Mrs. Eddy Mentioned Them May 14, 1955 Issue

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756-1791

[Mentioned in Science and Health, p. 213, and in the Message to The Mother Church for 1900, p. 11]

Mozart is an example of natural genius. His father, wishing to make his son's ability known beyond Salzburg, started traveling with him when he was barely 6. He could play a second violin's part perfectly, although he had not studied violin. Before he was 10 he had played the clavier and organ at the courts of Versailles and London, written several sonatas, a symphony, and an oratorio. A Paris critic wrote, "In all that he does or says, there is spirituality and feeling, adorned by the peculiar grace ... of childhood.'

He was influenced by Italian aria operas and wrote his first opera when he was 12. At 13, after attending the Sistine Chapel, he wrote down, note by note, the whole of the "Miserere"' by Allegri.

Mozart's works number over 1000, and he excelled in every form of musical art. He wrote the finest Italian operas of his day, all having marked individuality—humor, imagination, and dramatic sense. "The Marriage of Figaro," "Don Juan," and "Così fan tutte" are excellent examples of the opera buffa. "Idomeneo" shows Gluck's influence, and "The Magic Flute" was the first important German opera.

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756-1791

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