prague.

This particular pupil’s part in Mozart’s oeuvre would almost certainly have been forgotten today, were it not for the course that this last year of Mozart’s life took. Indeed, within months, Süssmayr would be asked to make a vital contribution to Mozart’s output — one that would see his name live on forever. Mozart and Constanze arrived in Prague on 28 August, just one day before the emperor and his entourage. It is worth mentioning that Prague was sort of the yin to Salzburg’s yang. Despite Salzburg’s trade in Mozart tourism today, which brings the city hundreds of thousands of pounds every year, Mozart, as we have seen, could not wait to get out of the place. Equally, if any city truly took Mozart and his music to its heart, it could be said to be Prague. Mozart was probably more than happy, in his 35th year, to be coming back here. September On Sunday 4 September, some of Mozart’s church music was performed at the service of the emperor’s oath of allegiance, conducted by Salieri in the Cathedral of St Vitus.

This was a precursor to the Monday, when La clemenza di Tito was premiered in the Prague National Theatre, and Tuesday, when Mozart’s Coronation Mass was performed at the actual coronation, again at St Vitus’s. Mozart’s head was almost certainly full with ideas for the Requiem too and it would appear that, by then, the increased work rate was affecting the composer’s health. He was becoming either ill or stressed or both. He had worked flat out on the composition of La clemenza di Tito and this huge effort had taken its toll. The new opera was, on the whole, fairly badly received. To be fair, it was being premiered as part of the coronation celebrations and its serious, albeit suitable, subject was probably not right for its audience. It soon dropped out of the general opera repertoire and has only recently made a reappearance in the last century. It is now considered to contain some of Mozart’s most beautiful operatic writing, which is not a bad achievement for something composed against the clock and partly in a coach.

Out in Prague, Mozart found time to visit the local masonic lodge, the so-called 'Truth and Unity' lodge and his Maurerfreude — a cantata — was performed. All in all, Mozart’s music was likely to have been the most played of any significant composer during the coronation period. Back in Vienna, Mozart concerned himself with his brand new opera. It was commissioned by the impresario, Schikaneder, a fellow mason, who frequently rented out Vienna’s Freihaustheater and staged productions. Mozart and Schikaneder planned it as one giant homage to the masons, and it is full of masonic images and symbols, some of them audible, some of them disguised. The three opening chords of the overture , for example, are important simply because they honour 'the power of three', and are repeated, in mid-overture, as three masonic knockings — all of which would have been apparent to any fellow masons hearing the piece. Hidden, too, are various numerical references, such as groups of three and groups of 18, as well as textual references to important masonic episodes.

On 30 September, Mozart himself conducted the premiere, the first of 20 performances running into October. Ironically, the successful premiere of The Magic Flute coincided with a sudden upturn in fortunes for La clemenza di Tito , which received vigorous applause at its closing performance, on the same day. Mozart completed the orchestration of the Clarinet Concerto in A. Despite now being seriously overworked and suffering from depression, he also began to compose the Requiem. Perhaps it was around this point that the necessarily sombre subject matter of the commission began to hit him. Certainly, his depression had by now started to manifest itself in delusions that he had been poisoned. This may well have contributed to the myth surrounding his death. There were still moments of fun and frivolity at this point of Mozart’s life, though. He took Salieri to see The Magic Flute and his arch-rival was seemingly genuinely impressed, shouting “bravo” at several points. He also found time to play practical jokes on the opera’s cast. One of the arias in The Magic Flute calls for a glockenspiel to be played by a singer.

Usually, then as now, the glockenspiel is played offstage by a musician and the singer has to make it appear that he is playing a dummy instrument onstage. During this first ever run of The Magic Flute, the part was played by Schikaneder’s son. One night, Mozart turned up and played the offstage instrument himself, but deliberately refused to play certain sections, or added extra bits, to fool the poor young Schikaneder: "As a joke, I played music when he was speaking. He started, looked sideways, and then clocked me. He stopped, and wouldn’t carry on. I guessed what he was doing and played some more. He was forced to hit the glockenspiel, mumbling 'Stop it!' Everybody laughed." October To add to Mozart’s increasing depression, he was without Constanze, who was again at the spa in Baden. Mozart busied himself with another small cantata and then spent most of October on the Requiem. Accounts of this period vary wildly, but what is certain is that Mozart was getting more and more unwell. The weather in Vienna was bad, with rain, sleet and snow all making an appearance.

