Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Hello there. My name is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and I was a boy who loved music more than anything. I was born a long, long time ago, in 1756, in a pretty town in Austria called Salzburg. My father, Leopold, was a wonderful musician, and my older sister, Nannerl, was too. Our home was always filled with beautiful sounds. Before I could even read books, I could read music. I would climb up onto the bench in front of the big harpsichord, which is like a piano, and press the keys. Plink, plonk, plink. My father saw how much I loved it and started teaching me. Soon, I wasn't just playing other people's songs. When I was only five years old, I started making up my own little tunes. It felt like telling a secret story, but with notes instead of words.

My father said, "Wolfgang, your music is a special gift. We must share it with the world.". So, my sister Nannerl and I packed our bags and went on a grand adventure all across Europe. We rode in bumpy carriages for many, many days, which was sometimes tiring, but always exciting. We played our music in fancy palaces for kings and queens who wore sparkling jewels and sat on golden thrones. They would clap and cheer for us. To make them smile, I would do little tricks. Sometimes I would cover the keyboard with a cloth and play a song perfectly without even seeing the keys. It wasn't magic, I just loved music so much that my fingers knew exactly where to go. It was my favorite game to play, and everyone was always so surprised.

When I grew up, I moved to a big, busy city called Vienna. It was filled with music, theaters, and other artists, and I knew it was the perfect place for me. There, I met and married a wonderful woman named Constanze, who was my best friend. My days were spent writing music from morning until night. I would get an idea for a melody in my head and I had to write it down right away. I wrote music that was happy and bouncy, and music that was quiet and sad. I wrote silly tunes that would make you giggle and grand music that would make you feel like a hero. I even wrote stories told completely with music, called operas. One of my favorites was called 'The Magic Flute', which had a brave prince, a magical queen, and silly bird-catchers.

My life wasn't as long as I would have liked, as I passed away in 1791. But in my thirty-five years, I filled the world with as much music as I possibly could. I wrote hundreds and hundreds of symphonies, concertos, and operas. I wanted my music to share every feeling a person could have. My greatest joy is knowing that even today, children and grown-ups all over the world still listen to my songs. My music still makes people want to dance, sing, and dream. And I hope when you hear it, it makes you feel happy and full of wonder, just like I did when I wrote it.