Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule
textbook of violin by Leopold Mozart
Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule (A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing) is a textbook for instruction in the violin, published by Leopold Mozart in 1756. The work was influential to this day.
Background and publication
Leopold Mozart's primary job was as a court musician, working for the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. He began with an unpaid post in the violin section and gradually worked his way up the ranks in the court musical establishment, though he never was promoted to the top position of Kapellmeister. Salaries at Salzburg were low, and Leopold supplemented his income by giving violin lessons. There is indirect evidence that Leopold was a highly skilled teacher, in that both of his children, taught exclusively by him, became extraordinary musicians: Maria Anna Mozart (called "Nannerl") and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Leopold wrote his textbook during the year 1755, when he was 36 years old. He took on the work of publication himself, assigning the task of printing to Johann Jakob Lotter, a printer in Leopold's home town of Augsburg. Leopold shipped copies of his book far and wide and received his share of the profits when they were sold. His mode of business can be seen in a letter (7 January 1770) he wrote to his wife Anna Maria, who had to take over the operation while Leopold and Wolfgang were traveling in Italy:
Put together 12 copies of the Violinschule, and send them to Joseph Wolf's bookshop, in Insprugg ...
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule” is textbook of violin by Leopold Mozart. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Versuch, einer and gründlichen, not as a finished interpretation.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q382721. VIAF identifies the subject as 186693636. The Library of Congress control number is n79130026. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1756, 1755 and 1770.
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This entry incorporates text from “Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.