The Mystery of His Death

Mozart died on December 5, 1791, at age 35, while working on his Requiem — a mass for the dead. The circumstances have fueled centuries of speculation. He believed he was writing his own funeral music. The identity of the anonymous patron who commissioned it added to the mystery.

The romanticized story that rival composer Antonio Salieri poisoned Mozart (dramatized in the film Amadeus) has no historical basis. Modern medical analysis suggests Mozart likely died from rheumatic fever or a kidney ailment.