The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

died at 1:00 am on 5 December 1791

1791 in music

-Classical music:*Franz Anton Hoffmeister – String Quartet in F*Joseph Haydn – Symphony No. 96 in D "Miracle"*Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Requiem*Franz Xaver Süssmayr – Concerto Movement in D major for Basset Horn-Opera:...

 at the age of 35, following a short illness.

Illness and last days

Mozart experienced issues with his health throughout his life, suffering from smallpox

Mozart and smallpox

In 1767, the 11-year old composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was struck by smallpox. Like all smallpox victims, he was at serious risk of dying, but he survived the disease...

, tonsillitis

Tonsillitis

Tonsillitis is an inflammation of the tonsils most commonly caused by viral or bacterial infection. Symptoms of tonsillitis include sore throat and fever. While no treatment has been found to shorten the duration of viral tonsillitis, bacterial causes are treatable with antibiotics...

, bronchitis

Bronchitis

Acute bronchitis is an inflammation of the large bronchi in the lungs that is usually caused by viruses or bacteria and may last several days or weeks. Characteristic symptoms include cough, sputum production, and shortness of breath and wheezing related to the obstruction of the inflamed airways...

, pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

, typhoid fever

Typhoid fever

Typhoid fever, also known as Typhoid, is a common worldwide bacterial disease, transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium Salmonella enterica, serovar Typhi...

, rheumatism

Rheumatism

Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...

 and gum disease. His final illness began when he visited Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 to supervise the performance of his new opera La clemenza di Tito

La clemenza di Tito

La clemenza di Tito , K. 621, is an opera seria in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Metastasio...

in 1791. The visit was fairly successful from a professional standpoint, however, while in Prague Mozart began to feel ill. Early Mozart biographer Franz Niemetschek

Franz Xaver Niemetschek

Franz Xaver Niemetschek was a Czech philosopher, teacher and music critic. He wrote the first full-length biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which has remained an important source of information about the composer.-Life:Niemetschek came from a large, musical family...

 wrote, "...he was pale and expression was sad, although his good humour was often shown in merry jest with his friends."

Following his return to Vienna, Mozart's condition gradually worsened. For a while, he was still able to work and completed his Clarinet Concerto

Clarinet Concerto (Mozart)

Mozart's Clarinet concerto in A major, K. 622 was written in 1791 for the clarinetist Anton Stadler.It consists of the usual three movements, in a fast–slow–fast form:# Allegro# Adagio# Rondo: Allegro...

, worked toward the completion of the Requiem

Requiem (Mozart)

The Requiem Mass in D minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in Vienna in 1791 and left unfinished at the composer's death. A completion by Franz Xaver Süssmayr was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg, who had anonymously commissioned the piece for a requiem Mass to commemorate the...

, and conducted the premiere performance of The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....

on 30 September. Still, he became increasingly alarmed and despondent about his health. A famous anecdote from his wife, Constanze

Constanze Mozart

Constanze Mozart was the wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-Early years:Constanze Weber was born in Zell im Wiesental. Her mother was Cäcilia Weber, née Stamm. Her father Fridolin Weber worked as a "double bass player, prompter and music copyist." Fridolin's half-brother was the father of composer...

, is related in Niemetschek's early biography:

On his return to Vienna, his indisposition increased visibly and made him gloomily depressed. His wife was truly distressed over this. One day when she was driving in the Prater

Prater

The Wiener Prater is a large public park in Vienna's 2nd district . The amusement park, often simply called "Prater", stands in one corner of the Wiener Prater and includes the .-Name:...

 with him, to give him a little distraction and amusement, and they were sitting by themselves, Mozart began to speak of death, and declared that he was writing the Requiem for himself. Tears came to the eyes of the sensitive man: 'I feel definitely,' he continued, 'that I will not last much longer; I am sure I have been poisoned. I cannot rid myself of this idea.'

