nd screen, scriptwriters present a picture of a narrow-minded, domineering old man. "On Whit Monday the 28th, in the year 1787, early, died our Vice Kapellmeister Leopold Mozart," wrote family friends Dominicus Hagenauer in his diary. "He was born at Augsburg and spent most of the days of his life in the service of the Court here, but had the misfortune of being always persecuted here and was not as much favored by a long way as in other, larger places in Europe." Musicologists are less willing to criticize Leopold. If his famous son had not overshadowed him, he would still be remembered as a talented composer and a gifted teacher. His treatise on musical instruction, Volinschule, was first published in 1756, eventually translated into several languages and became a standard test throughout Europe. He was also Mozart's first and most influential mentor. Everything he knew, he taught to his son. Leopold was born on November 14, 1719, the son of Johann Georg Mozart who was a bookbinder, and his wife, Anna Maria, in the city of Augsburg. Leopold received his early education from the Jesuits in the Gymnasium and Lyceum. He may have been destined for a career in the church; but he abandoned it upon the death of his father and in 1737 enrolled at the University of Salzburg. His studies there got off to a fine start. He passed a difficult examination at the end of his first year and was commended for his work. But perhaps the change to a secular course of study, and the move from Augburg, wasn't enough to satisfy Leopold's rebellious spirit. His academic performance slipped, and in 1739 he was expelled from the university. He made his own way in life by entering the service of Count Johann of Thurn-Valsassina und Taxis, a canon of the cathedral, and was given the tittle of Kammerdiener, or valet de chambre. But his duties were one of a musician. Within a few years, he was accepted as a chamber musician into the orchestra of the Prince-Archbish...
