Eminent musical composer, born at Salzburg; was distinguished for his musical genius as a boy, and produced over 600 musical compositions, but his principal works were his operas, the "Marriage of Figaro," "Don Giovanni," and the "Magic Flute"; his fate was an unhappy one; he suffered much from poverty and neglect; the last piece he wrote was a Requiem Mass, which he felt, he said, as if he were writing for himself, and he died at Prague on the evening of its rehearsal (1756-1791).