As a result, Mozart’s rheumatism was triggered and he also began to experience abdominal pains. Some musical historians claim that he put this down to having been poisoned. But whether he ever said this or, more to the point, whether the claim was actually true, is very much open to doubt. Over the years, the theories have flowed thick and fast: from malicious poisoning — by Salieri, of course — to Mozart having cooked his chops wrongly, inadvertently poisoning himself in the process. It seems far more likely that he contracted a kidney disease and that his organs eventually failed altogether. In Mozart’s own words: "I'm writing this Requiem for myself." These words are repeated so often, in so many different accounts, that it seems almost certain that Mozart probably did say them. It is, however, worth remembering that they would have been spoken by a man in pain, suffering depression and, to some extent, hallucinations. Throughout October and part of November, Mozart completed or sketched out nearly one hundred pages of the Requiem. His only real moments of pleasure in this period seem to come from trips out with Constanze — now back from Baden — although these were few and far between because the weather was so bad.

November He went to hear a lodge performance of his Kleine Freimaurer cantata, which apparently cheered him up no end. Both this and his occasional coach rides to the park lifted his increasingly sombre mood only temporarily and his depression soon returned. On 20 November, he felt particularly unwell and took to his bed. He was visited by his physicians, Doctors Closset and Sallaba, 7 days later. December In the early days of December, Mozart’s condition began to rally a little, giving new hope to everyone around him. Mozart himself was still convinced of his own impending death. He was concerned enough, though, about the first performance of his Requiem to gather some friends from the Freihaustheater around his bedside to sing through some completed parts of the work, with Mozart himself trying to sing the alto part. When the 'rehearsal' was over, a very weak Mozart pulled Süssmayr close to him and gave him detailed instructions of how to finish off the work. Early that evening, he appeared lucid to Constanze. Later on, though, he was visited by his sister-in-law, Sophie.

She was concerned enough to fetch Doctor Closset, who was at the theatre. He found Mozart feverish and burning up and applied a poultice to his forehead. Mozart lapsed into unconsciousness. The last sounds to come from his lips were an attempt to sing the one of the drum parts from the Requiem to Süssmayr. Monday 5 December 1791 — if any day can claim to be 'the day the music died' it is surely this one. At 5 minutes to one in the morning, Mozart’s life ended. Constanze wept uncontrollably by his corpse and refused to leave his side. What Really Killed Mozart? Maybe Strep - The New York Times The New York Times Health |What Really Killed Mozart? Maybe Strep Search What Really Killed Mozart? Maybe Strep By NICHOLAS BAKALAR Continue reading the main story Scandalous rumors about popular musicians were just as lurid in the 18th century as they are today, but they moved at a more deliberate pace. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died on Dec. 5, 1791, and it took a whole week for a Berlin newspaper to announce that he had been poisoned.

The actual cause of death, a new study suggests, may have been more pedestrian: a strep infection. Mozart had returned to Vienna from a trip to Prague in September, completed the score of “The Magic Flute,” conducted its premiere, visited Baden, Austria, where his wife was taking the waters, and started writing the Requiem. He was evidently active and in good health. Then on Nov. 22, two days after his last public performance, he fell ill. Poisoning was only the first of many theories about what could have killed the 35-year-old composer at the height of his powers. Although several people witnessed his death, most recorded their recollections many years later. His sister-in-law recalled that Mozart’s body was very swollen, so much so that he was unable to turn in bed, and that he had a high fever , for which the attending physician ordered cold compresses. He lost consciousness and died early on Dec. 5. The cause of death was recorded as “fever and rash,” which even in the 18th century were considered symptoms, not a disease.

Many causes have been suggested over the centuries: syphilis , the effects of treatment with salts of mercury, rheumatic fever, vasculitis leading to renal failure , infection from a bloodletting procedure, trichinosis from eating undercooked pork chops. Photo RUMORS Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died after a sudden illness in 1791. Now researchers writing in the Aug. 18 issue of The Annals of Internal Medicine have done an epidemiological analysis that suggests he was a victim of an epidemic streptococcal infection. “Like those before us, we’ve taken into account all the signs and symptoms,” said Dr. Richard H. C. Zegers, the lead author, “but we also have looked at one of the most logical additional things: what people commonly died from in Vienna at the time of Mozart.” Advertisement Continue reading the main story Deaths were routinely recorded in 18th-century Vienna, but physicians were not required to note a cause, which was usually provided by relatives or the clerk doing the paperwork.

