Teacher Mozart: Billiards, Bowling, & The Art Of Fugue

Description
Teaching was part of Mozart’s lifestyle, and it was not uncommon for him to offer instruction while playing billiards or at the bowling alley. Join me, Steven Hobé, as we take a minute to get the scoop!

Fun Fact
During the early stages of his career in Vienna, Mozart would give pupils 3 to 5 one-hour lessons per week but wasn’t particularly flexible about when the lessons could happen: he only wanted to teach during and around noon, so that he could have the mornings and evenings to write, perform and generally ponder over his own compositions.

About Steven
Steven is a Canadian composer living in Toronto. He creates a range of works, with an emphasis on the short-form genre—his muse being to offer the listener both the darker and more satiric shades of human existence. If you're interested, please check out his website for more.

A Note To Music Students et al.
All recordings and sheet music are available on my site. I encourage you to take a look and play through some. Give me a shout if you have any questions.

Got a topic? Pop me off an email at: TCMMPodcast@Gmail.com 

Transcript

Mozart enjoyed teaching if not occasionally while playing billiards or at the bowling alley.

He was pretty picky who to take on. He once wrote to his father saying, “I have three pupils now, which earns me eighteen ducats a month.” 

In the summer of 1785, a young English composer, Thomas Attwood, applied to be Mozart’s student. Attwood had received a stipend from the Prince of Wales, who had been impressed by his harpsichord playing. 

Attwood studied with Mozart in Vienna for two years and quickly joined Mozart’s inner circle of close friends. 

At the time, Mozart took him back to basics with exercises in counterpoint. Attwood was eager to make quick progress and once commented, “I am extremely desirous to produce a good fugue from your instructions” — to which Mozart replied, “Do not be too much in a hurry.”

On his return to London in 1787, Attwood became chamber musician to the Prince of Wales and then appointed organist of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Although not a genius in composition as Mozart, he clearly showed the strong influence of his beloved teacher.