On this day in 1787 – 231 years ago – Leopold Mozart, the father of Wolfgang Mozart, died in Salzburg at the age of 67.
For all of his talents as a violinist, violin teacher, conductor and composer, history would have forgotten Johann Georg Leopold Mozart almost entirely had he not fathered and trained one of the greatest members of our species ever to have lived, his son Wolfgang.
Leopold Mozart gave his son what was – very possibly – the greatest music education ever given anyone, for which posterity must be grateful. But more than just his son’s teacher, Leopold became his Dr. Frankenstein, his creator: Wolfgang’s ghost-writer, concert producer, travel agent, booking agent, public relations huckster, investment councilor, valet, and, in the end, oppressive tyrant. In the process, Leopold crafted one of the most troubling parent-child relationships since Oedipus and his mother Jocasta.
In the long history of excessive parenting, of tiger mamas and tennis fathers, Leopold Mozart must be considered among the very greatest of the type.
The History
He was born on November 19, 1719 into a family of artisans that had for generations lived in the city of Augsburg, in southern Germany.
Young Leopold was a talented singer and violinist, and as such he participated in performances at school and in church. Intelligent though he was, it took him seven (or eight) years to complete the six-year program at the gymnasium. Leopold Mozart was held back once, perhaps even twice. Why? We don’t know for sure, but it seems likely that his lack of academic enthusiasm was in response to his father’s insistence that, as the first-born, he become a priest.
In February of 1736, Leopold’s his father unexpectedly dropped dead, leaving the sixteen year-old Leopold with some real choices. He could stay in school, go to work in his father’s bookbinding business, or pursue music, for which he’d already shown a great talent.
If you guessed that Leopold opted for the career in music, you’d be absolutely … wrong. Leopold decided in school. Perhaps he was trying to please his family, honor the memory of his father, keep his options open, who knows. What we do know is that, one, in November of 1787 Leopold matriculated at the Benedictine University in Salzburg as a student in philosophy and jurisprudence and that, two, in September of 1739 he was tossed out on his keister for “want of application and poor attendance” and thus, according to the authorities, “has clearly rendered himself unworthy of the name of a student.”
Rather than go home and face the music over his expulsion, he stayed put and took a job as chamberlain and court musician in Salzburg. In doing so, the 18 year-old Leopold Mozart – eldest son and presumptive male head of his household – abandoned his recently widowed mother and five younger siblings, his family’s business, and his country of birth. His actions scandalized his native city of Augsburg and brought great shame to his family.
With this information as a backdrop, it should come as no surprise that Leopold’s family did not approve of his marriage to Anna Maria Pertl in November of 1747. Leopold’s mother refused to award her first-born the 300 Florin dowry that she had given to his siblings when they were married. (That really rubbed Leopold’s rhubarb wrong. He wrote a friend:
“All of my brothers and sisters have now married; and each received 300 Florins as an advance upon my mother’s future legacy … and I have received nothing … [if she fails to give me the money] she can go to Hell today or tomorrow.”
The dowry was never paid, which led to a bitter and permanent estrangement between Leopold and his mother. He never wrote to her, saw her, or spoke to her again even though she lived for another 19 years, until 1766, by which time Wolfgang was 10 years old.
For Leopold,