Leopold Mozart

He was born in Augsburg, son of Johann Georg Mozart (1679–1736), a bookbinder, and his second wife Anna Maria Sulzer (1696–1766).

From an early age he sang as a choirboy.

Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (November 14, 1719 – May 28, 1787) was a German composer, violinist, and theorist.

He attended a local Jesuit school, St. Salvator, Augsburg, where he studied logic, science, and theology, graduating magna cum laude in 1735.

He studied then at the St. Salvator Lyzeum.

While a student in Augsburg, he appeared in student theater productions as an actor and singer, and became a skilled violinist and organist.

He also developed an interest, which he retained, in microscopes and telescopes.

Although his parents had planned a career for Leopold as a Catholic priest, this apparently was not Leopold's own wish.

Following a year's delay, he moved to Salzburg to resume his education, enrolling in November 1737 at the Benedictine University (now University of Salzburg) to study philosophy and jurisprudence.

At the time Salzburg was the capital of an independent state within the Holy Roman Empire (the Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg), now part of Austria.

Except for periods of travel, Leopold spent the rest of his life there.

Leopold received the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1738.

However, in September 1739 he was expelled from the university for poor attendance, having "hardly attended Natural Science more than once or twice".

In 1740, Mozart began his career as a professional musician, becoming violinist and valet to one of the university's canons, Johann Baptist, Count of Thurn-Valsassina and Taxis.

This was also the year of his first musical publication, the six Trio Sonatas, Opus 1.

These were titled Sonate sei da chiesa e da camera; Leopold did the work of copper engraving himself.

He continued to compose, producing a series of German Passion cantatas.

In 1743 Leopold Mozart was appointed to a position (fourth violinist) in the musical establishment of Count Leopold Anton von Firmian, the ruling Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg.

His duties included composition and the teaching of violin (later, piano) to the choirboys of the Salzburg cathedral.

In 1747 he married Anna Maria Pertl, who bore him seven children, although only two of them survived past infancy:

In 1755, he wrote his Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule, a comprehensive treatise on violin playing.

He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule (1756).

The Grove Dictionary says that as of 1756, "Mozart was already well-known. His works circulated widely in German-speaking Europe."

However, biographer Maynard Solomon asserts that he "failed to make his mark as a composer", and Alfred Einstein "judged him to be an undistinguished composer".

Scholars agree, however, that Leopold was successful as a pedagogue.

This work was published in 1756 (the year of Wolfgang's birth), and went through two further German editions (1769, 1787), as well as being translated into Dutch (1766) and French (1770).

He was promoted to second violinist in 1758 and in 1763 to deputy Kapellmeister.

He rose no further; others were repeatedly promoted over him to the head position of Kapellmeister.

The question of whether Leopold was successful as a composer (either in terms of artistic success or fame) is debated.

Mozart discovered that his two children were child prodigies in about 1759, when he began with keyboard lessons for the seven-year-old Nannerl.

The toddler Wolfgang immediately began imitating his sister, at first picking out thirds on the keyboard and then making rapid progress under Leopold's instruction.

By 1762, the children were ready to work as concert performers, and Leopold began taking the family on extensive concert tours, performing for both aristocracy and public, throughout central and western Europe.

This tour included Munich, Vienna, Pressburg (Bratislava), Paris and the Hague together with a lengthy stay in London; see Mozart family Grand Tour.

The discovery of his children's talent is considered to have been a life-transforming event for Mozart.

He once referred to his son as the "miracle which God let be born in Salzburg".

Of Leopold's attitude, the Grove Dictionary says:

An old school friend told Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1777, "Ah he [Leopold] was a great fellow. My father thought the world of him. And how he hoodwinked the clerics about becoming a priest!"

He withdrew from the St. Salvator Lyzeum after less than a year.

Today, the work is consulted by musicians interested in 18th century performance practice; see Historically informed performance.

This work made a reputation in Europe for Leopold, and his name begins to appear around this time in music dictionaries and other works of musical pedagogy.