Haydn As Mozart's Mentor
Mozart in many ways did not need a mentor by the time he met Haydn; he was already rather successful and for most of his life up to then had been under the very active tutelage of his father Leopold. However, two aspects of the historical record suggest that Haydn did in some sense take Mozart under his wing and offer him advice.
First, during the early Vienna years, when Mozart was influenced by Baron van Swieten to take up the study of Baroque counterpoint, Haydn loaned him his personal copy of the famous counterpoint textbook Gradus ad Parnassum, by Johann Joseph Fux, a copy heavily covered with Haydn's personal annotations.
There is also the observation that, like many other younger musicians, Mozart addressed Haydn with the honorific term "Papa". For details of this form of address, see Papa Haydn.
Read more about this topic: Haydn And Mozart
Famous quotes containing the words haydn, mozart and/or mentor:
“To the extent to which genius can be conjoined with a merely good human being, Haydn possessed genius. He never exceeds the limits that morality sets for the intellect; he only composes music which has “no past.””
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“One must not make oneself cheap here—that is a cardinal point—or else one is done. Whoever is most impertinent has the best chance.”
—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
“All mothers need instruction, nurturing, and an understanding mentor after the birth of a baby, but in this age of fast foods, fast tracks, and fast lanes, it doesn’t always happen. While we live in a society that provides recognition for just about every life event—from baptisms to bar mitzvahs, from wedding vows to funeral rites—the entry into parenting seems to be a solo flight, with nothing and no one to mark formally the new mom’s entry into motherhood.”
—Sally Placksin (20th century)