These records have survived, and the researchers used them to figure out patterns of death in the months surrounding Mozart’s final illness — November and December 1791 and January 1792 — and compare them with the patterns in the same periods of the previous and following years. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up Privacy Policy The scientists found 5,011 deaths of people 18 and older over the nine months. The most common causes were tuberculosis, malnutrition , edema (swelling of tissue under the skin), gastrointestinal disease and cerebrovascular disease , the blood vessel disorder that leads to stroke. But in the winter of 1791-92, edema was the only cause that showed an increased incidence among younger men compared with the other years, suggesting a small epidemic of infectious disease. Edema is also associated with certain chronic diseases of the kidneys and heart, but Mozart’s sickness was sudden. In addition to the edema, Mozart had malaise , back pain and a rash, all symptoms of streptococcal infection.

Streptococcus is sometimes followed by an acute kidney disease called glomerulonephritis , which would explain the severe swelling. Dr. Zegers, an ophthalmologist at the University of Amsterdam, said a description of symptoms alone can never be definitive, because many diseases have similar symptoms. He views the added epidemiological information as crucial. “It will take several years, or maybe longer,” he said, “before anyone can come up with a better diagnosis than this one.” Correction: August 20, 2009 Because of an editing error, an article on Tuesday about a new theory of what killed Mozart misidentified the country that is home to the spa town of Baden where he visited his wife shortly before he became ill. It is in Austria, not Germany. A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D6 of the New York edition with the headline: What Really Killed Mozart? Maybe Strep. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe How did Mozart die? - Rediff.com Movies Rediff.com » Movies » How did Mozart die? How did Mozart die? August 19, 2009 17:02 IST Do you know how Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died?

Was the great composer slowly poisoned by his jealous rival, the conductor and composer Antonio Salieri, that evil character played by F Murray Abraham in Milos Foreman's Oscar-winning film 'Amadeus'? Is it true that Salieri confessed to this murder on his deathbed 34 years later? Or did Mozart die in penury -- even as he composed one of his greatest but incomplete works, 'Requiem Mass in D Minor' -- unattended by a doctor? A recent study by researchers at the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands claims that the maestro died of a sore throat caused by a streptococcal infection. Yes, in those days of pre-penicillin, the streptococci bacteria, that looks like a twisted string or cluster of tiny berries (hence its name) under the microscope and often lives in our bodies, in our throats or under our skin, was a vicious, evil germ killing countless in its wake. And in Vienna in the winter of 1791 an epidemic, caused by this deadly bacteria, termed locally as 'Wassersucht', was raging.

When Mozart died on December 5 that year, according to those who nursed him -- his wife Constanze and his sister-in-law Sophie Haibel -- his body was severely swollen and official records attributed his death to a 'severe miliary fever'. A family doctor named Thomas Franz Closset was in attendance. Apparently Mozart had returned rather ill from Prague in September, where he had been for the premiere of his opera 'La Clemenza di Tito', that was presented for Emperor Leopold II's coronation as king of Bohemia. Back in Vienna, while walking in the city's famous park, the Prater, he mumbled to his wife that maybe the 'Requiem' he was writing should be for himself. In spite of sickness, the ever energetic Mozart carried on with his numerous commitments, even conducting the premiere of his enduringly popular, enchanting opera 'The Magic Flute' towards the end of September and went every night, mildly sick, taking his friends and relatives with him, to proudly hear it.

He was finally was bedridden, suffering delusions, vomiting, totally incapacitated, by late November and died a few weeks later, even as he worked on the 'Requiem' on his death bed, rehearsing parts with relatives. The Amsterdam researchers attribute his death to acute nephritic syndrome which is a complication arising from a severe infection of streptococci bacteria. He was only 35 years old. Mozart was always a sickly individual and according to historical records had suffered at some point in his life from smallpox, tonsillitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, typhoid fever and rheumatism. Do you think 'Amadeus', the movie based on Peter Shaffer's screenplay, starring Tom Hulce as Mozart, would have been even half as gripping if it concluded with the composer dying of a sore throat? How did Mozart die? We now know the score - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience | NBC News How did Mozart die?

We now know the score Researchers theorize he suffered from disease because of lack of vitamin D Below: Advertise Courtesy of LiveScience Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed more than 600 pieces — concertos, operas, and symphonies — in his short life (1756-1791) and is considered the most significant European classical composer. Had he lived longer, he may have written "Here Comes the Sun." By Jennifer Welsh + - If Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had spent a few minutes basking in the sun, it might have forestalled his untimely death, researchers are saying. The sun would have upped the young composer's levels of vitamin D, an important vitamin in fighting off disease. Our bodies make vitamin D from ultraviolet B (UVB) light from the sun, though it also is found in fish and a few other foods. (Two hundred years after Mozart's time, it is also available in pill form.) In many places during the winters, UVB levels in sunlight are too low to make the vitamin in our skin.

