Mozart Dies at 35: Classical Music Loses Its Genius
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died on December 5, 1791, in Vienna, at 35. The cause has never been definitively established — rheumatic fever, kidney disease, and trichinosis have all been proposed. He was buried in a common grave, in accordance with Viennese custom for his social class, not from poverty as the legend suggests. The Requiem he was writing when he died was completed by his student Franz Xüssmayr from sketches; nobody is certain exactly which parts Mozart finished. He'd composed 41 symphonies, 27 piano concertos, 23 string quartets, 18 masses, 22 operas. He was paid well for his work and died with almost nothing, because he spent extravagantly. His wife Constanze survived him by 50 years and spent them correcting the record about his life.
December 5, 1791
235 years ago
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