Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The most prodigiously gifted musician who ever lived. By five he was composing; at 35 he had produced 41 symphonies, 27 piano concertos, 23 string quartets, and operas including Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute, and The Marriage of Figaro — works of such perfection that Beethoven wept reading them. He was born the year of the Seven Years' War, died the year of the Haitian Revolution, and never earned a permanent court appointment. He died in debt at 35 and was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave.

• Roles: Composer