The youngest of six children born to Wolfgang Amadeus and his wife Constanze, Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart was born in July 1791, just over four months before his father’s death. The choice of name is significant, thought to reflect his father’s gratitude to Franz Xaver Süssmayr, who completed the Requiem, or admiration for the bass Franz Xaver Gerl – the first Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte – or both.

Franz Xaver’s musical training took place with the support of Haydn, though he was not directly taught by him. Instead he took lessons in composition with Georg Joseph Vogler from 1803 to 1805, when he made his debut in Vienna, before studying with notable figures such as Albrechtsberger, Salieri and Hummel.