Where Mozart lived, in Vienna, these low levels of UVB rays would have easily caused vitamin D deficiencies, two researchers write in a letter in the June issue of the journal Medical Problems of Performing Artists. Sunless nights D. William Grant of the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center in San Francisco and Stefan Pilz of the Medical University of Graz in Austria suggest that these low levels of ultraviolet B rays during the winter, along with Mozart's nocturnal habits (he often wrote through the night and slept through the day), could have made him vitamin D-deficient . "Mozart did much of his composing at night, so would have slept during much of the day. At the latitude of Vienna, 48 degrees N, it is impossible to make vitamin D from solar ultraviolet-B irradiance for about 6 months of the year," the authors write. "Mozart died on Dec. 5, 1791, two to three months into the vitamin D winter." Mozart had been sickly for years. This deficiency could have led to an increased number of infections , especially a few months into winter. (Vitamin D lasts 4 to 6 weeks in the human body).

The writers hypothesize that the day Mozart died at age 35 was two to three months into the "vitamin D winter," when ultraviolet B rays are lowest. Other theories Many theories have been raised about the nature of Mozart's death, ranging from head trauma to rheumatic fever. Music History 102 Born: Salzburg, January 27, 1756 Died: Vienna, December 5, 1791 At the age of four he could learn a piece of music in half an hour. At five he was playing the clavier incredibly well. At six he began composing, writing his first symphonies at the age of eight. He was constantly traveling all over Europe with his father, Leopold Mozart (1719-1787), a violinist, minor composer and Vice-Kapellmeister at the court of the Archbishop of Salzburg. The musical feats and tricks of young Wolfgang were exhibited to the courts (beginning in Munich in 1762), to musical academicians, and to the public. Between the ages of seven and fifteen, the young Mozart spent half of his time on tour.

During these tours, Mozart heard, absorbed, and learned various European musical idioms, eventually crystallizing his own mature style. Fully expecting to find an ideal post outside his sleepy home town of Salzburg and the detested archiepiscopal court, in 1777 Wolfgang went on a tour with his mother to Munich, Mannheim, and Paris. It was in Paris that his mother died suddenly in July, 1778. With no prospects of a job, Mozart dejectedly returned to Salzburg in 1779 and became court organist to the Archbishop. Mozart finally achieved an unceremonious dismissal from the archiepiscopal court in 1781, and thereafter became one of the first musicians in history to embark upon a free-lance career, without benefit of church, court, or a rich patron. Mozart moved to Vienna where he lived for a time with the Webers, a family he had met in 1777. He eventually married Constanze Weber in August of1782, against the wishes and strict orders of his father. Then for a time, things began to look bright for the young composer.

Beginning in 1782 with the Singspiel Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), Mozart began turning out one masterpiece after another in every form and genre. Mozart is probably the only composer in history to have written undisputed masterworks in virtually every musical genre of his age. His serenades, divertimenti and dances, written on request for the entertainment and outdoor parties of the nobility, have become synonomous with the Classical "age of elegance," and are perhaps best exemplified by the well-known Serenade in G major, which the composer called Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A little night music). In Vienna, Mozart became a regular at the court of Emperor Joseph II (1741-1790), where he wrote much of his greatest music. A sampling of Mozart's mature works comprise a virtual honor roll of musical masterpieces: the last ten string quartets, the string quintets, and the Quintet for clarinet and strings; the Mass in C minor and the unfinished Requiem; the Serenade for thirteen wind instruments, the Clarinet concerto, the late piano concertos, and the last six symphonies.

Mozart's more than twenty piano concertos remain models of the classic concerto form, developed by him over time into works of symphonic breadth and scope. The concertos often begin with an elaborate sonata form first movement, followed by a tender and melodious second movement, and usually conclude with a brisk, engaging rondo, as in the Piano Concerto no. 22 in E-flat. In his last three symphonies, the second of which is the great Symphony no. 40 in G minor, Mozart infused this form with a passion and expressiveness unheard of in symphonic writing until the advent of Beethoven . Of Mozart's operas, Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), composed for the Viennese court in 1786, is the earliest opera still found in the repertoire of virtually all of today's opera houses. Through his dramatic and musical genius, Mozart transformed such operatic comedies and characters into living, breathing dramas peopled with real human beings.

