About Leopold Mozart’s Pedagogical Principles

Abstract

The basis for the article has been served by a fragment of the monograph Mozart and His Time (2008) written by the authors of this article. The center of attention for this study lies in the principles of the pedagogical style of Leopold Mozart, who was able to create the conditions for the intensive development of his son’s ingenious musical abilities. The authors highlight the broad cultural thesaurus of Mozart the elder, his knowledge of various languages, the exact sciences and the natural sciences, which made it possible for him to teach by himself the basics of the school subjects to his children. Special attention in the article is devoted to Leopold Mozart’s treatise Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule (1756). The present book provides a perspective not only of musical pedagogy of that time, but also of the personal qualities of the elder Mozart as an instructor. While demonstrating an exceptional pedagogical sensibility and far-sightedness, Leopold Mozart assumed that teaching music and the different sciences at the first stage is inseparable from play. Although the documents according to which it would be possible to judge of the upbringing of his son during the latter’s infancy are absent, an extrinsic characterization of these methods is established in the article on the basis of his correspondence with Nannerl during the years when Leopold ended up having to provide for his grandson. The authors also examine Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s pedagogical practice, proving the impact of his father’s principles of upbringing on it.

Keywords: Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, musical education, musical upbringing, pedagogical principles, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule by Leopold Mozart