Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

1. An eighteenth-century Austrian composer; one of the great figures in the history of music. A child prodigy, Mozart began composing music before he was five. He, Franz Josef Haydn , and Ludwig van Beethoven are the leading composers of the classic era. Mozart wrote chamber music , symphonies , operas , and Masses . Three of his best-known compositions are the short work for orchestra Eine Kleine Nachtmusik ( A Little Night Music ) and the operas Don Giovanniand The Marriage of Figaro.