Constanze attempted to cheer her husband by persuading him to give up work on the Requiem for a while, encouraging him instead to complete the "Freimaurerkantate", K. 623, composed to celebrate the opening of a new Masonic

Mozart and Freemasonry

For the last seven years of his life Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a Mason. The Masonic order played an important role in his life and work.-Mozart's lodges:...

 temple for Mozart's own lodge. The strategy worked for a time – the cantata was completed and successfully premiered 18 November. He told Constanze he felt "elated" over the premiere. Mozart is reported to have stated, "Yes I see I was ill to have had such an absurd idea of having taken poison, give me back the Requiem and I will go on with it."

Even so, Mozart's worst symptoms of illness soon returned, together with the strong feeling that he was being poisoned. He became bedridden on 20 November, suffering from swelling, pain and vomiting.

Death

The details of Mozart's death are described by his early biographer – and Constanze's future husband – Georg Nikolaus von Nissen

Georg Nikolaus von Nissen

Georg Nikolaus von Nissen was a Danish diplomat and music historian...

; Nissen took many of his details from an account provided him by Constanze's sister, Sophie Weber

Sophie Weber

Maria Sophie Weber was a singer of the 18th and 19th centuries. She was the younger sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's wife Constanze, and is remembered primarily for the testimony she left concerning the life and death of her brother-in-law....

. He wrote, "[the illness] began with swelling in the hands and feet, which were almost completely immobilized, followed later by sudden vomiting. ... Until two hours before his passing he remained completely conscious."
His body swelled up so much he could no longer sit up in bed, or even move on his own.

While dying, Mozart was comforted by members of his wife's family. His mother-in-law Cäcilia Weber

Cäcilia Weber

Cäcilia Cordula Stamm was the mother of Constanze Weber, wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.She was born in Mannheim, Germany, the daughter of Johann Otto Stamm, a government secretary and Sophia Elisabeth Wimmer. She married Franz Fridolin Weber on 14 September 1756, and had four daughters:...

 and his sister-in-law made him a bed jacket "which he could put on frontways, since on account of his swollen condition he was unable to turn in bed."

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died at 1:00 in the morning on 5 December, 1791. Sophie, his wife's sister, recalled, "I cannot possibly describe the boundless misery of his faithful wife as she threw herself on her knees and implored succour from the Almighty for His aid. She could not tear herself away from him, beg her as I did."

Funeral

The funeral arrangements were made by Mozart's friend and patron Baron Gottfried van Swieten

Gottfried van Swieten

Gottfried, Freiherr van Swieten was a diplomat, librarian, and government official who served the Austrian Empire during the 18th century...

. Describing his funeral, the Grove Dictionary

Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...

 states, "Mozart was buried in a common grave, in accordance with contemporary Viennese custom, at the St. Marx Cemetery

St. Marx cemetery

St. Marx Cemetery is a cemetery in the Landstraße district of Vienna, used from 1784 until 1874. It was named after a nearby almshouse.-History:...

 outside the city on 7 December." Jahn (1856) wrote that Salieri

Antonio Salieri

Antonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....

, Süssmayr

Franz Xaver Süssmayr

Franz Xaver Süssmayr was an Austrian composer, now famous for his completion of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem.-Early life:...

, van Swieten and two other musicians were present. The tale of a storm and snow is false; the day was calm and mild."

Aftermath

Following he husband's death, Constanze recovered from her despair and addressed the task of providing financial security for her family; the Mozarts had two young children, and Mozart had died with outstanding debts. She successfully appealed to the Emperor

Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor

Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...

 (11 December 1791) for a widow's pension

Widow's pension

A widow's pension is a payment from the government of a country to a person whose spouse has died.Generally, such payments are made to a widow whose late spouse has satisfied the country's requirements, including contribution, cohabitation, and length of marriage.-United States:In the United...

 due to her as a result of Mozart's service to the Emperor as a part-time chamber composer. Additionally, she organized a series of concerts of Mozart's music and the publication of many of her husband's works. As a result, Constanze became financially secure over time.

