Leopold MozartThe rain was falling hard, flooding the suburban streets of Vienna. Thunder rumbled all around the funeral procession on December 6, 1791, as it laboriously made its way to St. Marx Cemetery. When he reached the walls of Vienna, the few friends who had accompanied Mozart on his last journey turned back, due to unusually adverse weather conditions. Such a scene is sadly appropriate in depicting the tragic end of Mozart, who had begun his life with such immeasurable promise. On January 27, 1756, Leopold Mozart paced up and down the hallway of his home in Salzburg, Austria, awaiting the arrival of his seventh child. His wife, Anna Maria, had given birth to a son: Wolfgang. Wolfgang and his only surviving brother, Nannerl, grew up immersed in music. He progressed rapidly and began composing before he could write. Leopold thought that his son's gift should be furthered by travel, so the family left Salzburg in 1762 eager to "show the world a miracle". From court to palace, the Mozart family traveled the streets of Europe, introducing Wolfgang to the world as a child genius. His father often took him to carnivals and masquerade balls and dressed the child as a harlequin. These experiences had made Wolfgang not only something of a legend, but had given him musical experiences far beyond those of a simple child prodigy. On his eleventh birthday commissions arrived not only from the court but also from the bourgeoisie. He wrote an act of an oratorio to be performed in March, followed by a Latin comedy, Apollo and Hyacinth. In September 1767, the Mozart family left for Vienna where, after recovering from smallpox, Mozart would be inspired by his father to write his first opera, LaFinta Semplice. Mozart was so impressed by Vienna that he and his father set off for Italy alone again in 1769. Traveling through the cities of Italy, his recitals were one success after another, and his opera "Mitridate, re diPonto" saw its twentieth consecutive performance in Milan. A failed attempt to carry out a commission in Milan led Mozart to realize how fickle society can be and brought the two back to their home in Salzburg. Mozart's farewells from Milan were tinged with bitterness and he resigned himself to a life as a court musician in Salzburg, but the seventeen-year-old genius... middle of paper... became the great composer he became. If Leopold had not exerted such an influence on him, Mozart would not have been forced to work so intensively and tirelessly day after day on his compositions later in his life. Mozart's extraordinary achievements may have been partly due to his father's influence. Yet despite Mozart's personal difficulties, through his music he left an impression on us that will last for years. Bibliography Gartner, Heinz. (translation by Reinhard Pauly) Constanze Mozart After the Requiem. Munich: Langen Muller. 1922. pp 11-25.Jahn, Otto. (translation by Pauline Townsend) Life of Mozart. New York: Cooper Square Publishers, Inc. 1970. pp. 264-352.Parouty, Michel. Mozart: from child prodigy to tragic hero. New York: Discoveries. 1993, pp. 13-127.Rothstein, Edward. "Riddle and Variations." New York Times. March 26, 1995. pp. 8-9.Thompson, Molley (producer/director) Mozart.(1995). New York, New York. A&E Television Network. 50 minutesStafford, William. The myths of Mozart. California: Stanford University Press. 1991. pp. 3-17.Erich, Valentin. Mozart and his world. New York: Thames and Hudson Ltd. 1959. pp. 1-128