He found a kindred spirit in this regard at the Viennese court in the person of Lorenzo da Ponte (1749-1838), who supplied Mozart with the librettos of his three Italian operatic masterpieces. Figaro was followed in 1787 by Don Giovanni (Don Juan), written for Prague, where Figaro had been an overwhelming success. The intensity of Mozart's music in the penultimate scene of Don Giovanni, in which the title character is dragged down to hell, unrepentant, at the hands of an avenging spirit, might even be said to have helped usher in the Romantic era . Having scaled the heights of Italian opera buffa, Mozart turned again to the German Singspiel in the final year of his life. Again he produced yet another masterpiece, this time with the unconventional combination of low comedy and high ideals.

Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) tells of a young prince who successfully endures the trials put to him by a fraternal priesthood in a search for truth and love, while the everyman character of Papageno in his song Der Vogelfänger bin ich, ja yearns for the earthly pleasures of wine, food, and female companionship. During his years in Vienna, Mozart also made the acquaintance of composer Franz Joseph Haydn . The two became close friends and the older composer's music had a profound influence on Mozart. Between 1782 and 1785, Mozart composed a series of six string quartets which he dedicated to Haydn.

Upon playing through some of them together, Haydn said to Mozart's father, who was present, "Before God and as an honest man, your son is the greatest composer I know, either personally or by name." Yet through his mismanagement of money (and as a successful composer of operas and a reknowned piano virtuoso, he made a great deal), and the documented incidences of his tactless, impulsive, and at times childish behavior in an era of powdered wigs and courtly manners, Mozart seemed to find it difficult to make a successful living. By 1790 he was writing letters to friends, describing himself and his family (he and Constanze had six children, only two of which survived) in desperate circumstances and begging for money. He was also by this time seriously ill, and had been intermittently for some time, with what was most likely disease of the kidneys. With the success of The Magic Flute and a newly granted yearly stipend, Mozart was just beginning to become financially stable when his illness brought an end to his life and career at the age of thirty-six.

He was buried, like most Viennese in those days by the decree of Emperor Joseph, in a common grave, the exact location of which remains unknown. The influence of Mozart on the composers that followed cannot be emphasized too strongly. He was idolized by such late nineteenth century composers as Richard Wagner and Peter Tchaikovsky ; and his music came to influence the neo-classical compositions of Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev in the twentieth century. Music History 102: a Guide to Western Composers and their music Designed, compiled and created by Robert Sherrane European Mozartways - European Mozartways European Mozartways Mozart's Biography W. A. Mozart Born in Salzburg on January 27th, 1756; died in Vienna on December 5th, 1791. In the years between, a boy genius, freelance artist and - according to the Köchel catalogue - creator of 626 musical works. Stations of his life Journeys to Western Europe and Italy The Young Man After Mozart's Death The Mozart biography which has been retold here is drawn with the kind permission of Salzburg's International Mozarteum Foundation from the following webpage: .

The translations into English, French and Italian are drawn with the kind permission of SalzburgerLand Tourismus. Mozart and the historical background W. A. Mozart’s life fell into the age of enlightened absolutism, a time that also heralded the revolution. In Austria the French Revolution’s counterpart was dissolving the rigid structures in both church and state. Mozart was a freelance artist during this period of upheaval and thus a child of his time: emancipated, independent and revolutionary. Salzburg, Mozart's birthplace, was the capital and court seat of the Salzburg principality. The state of Salzburg was only one of many smaller German states and did not become part of Austria until 1816. It was ruled by an archbishop and was a Catholic principality. The archbishop was not only the prince archbishop but also the head of state and man of political authority. The emperor of the kingdom came from the Habsburg dynasty. Austria was already a not entirely correct designation for the Habsburg territories referred to as the "Austrian patrimonial lands". They were eventually united, centrally administered and considered to be one unit of government by the Habsburgs.

The capital city had approximately ten thousand residents and thanked its affluence to salt mining and shipping. Mozart's life was in a time of peace. The Seven Years' War (1756 - 1763), conducted to decide whether Silesia should belong to Prussia or to the Habsburg possessions had no affect on life in Salzburg. When Austria was drawn into a war with Turkey based on an alliance with Russia, this did not have a negative affect in Vienna, although the war kindled great patriotic enthusiasm which was reflected in a series of Mozart's occasional works. Mozart lived under the reign of the following rulers: in Salzburg under Prince Archbishop Siegmund Graf Schrattenbach (ruled from 1753 - 1771) and Archbishop Hieronymus Graf Colloredo (ruled from 1772 - 1801).

