Leopold Mozart
|
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart |
Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (
November 14,
1719 –
May 28,
1787) was a
composer,
music teacher and
violinist. He was born in the city of
Augsburg (today
Germany), and was legally a citizen of the Diocese of
Salzburg, but spent a lot of time in
Vienna,
Austria, (all within the
Holy Roman Empire of Germany). He is best known today for being the father and teacher of
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as well as writing the well-known book,
Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule, but was a well-known figure himself in his own time.
Leopold Mozart was the son of a
bookbinder. He studied
theology at Salzburg University and did quite well until his expulsion in 1739. He then became more interested in music, becoming a violinist and valet to one of the university's canons, Count
Thurn und Taxis, in 1740. In 1747 he married
Anna Maria Pertl, who bore him seven children, although only two of them survived:
Maria Anna Wallburga Ignatia (called "Nannerl") and Wolfgang Amadeus. In 1756, the same year as Wolfgang Amadeus' birth, Leopold wrote his
Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule, a comprehensive treatise on violin playing. Today it is one of the main sources on
performance practice in the 18th century, along with
Johann Joachim Quantz's
Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversière zu spielen (on
flute playing) and
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's
Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen (on
keyboard playing). He devoted much of his later life to developing and supporting the talents of his two surviving children, at the expense of his own work.
Leopold Mozart's music is inevitably overshadowed by the work of his son Wolfgang, but his
Cassation in G for Orchestra and Toys (Toy Symphony), once attributed to
Joseph Haydn, remains popular, and a number of symphonies, a trumpet concerto, and other works also survive. He was much concerned with a naturalistic feel to his compositions, his
Jagdsinfonie (or
Sinfonia da Caccia for 4 horns and Strings) calls for dogs and shotguns, and his
Bauernhochzeit (Peasant Wedding) includes bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, a dulcimer, whoops and whistles (ad. lib.), and pistol shots.
Most critics would agree that he reached a high point of his creativity around 1760. After that, the amount of time he put into composing as well as teaching violin gradually decreased until 1771, when he wrote his last composition. He did, however still concentrate on his job as
Kappellmeister as well as many of his and his son's concerts all around the world. He did however mention that he hated those in a letter to his daughter. He wrote,
"Every day there are concerts; and the whole time is given up to teaching, music, composing and so forth. I feel rather out of it all. If only the concerts were over! It is impossible for me to describe the rush and bustle."[Boerner, Steve. "The Mozart Project: Leopold Mozart." 10 May 2006. The Mozart Project. 10 May 2006 [1].]["The Mozart Experience: Biography: Leopold Mozart." 10 May 2006 [2].]His oeuvre was extensive but it is hard to establish either the scope or the quality of it; much is lost and it is not known how representative the surviving works are of his overall output. Some of his work was erroneously attributed to Wolfgang and some pieces attributed to Leopold were subsequently shown to be the work of Wolfgang. Much of what survives is light music but some more significant work survives including his
Sacrament Litany in D (1762) and three
piano sonatas, all published in his lifetime.
[Boerner, Steve. "The Mozart Project: Leopold Mozart." 10 May 2006. The Mozart Project. 10 May 2006 [3].]["Mozart, (Johann Georg) Leopold. "Micropaedia: Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th ed. 1995.]["Mozart."Macropaedia: Encyclopaedia Britannica. 15th ed. 1995.]Although Leopold Mozart was undoubtedly a very skilled musician, modern psychoanalysis shows that he may have had problems with working with other people. He was often called an unpleasant person to be around by others working with him, particularly those in the chapel where he was
Kappellmeister. His relations with his children were also criticized, particularly with his son Wolfgang. It is said that he was exploiting his son as well as profiting from and commercializing his incredible musical talents. In Wolfgang's early years, there was definite influence of his father on his first compositions.
Leopold believed that Mozart was a miracle of God and that he was given the duty by God to educate him and show his talents to the whole world. Once he described his son as
"The miracle which God let be born in Salzburg". After numerous arguments, there was a split between father and son. After that, their relations improved but they started to regard themselves as fellow musicians rather than father and son.
*
A French Edition of Leopold Mozart's Violinschule
