Thread: Leopold Mozart

Does anybody like this guy? I have a few of his works and I find them quite enjoyable. I read a bit about him and he seems to have had some very interesting, even avant-garde, ideas back then. Too bad little to none of it saw the light of day and he sidelined his career for his child.

I've listened to his Trumpet Concerto in D but nothing else. His works are quite enjoyable, yes.

Out of curiosity I purchased a CD of some Leopold Mozart Sinfonias.
They did nothing for me, the music seemed very routine and uninspired.
Unusual for me as I have a very large amount of 18th century music by quite obscure composers and rarely disappointed in them.

You should hear his trumpet concerto. It is a fine work, as pointed out by Pizzicato.

How much of Leopold Mozart's work falls into the disputed composer category? Certainly Toy Symphony and the Musical Sleigh Ride are.

That is very true. It is tough to say, especially because most of his works have been lost.

Here is a little part from wikipedia about his works

Leopold Mozart's music is inevitably overshadowed by the work of his son Wolfgang, and in any case the father willingly sacrificed his own career to promote his son's. But Leopold's 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.
A contemporary report described what Leopold had composed prior to 1757:[35]
"many contrapuntal and other church items; further a great number of symphonies, some only à 4[36] but others with all the customary instruments; likewise more than 30 large serenades in which solos for various instruments appear. In addition he has brought forth many concertos, in particular for the transverse flute,[37] oboe, bassoon, Waldhorn, trumpet etc.: countless trios and divertimentos for various instruments; 12 oratorios and a number of theatrical items, even pantomimes, and especially certain occasional pieces such as martial music … Turkish music, music with 'steel keyboard' and lastly a musical sleigh ride; not to speak of marches, so-called 'Nachtstücke'[38] and many hundreds of minuets, opera dances and similar items.[39]
Leopold Mozart was much concerned with a naturalistic feel to his compositions, his Jagdsinfonie (or Sinfonia da Caccia for four 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.
His oeuvre was extensive, but it has only been until recently that scholars have begun to assess 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. Cliff Eisen, who wrote a doctoral dissertation on Leopold Mozart's symphonies, finds in a Symphony in G major examples of his "sensitivity to orchestral colour" and a work that "compares favourably with those of virtually any of Mozart’s immediate contemporaries."[40]
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 fortepiano sonatas, all published in his lifetime.