Editing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (section)

==Appearance and character==
{{main|Appearance and character of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart}}
[[File:Mozart (unfinished) by Lange 1782.jpg|thumb|upright|Detail of Mozart's portrait by his brother-in-law [[Joseph Lange]]]]
Mozart's physical appearance was described by tenor [[Michael Kelly (tenor)|Michael Kelly]] in his ''Reminiscences'': "a remarkably small man, very thin and pale, with a profusion of fine, fair hair of which he was rather vain". His early biographer Niemetschek wrote, "there was nothing special about [his] physique.{{nbsp}}... He was small and his countenance, except for his large intense eyes, gave no signs of his genius." His facial complexion was pitted, a reminder of his [[Mozart and smallpox|childhood case of smallpox]].<ref name=Telegraph /> Of his voice, his wife later wrote that it "was a tenor, rather soft in speaking and delicate in singing, but when anything excited him, or it became necessary to exert it, it was both powerful and energetic."{{sfn|Solomon|1995|p=308}}

He loved elegant clothing. Kelly remembered him at a rehearsal: {{nowrap|"[He]}} was on the stage with his crimson [[pelisse]] and gold-laced [[Bicorne|cocked hat]], giving the time of the music to the orchestra." Based on paintings that researchers were able to find of Mozart, he seemed to wear a white wig for most of his formal occasions—researchers of the [[Salzburg Mozarteum]] declared that only one of his fourteen portraits they had found showed him without his wig.<ref name= Telegraph>{{cite news|title=Discovered, new Mozart portrait that shows musician without his wig|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/9797143/Discovered-new-Mozart-portrait-that-shows-musician-without-his-wig.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/9797143/Discovered-new-Mozart-portrait-that-shows-musician-without-his-wig.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|website=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|access-date=7 May 2018|date=11 January 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Mozart usually worked long and hard, finishing compositions at a tremendous pace as deadlines approached. He often made sketches and drafts; unlike Beethoven's, these are mostly not preserved, as his wife sought to destroy them after his death.{{sfn|Solomon|1995|p=310}}

Mozart lived at the centre of the Viennese musical world and knew a significant number and variety of people: fellow musicians, theatrical performers, fellow Salzburgers, and aristocrats, including some acquaintance with Emperor [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]]. Solomon considers his three closest friends to have been Gottfried von Jacquin, Count August Hatzfeld, and Sigmund Barisani; others included his elder colleague [[Joseph Haydn]], singers [[Franz Xaver Gerl]] and [[Benedikt Schack]], and the horn player [[Joseph Leutgeb]]. Leutgeb and Mozart carried on a kind of friendly mockery, often with Leutgeb as the butt of Mozart's [[practical joke]]s.{{sfn|Solomon|1995|loc=§20}}

He enjoyed [[billiards]], dancing, and kept pets, including a canary, a [[Mozart's starling|starling]], a dog, and a horse for recreational riding.{{sfn|Solomon|1995|p=319}} He had a startling fondness for [[Mozart and scatology|scatological humour]], which is preserved in his surviving letters, notably those written to his cousin [[Maria Anna Thekla Mozart]] around 1777–1778, and in his correspondence with his sister and parents.{{sfn|Solomon|1995|p=169}} Mozart also wrote scatological music, a series of [[Canon (music)|canons]] that he sang with his friends.{{efn|1=A list of the canons may be found at [[Mozart and scatology#In music]].}} He had an ear for languages, and having travelled all over Europe as a boy, was fluent in Latin, Italian, and French in addition to his native Salzburg dialect of German. He possibly also understood and spoke some English, having jokingly written "You are an ass" after his 19-year-old student [[Thomas Attwood (composer)|Thomas Attwood]] made a thoughtless mistake on his exercise papers.<ref>[https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/brexit-news-mozart-multilingual-hidden-talents-68158/ "The hidden talents of Wolfgang Mozart"] by [[Peter Trudgill]], 10 February 2020, ''[[The New European]]''</ref><ref>[https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma990027027660100000&context=L&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=LibraryCatalog&query=any,contains,Thomas%20Attwood&facet=creator,include,Mozart,%20Wolfgang%20Amadeus&offset=0 "''Thomas Attwood's studies with Mozart''"] by [[C. B. Oldman|Cecil Bernard Oldman]], 1925</ref>

Mozart [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the Catholic Church|was raised a Catholic]] and remained a devout member of the Church throughout his life.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Goldstein|first1=Jack|title=101 Amazing Mozart Facts|date=2013|publisher=Andrews UK Limited}}</ref>{{sfn|Abert|2007|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=l6I6BwTMJ3sC&pg=PA743 743]}} He embraced some of the teachings of [[Freemasonry]] in 1784.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wolfgang-Amadeus-Mozart/The-central-Viennese-period | title=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Viennese Composer, Operas, Symphonies|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]| date=28 May 2024}}</ref>