“Music is my life and my life is music. Anyone who does not understand this is not worthy of God.” ~ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Mozart’s relationship with his father, Leopold, is one of the most compelling father-son relationships in history and has been dramatized on the screen and stage several times.  It is interesting that it is to his father that Mozart reveals what the modern world knows of hiLeos religious feelings and orientation.

Although he was a musical genius and, unlike some of his contemporaries, received much applause in his own lifetime, Mozart was still working under an unfair patronage system.  He was very much a man trying to make ends meet.  And this can be seen in the many letters he wrote to his father in the year 1781.

Here are just 10 simple pieces of information about the life of Mozart that you may not know. Find out more about his family life, his reputation throughout Europe and his musical rivalries here!

Eight p.m. tonight will officially mark the 255th year since Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was first brought into the world, changing the face of music forever.  The events surrounding his birth were recounted by John Irving in The Treasures of Mozart.  They are as follows:

The name of one of the world’s most beloved musicians was actually rarely used by the musician himself.  A common misconception is that Mozart referred to himself as “Wolfgang Amadeus”.  Here is a look at the meaning behind the artist’s many names.

While the focus has often been on the amount of inspiration Mozart has given to all musicians who came after him, it is interesting to note the classical musicians that Mozart himself admired.

Today, when musicians and bands prepare to go on tour they expect to leave their friends and families for a few months at a time, with the promise of a start and end time to their trip.  But in Mozart’s era, touring could last years.  And for the young child prodigy, it did.

Certain rivalries between Mozart and his contemporaries performing in Europe was an ever present fixture in the life of the famous composer.

Historically, the idea of a patronage system involved a wealthy or connected adviser sponsoring the works of another artist.  Famous examples include the Medici family of Florence or the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches that commissioned great works of art for cathedrals.  However, the patronage system under which Mozart worked for a time was a system of employment that was both necessary for the maintenance of his career, but as the musician himself saw it, an evil.

From the time Mozart was born his father worked with him closely to grasp the art of music. Mozart had very little problem learning how to play the piano.  He was composing music by the age of five.