The regents over the Habsburg countries during Mozart's lifetime were Maria Theresia (1740- 1780) together with her husband, Franz Stephan, upon his death in 1765 together with her son Joseph II, who succeeded her as the sole ruler in 1780 (until 1790). The emperors ruling in Mozart's day: Franz I, his son Joseph II elected as his successor, ruling as the emperor from 1765 - 1790. Joseph II was succeeded by his brother Leopold II, who ascended the throne as regent and the elected emperor (1790 - 1792). The church and state were in upheaval in Mozart's day. The old social order was changing. The state and the administration began to question the strict differentiation between the authorities and subjects, the boundaries between aristocracy and the bourgeoisie began to dissolve as well as those between the urban and rural population. The construction of the "New Gate" (1764 - 1767) marked the opening of the Salzburg court's small, secluded seat.

Public education was introduced in 1774, torture during court proceedings was abolished in 1776, freedom of religion was introduced in 1781. A new tax law came into force in 1789, based on the principle of equality and directed against the old principle of feudalism. Church reforms during this time were marked by the austere, rational thinking of the Enlightenment. The number of holidays was reduced, countless monasteries were closed and new regulations for divine worship were issued. Political and religious reforms found their way into music. Mozart's urge to be an independent, freelance artist is reflected in the intellectual history of this time. Emancipation and the new consciousness of the middle class eventually did away with the former supremacy of the music heard by the nobility and court. Aristocracy and the bourgeoisie sat side by side in the audience at public concerts. These and other phenomenon in the development of the church and state are manifest in Mozart's biography and recaptured in his compositions. The Mozart Family One family - two child prodigies. The special talent of the Mozart children was a great challenge to both their parents and their environment.

The father, Leopold Mozart, devoted his life to his son’s education and career. When Mozart began to go his own way, he left behind a disappointed old man in Salzburg. Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, better known as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was born on January 27, 1756 at Getreidegasse 9 in Salzburg. His parents, Leopold and Maria Anna Mozart, were afraid for their son's life at birth, five of his siblings having died as infants. Only the four-year-old Maria Anna, known to the family as "Nannerl", had survived. But young Wolfgang lived through the worst and soon displayed a remarkable talent for music. Leopold Mozart was born in 1719 as the son of a bookbinder in Augsburg. Initially destined to become a priest, he devoted himself to music and entered the services of the Salzburg archbishop as a violinist. He eventually achieved the rank of the vice kapellmeister for the court. His compositions (symphonies, concerts, chamber music pieces) were overshadowed by his son.

However, his "Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule", a comprehensive treatise on violin playing (1756), has remained one of the most important textbooks on instrumental performance to this day. Leopold Mozart died in Salzburg in 1787 at the age of sixty-eight. Mozart's mother, Maria Anna Mozart née Pertl, was born in 1720 in St. Gilgen near Salzburg. She companied her son on a trip to Paris in 1777, where she died in July 1778. The two child prodigies, Wolfgang and Nannerl, grew up under their father's watchful eye. He noted their rapid progress, particularly that of his son, with great pride. Although his father tried to direct the four-year-old's attention to toys and games, Wolfgang's mind was on music and everything he did had to be accompanied by music. The Mozart children grew up in a happy family with a dog, cats, birds and a host of friends. Everyone met on Sundays for the popular target shooting known as "Bölzlschiessen". The family developed its own secret code for their correspondence.

"Herr Father" always came first with the children, the mother playing a subordinate role next to her strict husband. Wolfgang, well-known for his crude language, was one of his mother's willing pupils. She loved crude jokes and was fond of unladylike, unrefined expressions. The father had great plans for his two wunderkinder. He gave up his teaching and composing ambitions to be able to devote his complete time to the education of his children. His journeys across Europe were to become triumphal. He planned every step down to the last detail and continued to take over all of Mozart's organizational duties in later years. He was very intent on obtaining a prominent and well-paid job for his son at one of the European courts. Mozart's ambivalent attitude towards him continued to dominate his private and professional life as an adult. It was painful and disappointing to Leopold Mozart to realize that his son was gradually becoming independent. He kept trying to exert pressure on his son. For example, he did not give his consent to marry Constanze Weber until after the couple had married. The fact that he only lived for and through his son became his fate. He only saw his son twice in the last six years of his life.

Mozart did not attend his father's funeral in Salzburg. The two siblings divided up their father's modest estate. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Biography - life, children, death, history, wife, school, mother, son, old, information, born Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Biography Vienna, Austria Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was an Austrian composer (a writer of music) whose mastery of the whole range of contemporary (modern) instrumental and vocal forms—including the symphony, concerto, chamber music, and especially the opera—was unchallenged in his own time and perhaps in any other. Child prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Austria. His father, Leopold Mozart, a noted composer, instructor, and the author of famous writings on violin playing, was then in the service of the archbishop of Salzburg. Leopold and Anna Maria, his wife, stressed the importance of music to their children. Together with his sister, Nannerl, Wolfgang received such intensive musical training that by the age of six he was a budding composer and an accomplished keyboard performer.

