Post by erik on Oct 8, 2022 12:50:54 GMT -5
Leopold Mozart, the father of the world's favorite musical wunkerkind Wolfgang, is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight with a short three-movement symphony of the Classical era.
Leopold Mozart: SYMPHONY IN D MAJOR, D. 25
For the last two and a quarter centuries, it has been common for many to associate Leopold Mozart as something of a “stage father” to his younger son Wolfgang, who became one of the great geniuses of all of Western classical music. Indeed, up until the beginning of century, the only work of Leopold’s that was ever part of the repertoire was his D Major Trumpet Concerto, in large part due to the largess of American trumpet legend Wynton Marsalis. But recent decades have uncovered the fact that he was more than just a stage father, that in fact he had written at least five highly credible symphonies that conform to the Classical-era symphony that was, in the third quarter of the 18th century, being solidified by Franz Joseph Haydn. While neither of these symphonies is even one-third as long as those of Haydn (or even the later ones of his son), Leopold’s symphonies nevertheless are still highly traditional. The Symphony In D Major (D. 25), which is becoming a favorite of middle European chamber orchestras, requires a very modest orchestral component of four horns and a full string compliment, and is close to ten and a half minutes in length, giving one a sense that the father may have been unnecessarily been overshadowed by the son. Leopold Mozart’s passing in 1787 at the age of 67 was largely unnoticed by everyone not named Mozart (except for Haydn himself), but it is speculated, primarily by English playwright Peter Shaffer in his famous play Amadeus that W.A. Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni” reflected the tortured feelings he had for his father.
London Mozart Players/MATTHIAS BAMERT (Chandos)
Included:
SYMPHONY IN C MAJOR, C.1
SYMPHONY IN D MAJOR, D. 17
SYMPHONY IN C MAJOR, D. 1
SYMPHONY IN G MAJOR, G. 14
SYMPHONY (PARTIA) IN C MAJOR, C. 4
Leopold Mozart: SYMPHONY IN D MAJOR, D. 25
For the last two and a quarter centuries, it has been common for many to associate Leopold Mozart as something of a “stage father” to his younger son Wolfgang, who became one of the great geniuses of all of Western classical music. Indeed, up until the beginning of century, the only work of Leopold’s that was ever part of the repertoire was his D Major Trumpet Concerto, in large part due to the largess of American trumpet legend Wynton Marsalis. But recent decades have uncovered the fact that he was more than just a stage father, that in fact he had written at least five highly credible symphonies that conform to the Classical-era symphony that was, in the third quarter of the 18th century, being solidified by Franz Joseph Haydn. While neither of these symphonies is even one-third as long as those of Haydn (or even the later ones of his son), Leopold’s symphonies nevertheless are still highly traditional. The Symphony In D Major (D. 25), which is becoming a favorite of middle European chamber orchestras, requires a very modest orchestral component of four horns and a full string compliment, and is close to ten and a half minutes in length, giving one a sense that the father may have been unnecessarily been overshadowed by the son. Leopold Mozart’s passing in 1787 at the age of 67 was largely unnoticed by everyone not named Mozart (except for Haydn himself), but it is speculated, primarily by English playwright Peter Shaffer in his famous play Amadeus that W.A. Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni” reflected the tortured feelings he had for his father.
London Mozart Players/MATTHIAS BAMERT (Chandos)
Included:
SYMPHONY IN C MAJOR, C.1
SYMPHONY IN D MAJOR, D. 17
SYMPHONY IN C MAJOR, D. 1
SYMPHONY IN G MAJOR, G. 14
SYMPHONY (PARTIA) IN C MAJOR, C. 4