Mozart, (Johann Georg) Leopold (1719-1787)

The Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, at the age of seven, performing with his father Leopold and his elder sister Maria Anna. By this age he could play both the violin and keyboard and had composed short pieces for the piano, precocious talents that were widely acclaimed when Leopold took the Mozart family on a concert tour of the Courts of Europe.

Austrian violinist and composer. He was the father of the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His important violin tutor, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule, was published in 1756.

He was educated at the Jesuit college in Augsburg and at Salzburg University, turned entirely to music in 1739, and first held a post with Count Thurn-Valsassina und Taxis. In 1743 he entered the service of the Archbishop of Salzburg, rising to become court composer in 1757 and vice-Kapellmeister in 1763. In 1747 he married Anna Maria Pertl; of their seven children the only two to survive were Maria Anna and Wolfgang Amadeus.

Works Orchestral symphonies; divertimenti and descriptive pieces for orchestra including ‘Musical sleigh-ride’, ‘Toy Symphony’, and other pieces; concertos for various instruments.

Other chamber music, sonatas for violin; church music.