Soon after the composer's death a Mozart biography was started by Friedrich Schlichtegroll

Friedrich Schlichtegroll

Adolf Heinrich Friedrich Schlichtegroll was a teacher, scholar and the first biographer of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His brief account of Mozart's life was published in a volume of twelve obituaries Schlichtegroll prepared and called Nekrolog auf das Jahr 1791...

 wrote an early account based on information from Mozart's sister, Nannerl

Maria Anna Mozart

Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart , nicknamed "Nannerl", was a musician, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and daughter of Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart.-Childhood:...

. Working with Constanze, Franz Niemetschek

Franz Xaver Niemetschek

Franz Xaver Niemetschek was a Czech philosopher, teacher and music critic. He wrote the first full-length biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which has remained an important source of information about the composer.-Life:Niemetschek came from a large, musical family...

 wrote a biography as well. Much later, Constanze assisted her second husband, Georg Nikolaus von Nissen in a more detailed biography published in 1826.

Mozart's musical reputation rose following his death; Solomon describes an "unprecedented wave of enthusiasm" for his work, and a number of publishers issued editions of his compositions.

First-person accounts

Individuals present at the time of Mozart's death eventually committed their memories to writing, either on their own or through interviews by others. The stories they told are not entirely mutually compatible, which may be due in part to some of them not being recorded until the 1820s, when the witnesses' memories might have faded.

Benedikt Schack

Benedikt Schack

Benedikt Schack was a composer and tenor of the Classical era, a close friend of Mozart and the first performer of the role of Tamino in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute.- Early life :...

, Mozart's close friend for whom he wrote the role of Tamino in The Magic Flute, told an interviewer that on the last day of Mozart's life, he participated in a rehearsal of the Requiem in progress: Schack's questionable account appeared in an obituary for Schack which was published in the 25 July 1827 issue of Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung

Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung

The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung was a German-language periodical published in the 19th century. Comini has called it "the foremost German-language musical periodical of its time"...

:

On the very eve of his death, [Mozart] had the score of the Requiem brought to his bed, and himself (it was two o'clock in the afternoon) sang the alto part; Schack, the family friend, sang the soprano line, as he had always previously done, Hofer, Mozart's brother-in-law, took the tenor, Gerl

Franz Xaver Gerl

Franz Xaver Gerl was a bass singer and composer of the classical era. He sang the role of Sarastro in the premiere of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute.-Life:...

, later a bass singer at the Mannheim Theater, the bass. They were at the first bars of the Lacrimosa when Mozart began to weep bitterly, laid the score on one side, and eleven hours later, at one o'clock in the morning (of 5 December 1791, as is well known), departed this life.

Biographer Niemetschek relates vaguely similar account, leaving out a rehearsal:

On the day of his death he asked for the score to be brought to his bedside. 'Did I not say before, that I was writing this Requiem for myself?' After saying this, he looked yet again with tears in his eyes through the whole work.

The widely repeated claim that, on his deathbed, Mozart dictated passages of the Requiem to his pupil Süssmayr

Franz Xaver Süssmayr

Franz Xaver Süssmayr was an Austrian composer, now famous for his completion of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem.-Early life:...

 is strongly discounted by Solomon, who notes that the earliest reference for this claim dates to 1856. Sophie Weber did claim to recall, however, that Mozart gave instructions to Süssmayr.

An 1840 letter from the composer Ignaz von Seyfried

Ignaz von Seyfried

Ignaz Xaver Ritter von Seyfried was an Austrian musician, conductor and composer.Seyfried was born in Vienna. According to a statement in his handwritten memoirs he was a pupil of both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johann Albrechtsberger. He published Albrechtsberger's complete written works after...

 states that on his last night, Mozart was mentally occupied with currently running opera The Magic Flute. Mozart is said to have whispered the following to Constanze in reference to her sister Josepha Hofer

Josepha Weber

Josepha Weber was a German soprano of the classical era...