In 1762 Leopold presented his son as performer at the imperial court in Vienna, Austria, and from 1763 to 1766 he escorted both children on a continuous musical tour across Europe, which included long stays in Paris, France, and London, England, as well as visits to many other cities, with appearances before the French and English royal families. Mozart was the most celebrated child prodigy (an unusually gifted child) of this time as a keyboard performer. He also made a great impression as a composer and improviser (one who arranges or creates). In London he won the admiration of musician Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782), and he was exposed from an early age to an unusual variety of musical styles and tastes across Europe. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. . Gaining fame From the age of ten to seventeen, Mozart's reputation as a composer grew to a degree of maturity equal to that of most older established musicians.

He spent the years from 1766 to 1769 at Salzburg writing instrumental works and music for school dramas in German and Latin, and in 1768 he produced his first real operas: the German Singspiel (that is, with spoken dialogue) Bastien und Bastienne. Despite his growing reputation, Mozart found no suitable post open to him; and his father once more escorted Mozart, at age fourteen (1769), and set off for Italy to try to make his way as an opera composer. In Italy, Mozart was well received: in Milan, Italy, he obtained a commission for an opera; in Rome he was made a member of an honorary knightly order by the Pope; and at Bologna, Italy, the Accademia Filarmonica awarded him membership despite a rule normally requiring candidates to be twenty years old.

During these years of travel in Italy and returns to Salzburg between journeys, he produced his first large-scale settings of opera seria (that is, court opera on serious subjects): Mitridate (1770), Ascanio in Alba (1771), and Lucio Silla (1772), as well as his first string quartets. At Salzburg in late 1771 he renewed his writing of Symphonies (Nos. 14–21). In Paris and Vienna Paris was a vastly larger theater for Mozart's talents. His father urged him to go there, for "from Paris the fame of a man of great talent echoes through the whole world," he wrote his son. But after nine difficult months in Paris, from March 1778 to January 1779, Mozart returned once more to Salzburg, having been unable to secure a foothold and depressed by the entire experience, which had included the death of his mother in the midst of his stay in Paris.

Unable to get hired for an opera, he wrote music to order in Paris, again mainly for wind instruments: the Sinfonia Concertante for four solo wind instruments and orchestra, the Concerto for flute and harp, other chamber music, and the ballet music Les Petits riens. In addition, he began giving lessons to make money. Mozart's years in Vienna, from age twenty-five to his death at thirty-five, cover one of the greatest developments in a short span in the history of music. In these ten years Mozart's music grew rapidly beyond the realm of many of his contemporaries; it exhibited both ideas and methods of elaboration that few could follow, and to many the late Mozart seemed a difficult composer. The major instrumental works of this period bring together all the fields of Mozart's earlier activity and some new ones: six symphonies, including the famous last three: no. 39 in E-flat Major, no. 40 in G Minor, and no. 41 in C Major (the Jupiter —a title unknown to Mozart). He finished these three works within six weeks during the summer of 1788, a remarkable feat even for him.

In the field of the string quartet Mozart produced two important groups of works that completely overshadowed any he had written before 1780: in 1785 he published the six Quartets (K. 387, 421, 428, 458, 464, and 465) and in 1786 added the single Hoffmeister Quartet (K. 499). In 1789 he wrote the last three Quartets (K. 575, 589, and 590), dedicated to King Frederick William (1688–1740) of Prussia, a noted cellist. Operas of the Vienna years Mozart's development as an opera composer between 1781 and his death is even more remarkable, perhaps, since the problems of opera were more far-ranging than those of the larger instrumental forms and provided less adequate models. The first important result was the German Singspiel entitled Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782; Abduction from the Seraglio ). Mozart then turned to Italian opera.

Mozart produced his three greatest Italian operas: Le nozze di Figaro (1786; The Marriage of Figaro ), Don Giovanni (1787, for Prague), and Cosi fan tutte (1790). In his last opera, The Magic Flute (1791), Mozart turned back to German opera, and he produced a work combining many strands of popular theater and including musical expressions ranging from folk to opera. On concluding The Magic Flute, Mozart turned to work on what was to be his last project, the Requiem. This Mass had been commissioned by a benefactor (financial supporter) said to have been unknown to Mozart, and he is supposed to have become obsessed with the belief that he was, in effect, writing it for himself. Ill and exhausted, he managed to finish the first two movements and sketches for several more, but the last three sections were entirely lacking when he died. It was completed by his pupil Franz Süssmayer after his death, which occurred in Vienna, Austria, on December 5, 1791.

