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===Later years=== ====1788–90==== [[File:Mozart drawing Doris Stock 1789.jpg|thumb|upright|Drawing of Mozart in [[silverpoint]], made by [[Dora Stock]] during Mozart's visit to Dresden, April 1789]] Toward the end of the decade, Mozart's circumstances worsened. Around 1786, he ceased to appear frequently in public concerts, and his income shrank.<ref name="sadie 1998 6">{{harvnb|Sadie|1998|loc=§6}}</ref> This was a difficult time for musicians in Vienna because of the [[Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791)|Austro-Turkish War]]: both the general level of prosperity and the ability of the aristocracy to support music had declined. According to Solomon, in 1788, Mozart saw a 66% decline in his income compared to his best years in 1781.{{sfn|Solomon|1995|pp=427, 432}} By mid-1788, Mozart and his family had moved from central Vienna to the suburb of [[Alsergrund]].<ref name="sadie 1998 6" /> Although it has been suggested that Mozart aimed to reduce his rental expenses by moving to a suburb, as he wrote in his letter to [[Michael von Puchberg]], Mozart had not reduced his expenses but merely increased the housing space at his disposal.{{sfn|Lorenz|2010}} Mozart began to borrow money, most often from his friend and fellow mason Puchberg; "a pitiful sequence of letters pleading for loans" survives.{{sfn|Sadie|1980|loc=vol. 12, p. 710}} Solomon and others have suggested that Mozart was suffering from depression, and it seems his musical output slowed.{{sfn|Steptoe|1990|p=208}} Major works of the period include the last three symphonies (Nos. [[Symphony No. 39 (Mozart)|39]], [[Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)|40]], and [[Symphony No. 41 (Mozart)|41]], all from 1788), and the last of the three Da Ponte operas, ''[[Così fan tutte]]'', premiered in 1790. Around this time, Mozart made some long journeys hoping to improve his fortunes, visiting Leipzig, Dresden, and Berlin in the spring of 1789 (see [[Mozart's Berlin journey]]), and [[Frankfurt]], Mannheim, and other German cities in 1790. ====1791==== Mozart's last year was, until his final illness struck, a time of high productivity—and by some accounts, one of personal recovery.{{sfn|Solomon|1995|loc=§30}}{{efn|1=More recently, {{harvnb|Wolff|2012}} has forcefully advocated a view of Mozart's career at the end of his life as being on the rise, interrupted by his sudden death.}} He composed a great deal, including some of his most admired works: the opera ''[[The Magic Flute]]''; the final piano concerto ([[Piano Concerto No. 27 (Mozart)|K. 595 in B{{music|flat}}]]); the [[Clarinet Concerto (Mozart)|Clarinet Concerto]] K. 622; the last in his series of string quintets ([[String Quintet No. 6 (Mozart)|K. 614 in E{{music|flat}}]]); the motet [[Ave verum corpus (Mozart)|''Ave verum corpus'']] K. 618; and the unfinished [[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]] K. 626. Mozart's financial situation, a source of anxiety in 1790, finally began to improve. Although the evidence is inconclusive,<ref name="solomon 1995 477">{{harvnb|Solomon|1995|p=477}}</ref> it appears that wealthy patrons in Hungary and Amsterdam pledged annuities to Mozart in return for the occasional composition. He is thought to have benefited from the sale of dance music written in his role as Imperial chamber composer.<ref name="solomon 1995 477" /> Mozart no longer borrowed large sums from Puchberg and began to pay off his debts.<ref name="solomon 1995 477" /> He experienced great satisfaction in the public success of some of his works, notably ''The Magic Flute'' (which was performed several times in the short period between its premiere and Mozart's death){{sfn|Solomon|1995|p=487}} and the Little Masonic Cantata K. 623, premiered on 17 November 1791.<ref>And not as previously stated on 15 November; see {{harvnb|Abert|2007|p=1307, fn 9}}</ref> ====Final illness and death==== {{Main|Death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart}} [[File:Wolfgang-amadeus-mozart 1.jpg|thumb|upright|Posthumous painting by [[Barbara Krafft]] in 1819]] Mozart fell ill while in Prague for the premiere, on 6{{nbsp}}September 1791, of his opera ''[[La clemenza di Tito]]'', which was written in that same year on commission for Emperor [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold II]]'s coronation festivities.{{sfn|Freeman|2021|pp=193–230}} He continued his professional functions for some time and conducted the premiere of ''[[The Magic Flute]]'' on 30 September. His health deteriorated on 20 November, at which point he became bedridden, suffering from swelling, pain, and vomiting.{{sfn|Solomon|1995|p=491}} Mozart was nursed in his final days by his wife and her youngest sister and was attended by the family doctor, Thomas Franz Closset. He was mentally occupied with the task of finishing his [[Requiem (Mozart)|Requiem]], but the evidence that he dictated passages to his student [[Franz Xaver Süssmayr]] is minimal.{{sfn|Solomon|1995|pp=493, 588}} Mozart died in his home on {{death date and age|df=yes|1791|12|05|1756|01|27}} at 12:55 am.