1777-1778, New Consciousness of Faith in W. A. Mozart

Abstract

1777 was the most important year for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was raised in the Catholic tradition of Salzburg. That year he developed a different consciousness of the traditional and devout Christian faith. In September, he managed to leave the service in the Archbishopric and undertake a new "independent" career. His faith began to have a new meaning, leaving behind the Catholic tradition, and converting himself to a unique Catholicism, which was more aware and personal, and in which death and love began to be a leitmotiv for his life and work; a personal concept attached to Christianism, redeeming and frightening in most of cases.

In this article, it is argued that during 1777 the life of Mozart suffered a profound transformation and a new period of his life began, which continued until his death, creating since that year a new musical language that was more intimate and reflexive. A musical analysis is presented in the article based on his work and the rhetoric found in his musical compositions, linking the works with specific moments of his life, which were recorded in the letters he sent to his relatives and close friends. The idea of a religiosity in Mozart with its peak occurring during 1777-1778 is contrary to other positions within musicology, which argue that is in 1781, with his opera Idomeneo, when Mozart actually achieves a spiritual consciousness and transformation.