, the coloratura soprano who premiered the role of the Queen of the Night:

"Quiet, quiet! Hofer is just taking her top F

O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn

O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn is the first aria performed by the Queen of the Night character in Mozart's singspiel The Magic Flute...

; — now my sister-in-law is singing her second aria, 'Der Hölle Rache

Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen

"Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" is the second aria sung by a coloratura soprano role Queen of the Night in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute .-The aria:...

'; how strongly she strikes and holds the B-flat: 'Hört! hört! hört! der Mutter Schwur'"

Solomon, while noting that Mozart's biographers often left out the "crueler memories" surrounding his death,, stated, "Constanze Mozart told Nissen that just before the end Mozart asked her what [his physician] Dr. Closset had said. When she answered with a soothing lie, he said, 'It isn't true,' and he was very distressed: 'I shall die, now when I am able to take care of you and the children. Ah, now I will leave you unprovided for.' And as he spoke these words, 'suddenly he vomited —it gushed out of him in an arc— it was brown, and he was dead.'"

Mozart's older, seven year-old son Karl

Karl Thomas Mozart

Karl Thomas Mozart was the second son, and the elder of the two surviving sons, of Wolfgang and Constanze Mozart. The other was Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart....

, was present at his father's death and later wrote, "Particularly remarkable is in my opinion that fact that a few days before he died, his whole body became so swollen that the patient was unable to make the smallest movement, moreover, there was stench, which reflected an internal disintegration which, after death, increased to the extent that an autopsy was impossible."

Posthumous diagnoses

Because forensic medicine was in a primitive state during in Mozart's day, it was impossible at the time to determine what specifically had caused the composer's death. In the parish register, the entry concerning Mozart's death states he died of "severe miliary fever" – "miliary" referring to the appearance of millet-sized bumps on the skin, but not naming the actual disease.

A later theorizing rumor addressing the cause of Mozart's death was that he was poisoned by his colleague Antonio Salieri

Antonio Salieri

Antonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....

. These rumours, however, were not proven to be true as the signs of illness Mozart displayed did not indicate poisoning. Despite denying the rumors and allegations, Salieri was greatly affected by the accusations he contributed to Mozart's death and contributed to his nervous breakdowns

Nervous breakdown

Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...

 in later life.

Some ascribe Mozart's death to malpractice

Malpractice

In law, malpractice is a type of negligence in, which the professional under a duty to act, fails to follow generally accepted professional standards, and that breach of duty is the proximate cause of injury to a plaintiff who suffers harm...

 on the part of his physician, Dr. Closset. Sophie Weber, in her 1825 account, makes the implication. Borowitz summarizes:

When Mozart appeared to be sinking, one of his doctors, Dr. Nikolaus Closset, was sent for and finally located at the theater. However, according to Sophie's account, that drama-lover "had to wait till the piece was over." When he arrived, he ordered cold compresses put on Mozart's feverish brow, but these "provided such a shock that he did not regain consciousness again before he died."

A suggestion is that Mozart died as a result of his hypochondria

Hypochondria

Hypochondriasis or hypochondria refers to excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness. This debilitating condition is the result of an inaccurate perception of the body’s condition despite the absence of an actual medication condition...

 and his predilection to taking patent medicines containing antimony

Antimony

Antimony is a toxic chemical element with the symbol Sb and an atomic number of 51. A lustrous grey metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite...

. In his final days, this was compounded by further prescriptions of antimony to relieve the fever he clearly suffered.

A panel of experts concluded in February 2000 that Mozart died of natural causes; physicians at the University of Maryland, Baltimore

University of Maryland, Baltimore

University of Maryland, Baltimore, was founded in 1807. It comprises some of the oldest professional schools in the nation and world. It is the original campus of the University System of Maryland. Located on 60 acres in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, it is part of the University System of Maryland...

 have concluded Mozart died from rheumatic fever

Rheumatic fever

Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease that occurs following a Streptococcus pyogenes infection, such as strep throat or scarlet fever. Believed to be caused by antibody cross-reactivity that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain, the illness typically develops two to three weeks after...