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classicfm.com/composers/mozart/guides/mozarts-final-year-1791/|title=Mozart's final year and death—1791|publisher=[[Classic FM (UK)]]|access-date=17 December 2017|archive-date=19 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171219114033/http://www.classicfm.com/composers/mozart/guides/mozarts-final-year-1791/|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|New Grove]]'' describes his funeral: <blockquote>Mozart was interred in a common grave, in accordance with contemporary Viennese custom, at the [[St. Marx Cemetery]] outside the city on 7{{nbsp}}December. If, as later reports say, no mourners attended, that too is consistent with Viennese burial customs at the time; later [[Otto Jahn]] (1856) wrote that [[Antonio Salieri|Salieri]], [[Franz Xaver Süssmayr|Süssmayr]], [[Gottfried van Swieten|van Swieten]] and two other musicians were present. The tale of a storm and snow is false; the day was calm and mild.{{sfn|Sadie|1980|loc=vol. 12, p. 716}}</blockquote> The expression "common grave" refers to neither a communal grave nor a pauper's grave, but an individual grave for a member of the common people (i.e., not the aristocracy). Common graves were subject to excavation after ten years; the graves of aristocrats were not.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.aproposmozart.com/Brauneis%20--%20Dies%20irae.rev.Index.pdf|author=Walther Brauneis|author-link=:de:Walther Brauneis|title=Dies irae, dies illa—Day of wrath, day of wailing: Notes on the commissioning, origin and completion of Mozart's Requiem (KV 626)|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407071543/http://www.aproposmozart.com/Brauneis%20--%20Dies%20irae.rev.Index.pdf|archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref> The cause of Mozart's death is not known with certainty. The official record of ''hitziges Frieselfieber'' ("severe miliary fever",<!--this is not a typo--> referring to a rash that looks like [[millet|millet seeds]]) is more a symptomatic description than a diagnosis. Researchers have suggested more than a hundred causes of death, including acute [[rheumatic fever]],<ref name="Wakin 2010"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Crawford|first=Franklin|date=14 February 2000|title=Foul play ruled out in death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|url=http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2000-02/CUNS-Fpro-1402100.php|newspaper=EurekAlert!|publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]]|access-date=26 April 2014|archive-date=26 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426233455/http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2000-02/CUNS-Fpro-1402100.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Streptococcus|streptococcal]] infection,<ref>{{cite news|author=Becker, Sander|date=20 August 2009|url=http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4324/Nieuws/article/detail/1152870/2009/08/20/Voorlopig-is-Mozart-bezweken-aan-streptokok.dhtml|title=Voorlopig is Mozart bezweken aan streptokok|trans-title=For the time being Mozart succumbed to streptococcus|work=[[Trouw]]|access-date=25 April 2014|archive-date=24 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424131007/http://www.trouw.nl/tr/nl/4324/Nieuws/article/detail/1152870/2009/08/20/Voorlopig-is-Mozart-bezweken-aan-streptokok.dhtml|url-status=live}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bakalar|first=Nicholas|date=17 August 2009|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/health/18mozart.html|title=What Really Killed Mozart? Maybe Strep|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=24 April 2014|archive-date=30 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630061249/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/health/18mozart.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[trichinosis]],<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=648393|title=Special Article: What Really Killed Mozart?|journal=[[JAMA Internal Medicine]]|volume=161|issue=11|pages=1381–1389|date=11 June 2001|last=Hirschmann|first=Jan V.|doi=10.1001/archinte.161.11.1381|pmid=11386887|access-date=26 January 2016|archive-date=2 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202071620/http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=648393|url-status=live|issn = 0003-9926}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=211378|journal=[[JAMA Internal Medicine]]|volume=162|issue=8|pages=946; author reply 946–947|title=Editor's Correspondence: Trichinellosis Is Unlikely to Be Responsible for Mozart's Death|date=22 April 2002|last=Dupouy-Camet|first=Jean|pmid=11966352|type=Critical comment and reply|access-date=26 January 2016|archive-date=2 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202090810/http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=211378|url-status=live}}</ref> [[influenza]], [[mercury poisoning]], and a rare [[Nephrology|kidney]] ailment.<ref name="Wakin 2010">{{harvnb|Wakin|2010}}</ref> Mozart's modest funeral did not reflect his standing with the public as a composer; memorial services and concerts in Vienna and Prague were well attended. Indeed, in the period immediately after his death, his reputation rose substantially. Solomon describes an "unprecedented wave of enthusiasm"<ref name="Solomonp499">{{harvnb|Solomon|1995|p=499}}</ref> for his work; [[Biographies of Mozart|biographies were written]] first by [[Friedrich Schlichtegroll|Schlichtegroll]], [[Franz Xaver Niemetschek|Niemetschek]], and [[Georg Nikolaus von Nissen|Nissen]], and publishers vied to produce complete editions of his works.<ref name="Solomonp499" />
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