For More Information Amadeus (1984) - FAQ The content of this page was created directly by users and has not been screened or verified by IMDb staff. Visit our FAQ Help to learn more FAQ How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie? For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Amadeus can be found here . Is 'Amadeus' based on a book? Amadeus was filmed from a screenplay by English playwright Sir Peter Shaffer, who adapted it from his 1979 stage play Amadeus. The movie won the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture of 1984. The idea that Salieri 'killed' Mozart was first presented by Russian author Alexander Pushkin's 1830 verse drama Mozart i Salieri. An online copy of Mozart and Salieri translated by Alan Shaw can be found here . Why is this film titled with Mozart's supposed middle name?

The middle name is not "supposed". Mozart was baptized as "Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart", "Theophilus" being the Greek Version of the Latin name "Amadeus": Both mean "loved by God" or "dear to God". This translation, of course, corresponds to Salieri's constant complaint that God chose this infantile human being to be the greatest composer he (Salieri) had ever heard, although Mozart didn't deserve it, whereas Salieri had devoted his whole life (esp. his chastity) to God, if He made him the greatest composer that ever lived to praise Him with his music. Was Salieri a real person or just made up for the movie? This just goes to show that Salieri (played by F. Murray Abraham ) was right, that he would be forgotten while the upstart Mozart (played by Tom Hulce ) would be written in history. Yes, Antonio Salieri [1750-1825] was a real person, an Italian composer and conductor.

As the Austrian imperial Kapellmeister from 1788 to 1824, he was one of the most important and famous musicians of his time. However, as near as it's possible to tell, he was not out to kill Mozart. Although they competed for some commissions, all indications are that they had a friendly relationship. Salieri lent Mozart court manuscripts and even tutored one of his sons. He was an important and sought after teacher, and his most famous pupils include Beethoven, Schubert, and Liszt. Was Mozart such a goofball as he is depicted in this film? Not in Marcia Davenport's biography of Mozart, 1932, but you never know. In private, Mozart could be crude. In his letters he could be quite insulting and had a love of scatological humor. He wrote canons with titles like "Leck mich im Arsch" (Lick My Ass). He also loved to drink, party, and gamble, often spending copious amounts of money. Another point is that almost all of Mozart's dialog spoken in the movie was Mozart's own words, translated from the German, of course, and taken from his letters and other sources.

How does the movie end? Mozart collapses from exhaustion during the premiere performance of The Magic Flute. Salieri takes Mozart home and puts him to bed. Mozart thanks Salieri for coming to his opera, and Salieri assures Mozart that he is 'the greatest composer known to me.' Suddenly, there comes a pounding on the door. Mozart is certain that it's his mysterious patron and tells Salieri to answer the door and ask him for money. It's really only the cast from The Magic Flute checking on Mozart's well-being and bringing him his cut of the night's take. Salieri takes the money to Mozart and tells him that his patron has promised him another 100 ducats if he will finish the Requiem by tomorrow evening. Badly in need of the money, Mozart agrees to work on it, dictating while Salieri transcribes. Meanwhile, Constanze ( Elizabeth Berridge ) has decided to return home. When she finds Salieri there, she orders him to leave and locks the Requiem away despite Salieri's insistence that he will respect only Mozart's wishes. When Constanze turns to Mozart to get him to back her up, she realizes that he is dead.

Mozart's body is subsequently placed in a black coffin, loaded on a funeral wagon, and taken outside the city to be dumped into a mass grave, in accordance with Viennese custom. The scene then switches to Salieri's confession to Father Vogler ( Richard Frank ). Tears fill the eyes of the priest, while Salieri laughs and explains that God killed Mozart rather than allow his 'beloved' to share his glory with a mediocrity like himself. 'I am the patron saint of mediocrity,' Salieri says as the attendant wheels him away to breakfast on sugar rolls. As Salieri is taken down the hall, he absolves mediocrities everywhere, and Mozart laughs. What did Mozart really die of? Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died on 5 December 1791 at the age of 35. The cause of death has been debated over the years, but the most widely accepted hypothesis is that he died from rheumatic fever, an inflammatory disease that sometimes follows after a Streptococcus infection. What are the differences between the theatrical version and the Director's Cut of the movie? Milos Forman's famous biopic has been released as a Director's Cut on DVD that runs approx.

20 minutes longer and features several extended plot sequences with a more or less sexual undertone but there are also "normal" scenes that have been trimmed for the theatrical version. A detailed comparison between both versions with pictures can be found here .

Question: In which year did Mozart die?
Answer: 1791