4. It is generally accepted that composing music requires a kind of inborn talent. For this reason, it may not surprise you that many of the greatest classical composers began writing music as children. Some were even publicly recognized as child prodigies. The most famous example of this is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who had written ten symphonies and was performing around Europe at the age of twelve. Franz Schubert, a master of melody whose art songs are considered the high point of German vocal music, wrote many of them as a teenager. In the twentieth century, Erich Korngold was labeled a genius at a young age by several established composers of his time. He wrote his first opera at age twelve, and later in life moved to Hollywood, setting new standards for film music. However, there have also been some late bloomers, like Anton Bruckner. Bruckner learned music as a child, but was sent to live and study at the monastery of Saint Florian in upper Austria after his father died when he was thirteen. As a young man he worked as a rural teacher, at the same time playing the organ at the monastery. Later he entered a course of study in counterpoint, one of the building blocks of religious music, that lasted until he was forty years old. It was only at that point that he began composing his great symphonies. In fact, his work really only gained widespread recognition when he was in his sixties. All his life, he remained a simple man guided by his Catholic faith. Bruckner was no child prodigy like Mozart, Schubert or Korngold, but his name still ranks among theirs in the pantheon of classical music. More generally, his story shows that there are many paths to success.