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In celebration of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s 270th birthday, this playlist traces his life through the places that shaped his music. A concise musical travelogue, it follows the composer across Europe from prodigious childhood to his final years in Vienna, setting his compositions alongside the works by other composers he encountered along the way.

The journey begins in Salzburg, where the five-year-old Mozart astonished his family and local musicians with his earliest minuets. From there, we follow the Mozarts’ Grand Tour of Europe (1763–1766), an extraordinary period of travel that took Leopold and his family through major cultural centres including Paris, London and The Hague, among others. As they moved from court to court, Mozart absorbed a wide range of national styles, writing keyboard sonatas, symphonies and chamber music en route, while also hearing works by composers of the previous generation such as Johann Schobert (d. 1767) and George Frideric Handel (d. 1759), whose music left a lasting impression on the child prodigy.

After returning briefly to Salzburg, Mozart embarked on a formative series of journeys to Italy, beginning in 1769, where he encountered the Italian operatic tradition and sacred music, composing string quartets, his radiant motet Exsultate, jubilate, and operas for Bologna and Milan. A four-year period of employment in Salzburg followed, with subsequent travels to Mannheim, Paris and Munich, each city contributing new influences and opportunities as well as frustrations.

In 1782, now married to Constanze Weber, Mozart finally settled in Vienna, seeking independence as a freelance composer and performer. Here he formed a close artistic friendship with Joseph Haydn. Vienna also served as a base for continued travel: a short stopover in Linz produced the exuberant Linz Symphony, while journeys to Prague resulted in some of his greatest operatic triumphs, including Don Giovanni (1787). His final travels took him to Berlin (1789-1790), where he wrote his Prussian Quartets.

Mozart died in Vienna in 1791 at the age of 35, leaving behind an unfinished Requiem. Our playlist follows his artistic steps, revealing how his extensive travels across the continent, cultural exchanges and extraordinary aptitude led to the creation of some of the most remarkable musical treasures in Western history.

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TRACK LIST

1. Mozart Minuet in G, K1e | Ton Koopman
Mozart writes his first compositions in Salzburg in 1761, at the age of five.

2. Mozart Violin Sonata No. 1 in C, K6: I. Allegro | Rachel Podger, Gary Cooper
He writes a set of sonatas for keyboard with violin accompaniment, either in Salzburg or when his travels are underway, in Paris. They are published in Paris in 1764.

3. Schobert Sonata for harpsichord with violin ad libitum, Op. 17, No. 2: III. Allegro assai | Martin Gester, Arte dei Suonatori
Schobert publishes his Op. 17 collection in Paris in 1763 just before Mozart's arrival. Leopold mentions Wolfgang’s interest in Schobert’s ‘New sonatas’.

4. Mozart Symphony No. 1 in E flat, K16: I. Molto allegro | The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock
Mozart writes his first symphony in London in 1764.

5. Handel Acis and Galatea, HWV 49: Air ‘O ruddier than the cherry’ | Matthew Brook, Dunedin Consort, John Butt
While in London, Mozart hears Handel’s ‘Acis and Galatea’, which leaves a deep impression on him. About two decades on, in 1788, it is the work that he chooses to arrange for patron Baron Gottfried van Swieten in the classical style of the day.

6. Mozart Symphony No. 5 in B flat, K22: II. Andante | The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock
In the Hague, in December 1765, Mozart writes his Fifth Symphony.

7 & 8. Mozart Apollo et Hyacinthus, K38: Intrada & Duetto ‘Natus cadit atque Deus’ | Andrew Kennedy, Klara Ek, The Mozartists, Ian Page Back in Salzburg, in 1767, the eleven-year-old Mozart is commissioned by the Benedictine University to write a work. The result is Apollo and Hyacinthus, regarded as his first opera.

9. Gluck Alceste: Ouverture | English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner
Gluck's Alceste is premiered in Vienna in 1767. Mozart is believed to have attended the performance.

10-13. Allegri Miserere: Libera me–Quoniam si voluisses–Benigne fac, Domine–Tunc acceptabis | The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips
Mozart hears Allegri’s ‘Miserere’ in St Peter’s, Rome in 1770, and writes it out from memory.

14. Mozart String Quartet No. 1 in G Lodi, K80: I. Adagio | VenEthos Ensemble
Mozart writes his first string quartet on his travels to Italy, in Lodi, Lombardy in 1770.

15. Mozart Mitridate, re di Ponto, K87: Aria ‘Al destin che la minaccia’ | Miah Persson, The Mozartists, Ian Page
Mozart writes an opera seria commissioned by the Bologna Opera House in 1770.

16. Mozart Lucio Silla, K135: Aria ‘Il tenero momento’ | Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Concentus Musicus Wien
Mozart writes another opera in Milan, where it is premiered in 1772.

