Leopold Mozart is almost always either represented by the Toy Symphony recorded here, which may not even be authentically his work, or mentioned in connection with his famous son. This Naxos release is one of the few exclusively devoted to Leopold's music. As such, it's something of a revelation. The music here was composed in the 1750s and 1760s: mostly or entirely after the birth of Wolfgang. An indicator of its high quality is that several of them have in the past been attributed to the younger Mozart. Given that ...
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Leopold Mozart is almost always either represented by the Toy Symphony recorded here, which may not even be authentically his work, or mentioned in connection with his famous son. This Naxos release is one of the few exclusively devoted to Leopold's music. As such, it's something of a revelation. The music here was composed in the 1750s and 1760s: mostly or entirely after the birth of Wolfgang. An indicator of its high quality is that several of them have in the past been attributed to the younger Mozart. Given that Wolfgang was indeed alive and working when these works were composed, some of the similarities may have resulted from an unusual situation in which the father was influenced by his child son. The slightly melancholy tone in the opening Allegro of the Sinfonia in G major, Eisen G8 (track 1), for example, is distinctively Mozartian, no matter which Mozart you're talking about. But in other works there is little possibility of Wolfgang's influence, and all kinds of evidence of Leopold's having...
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