. Among the physicians was Mozart scholar Neal Zaslaw

Neal Zaslaw

Neal Zaslaw is an American musicologist.Born in New York, Zaslaw graduated from Harvard in 1961 with a BA and obtained his master's from Juilliard in 1963. He played flute in the American Symphony Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski from 1962 to 1965. In 1970 he received his Ph.D from Columbia...

, who stated that while rheumatic fever was the most likely diagnosis, it is not be possible to confirm the illness as the indisputable cause of death. He further stated that he believes it is highly unlikely Mozart died of unnatural causes.

In 2009, British, Viennese and Dutch researchers performed epidemiological research

Epidemiology

Epidemiology is the study of health-event, health-characteristic, or health-determinant patterns in a population. It is the cornerstone method of public health research, and helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive...

 combined with a study of other deaths in Vienna at the time of Mozart's death. They concluded that Mozart may have died of a streptococcal

Streptococcus

Streptococcus is a genus of spherical Gram-positive bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes and the lactic acid bacteria group. Cellular division occurs along a single axis in these bacteria, and thus they grow in chains or pairs, hence the name — from Greek στρεπτος streptos, meaning...

 infection

Infection

An infection is the colonization of a host organism by parasite species. Infecting parasites seek to use the host's resources to reproduce, often resulting in disease...

 leading to an acute nephritic syndrome

Nephritic syndrome

Nephritic syndrome is a collection of signs associated with disorders affecting the kidneys, more specifically glomerular disorders. It is characterized by having small pores in the podocytes of the glomerulus, large enough to permit proteins and red blood cells to pass into the urine...

 caused by poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis

Glomerulonephritis

Glomerulonephritis, also known as glomerular nephritis, abbreviated GN, is a renal disease characterized by inflammation of the glomeruli, or small blood vessels in the kidneys...

. This disease was also called "Wassersucht" in Austria.

In a journal article dated 1908, it was suggested that Vitamin D

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids. In humans, vitamin D is unique both because it functions as a prohormone and because the body can synthesize it when sun exposure is adequate ....

 deficiency could have played a role in Mozart's underlying medical conditions leading to his death.

A 1994 neurology article in PubMed

PubMed

PubMed is a free database accessing primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health maintains the database as part of the Entrez information retrieval system...

 suggests Mozart died of a subdural hematoma

Subdural hematoma

A subdural hematoma or subdural haematoma , also known as a subdural haemorrhage , is a type of haematoma, a form of traumatic brain injury. Blood gathers within the outermost meningeal layer, between the dura mater, which adheres to the skull, and the arachnoid mater, which envelops the brain...

. A skull believed to the Mozart's was saved by the successor of the gravedigger who had supervised Mozart's burial, and later passed on to anatomist Josef Hyrtl, the municipality of Salzburg, and the Mozarteum museum (Salzburg). Forensic reconstruction of soft tissues related to the skull reveals substantial concordance with Mozart's portraits. Examination of the skull suggested a premature closure of the metopic suture, which has been suggested on the basis of his physiognomy

Physiognomy

Physiognomy is the assessment of a person's character or personality from their outer appearance, especially the face...

. A left temporal fracture and concomitant erosions raise the question of a chronic subdural hematoma, which would be consistent with several falls in 1789 and 1790 and could have caused the weakness, headaches, and fainting Mozart experienced in 1790 and 1791. Additionally, aggressive bloodletting

Bloodletting

Bloodletting is the withdrawal of often little quantities of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease. Bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluid were considered to be "humors" the proper balance of which maintained health...

used to treat suspected rheumatic fever could have decompensated such a lesion, leading to his death.