17. Mozart String Quartet No. 6 in B flat, K159: II. Allegro | VenEthos Ensemble
He writes a set of six ‘Milanese’ Quartets in 1772-1773.

18. Mozart Exsultate, jubilate, K165: I. ‘Exsultate, jubilate’ | Emma Kirkby, Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood
He composes his joyful three-movement motet ‘Exsultate, jubilate’ in 1773 for castrato singer Venanzio Rauzzini in Milan.

19. Mozart Symphony No. 29 in A, K201: IV. Allegro con spirito | English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner
Back in Salzburg, Mozart completes his much-loved Symphony No. 29 in 1774.

20. Mozart Concert aria: ‘Non so d'onde viene’ | Diana Montague, The Hanover Band, Sir Charles Mackerras
Pursuing prospects of employment in Mannheim from late 1777 to March 1778, Mozart fell in love with Aloysia Weber, one of four daughters of a musical family, and wrote several arias for her.

21. Mozart Symphony No. 31 in D, K297 Paris: I. Allegro assai | Academy of Ancient Music, Jaap Schröder
A successful performance of Mozart’s Symphony No. 31 takes place in Paris. His mother dies during their stay there.

22. Mozart Idomeneo, re di Creta, K366: Aria ‘Zeffiretti lusinghieri’ | Sylvia McNair, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner
Mozart composes his most famous opera seria, ‘Idomeneo’, in Munich between 1780 and 1781.

23. Mozart Mass in C minor, K427: Aria ‘Et incarnatus est’ | Elionor Martínez, Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall
Mozart marries Constanze Weber, sister of Aloysia, in August 1782, and the couple move to Vienna. As a thanksgiving for their marriage – and to impress his father, Leopold, who has yet to meet his soprano daughter-in-law – he writes the Mass in C minor, featuring technically challenging arias sung by Constanze at its premiere.

24. Mozart Serenade in C minor, K388: II. Andante | Ensemble Marsyas, Peter Whelan
Mozart has settled in Vienna, where he is living and working from 1782.

25. JS Bach (arr. Mozart) Five fugues for string quartet, K405: III. Adagio and Fugue in E, K405
In 1782 and 1783 Mozart studies the manuscripts of JS Bach and Handel in patron Gottfried van Swieten’s collection.

26. Mozart Symphony No. 36 in C, K425 Linz: III. Menuetto – Trio | Ensemble Resonanz, Riccardo Minasi
Mozart stops in Linz for four days on his way back to Vienna after a trip to Salzburg. He writes his ‘Linz’ Symphony (1783).

27. Haydn String Quartet in E flat, Op. 33, No. 2 The Joke: IV. Finale: Presto | London Haydn Quartet
Joseph Haydn writes his Op. 33 String Quartets in 1781, which Mozart would have heard.

28. Mozart String Quartet No. 16 in E flat, K428: IV. Allegro vivace | Quatour Mosaïques
Between 1782 and 1785 Mozart writes his ‘Haydn’ Quartets - dedicated to his older counterpart.

29. Mozart Maurerische Trauermusik, K477 | Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall
In December 1784, Mozart became a Freemason, and on various occasions he composes Masonic music.

30. Salieri La grotta di Trofonio: Aria ‘La ra la’ | Cecilia Bartoli, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Ádám Fischer
In Vienna, Salieri was an established star composer of his time. The two composers were rival friends with cordial respect to each other’s work. Mozart particularly liked Salieri's comic opera, ‘La grotta di Trofonio’ (1785), and got several parts copied by Constanze.

31. Mozart The Marriage of Figaro, K492: Aria ‘Porgi amor’ | Véronique Gens, Concerto Köln, René Jacobs
Mozart composes The Marriage of Figaro in 1786. Premiered in Vienna, the opera enjoys huge success in Prague.

32. Mozart Symphony No. 38 in D, K504 Prague: III. Finale. Presto | The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock
Mozart composes his ‘Prague’ Symphony in 1786. It is premiered in 1787 during the composer’s first visit to the city.

33. Mozart Don Giovanni, K527: Aria ‘Fin ch'han dal vino’ | Johannes Weisser, Freiburger Barockorchester, René Jacobs
Don Giovanni is commissioned in Prague following the success of Mozart's initial trip to the city.

34. Mozart String Quartet in D, K575: I. Allegretto | Chiaroscuro Quartet
Mozart travels to Berlin where he writes his ‘Prussian’ Quartets, dedicated to King Friedrich Wilhelm II.

35. Mozart Requiem in D minor, K626: Introitus, Requiem aeternam | Westminster Cathedral Choir, Academy of Ancient Music, Chrisopher Hogwood
Mozart died in Vienna in 1791 at the age of 35, leaving behind an unfinished Requiem.