Behind every great symphony is a disciplined routine, and Mozart’s was as demanding as it was inspired.
How do you compose more than 600 musical works, including 21 stage and opera works, 15 Masses, and more than 50 symphonies, in just 35 years? You work voraciously, following an intense daily schedule of writing music, playing music, and teaching music.
Such was the daily routine of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—not only an incredibly prolific composer but also one whose works are considered among the great masterpieces of classical music.
Early to Rise
Mozart’s creativity seemed to bubble up over the course of the night, and he got to work early in the morning, putting down on paper his nighttime inspirations. Sometimes, ideas simply flowed into his mind, with Mozart himself not always aware of their origin. As
he described it, “When I am … completely myself, entirely alone … or during the night when I cannot sleep, it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best and most abundantly.”
