Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 2

Mozart was born in Salzburg, the capital of the archbishopric of Salzburg, Austria, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, to Leopold and Anna Maria Pertl Mozart. His only sibling was older sister Maria Anna, nick-named Nanerl, Leopold's and Anna Maria's only other child to survive infancy. Mozart was baptized the day after his birth at St. Rupert's Cathedral. The baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. Of these names, the first two were saints' names not employed in everyday life and the fourth was variously translated in Mozart's lifetime as Amadeus (Latin), Gottlieb (German), and Amadé. Mozart's father Leopold announced the birth of his son in a letter to the publisher Johann Jakob Lotter with the words "...the boy is called Joannes Chrysostomus, Wolfgang, Gottlieb". Mozart himself preferred the third (see Mozart's name).

Mozart's musical ability became noticeable when he was about three years old. His father, Leopold, was one of Europe's leading musical teachers and he was extremely proud of his son's achievements. (Leopold's influential textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule, or "Essay on the fundamentals of violin playing", was published in 1756, the year of Mozart's birth.) Mozart received intensive musical training from his father, including instruction in clavier, violin, and organ.

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