Father’s Day is tomorrow. This time to ‘honour dad’ started me thinking about a few classical music fathers and the complicated dynamics between father and son. (Johann Sebastian Bach gets his own blog entry!)
The first one that comes to my mind is Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang’s dad. Much of what we think about him today is a result of the award winning film ‘Amadeus’. Looking back, it is easy to think that Leopold simply took advantage of his son and used his musical gifts for financial gain. But I think, he really was in awe of his son and thought his gifts were nothing short of miraculous. He wanted the world to know how much richer it was with his son in it. Leopold Mozart wrote in late 1760s, “ I might describe the wonderful genius of my son…”
Missa brevis in C KV 115 - Leopold Mozart (1719 - 1787). Grosser Chor der Hochschule für Musik Basel. Elisabethenkirche Basel. mimiko vom 28.04.20
Samuel Wesley was father to Samuel Sebastian Wesley (the hymn writer and cleric). Like Mozart, dad was a child prodigy. Historical accounts relate that when he was 3 he could already play tunes. By 4, he knew Handel’s ‘Samson’ and at 5, the ‘Messiah’ was already memorized. He certainly cast a long shadow. His son, Samuel Sebastian (named after Johann Sebastian Bach) was a greatly respected organist, choirmaster and composer but he had a tragic flaw. It was his personality, or lack of. In the preface of Samuel Sebastian’s 1845 book, ‘Selection of Psalm Tunes’ he goes on a diatribe on the need for reform in Cathedral music and the flaws of the clergy. Church officials had his number and laid down the ground rules in his contracts. He accused rivals of greasing the wheel when applying for positions but he himself wasn’t above bribing a critic or two for a favourable review.
