Some artists slave for decades to develop their talent. Others, like Mozart, seem to be divinely gifted.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the most accomplished and revered classical composers of all time, with more than 600 works to his name. His compositions convey depths of emotion that lesser artists only skirted, though his final work, considered to be one of his greatest, was not completed before his death, frustrating endless numbers of classical music fans from a brilliant piece of music.

Mozart was born a musical prodigy in 1756, and from an early age displayed an acuity for crafting sound. He was the youngest of seven children, five of whom died in early childhood. At three, he could play a classical keyboard known as the clavichord. At the age of five, he had performed his first public concert at Salzburg University. At seven, having never played a violin before, he picked one up and performed the middle of a composition perfectly.

After performing across Europe as a boy, he became the concert master for the Salzburg court. By the 1770s, he began writing his first operas, many of which are still considered classics and are performed regularly today. Productions like The Magic Flute and The Marriage of Figaro have become institutions in the medium.

The 1984 film Academy Award-winning film Amadeus gave credence to the legend that Antonio Salieri, a contemporary and rival of Mozart's, was implicated in his death. Historians have concluded that it's little more than myth. In reality, Mozart died of an unknown medical ailment. As a result, his final work, Requiem, was never finished, depriving human history of one of its greatest composer's greatest works.