Leopold Mozart, born Johann Georg Leopold Mozart in Augsburg, Germany, on 14 November 1719, was a German composer, violinist, and music theorist whose early training included choir singing, violin, and organ lessons at the Jesuit St. Salvator school. He began his professional career in 1740 as a violinist and valet for a university canon, publishing his first work, Sonate sei da chiesa e da camera, Op. 1. In 1755 he authored the influential Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule, which was reissued in 1769 and 1787 and translated into Dutch and French. Leopold’s output included various symphonies, concertos, and theatrical pieces, though his compositional activity declined after 1771. He died on 28 May 1787 in Salzburg, where he had spent most of his life as a court musician and educator, leaving a legacy primarily as a teacher and father to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
