<P> Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (/ ˈwʊlfɡæŋ æməˈdeɪəs ˈmoʊtsɑːrt / MOHT - sart; German: (ˈvɔlfɡaŋ amaˈdeːʊs ˈmoːtsaʁt); 27 January 1756--5 December 1791), baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the classical era . </P> <P> Born in Salzburg, Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood . Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty . At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position . While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position . He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security . During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best - known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his early death at the age of 35 . The circumstances of his early death have been much mythologized . </P> <P> He composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music . He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, and his influence is profound on subsequent Western art music . Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote: "posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years". </P>

When did mozart compose his first piece of music