The '''Nannerl Notenbuch''' (or '''Nannerl's Music Book''') is a book in which
Leopold Mozart, from
1759 to around
1763, wrote pieces for his daughter,
Maria Anna Mozart (known as 'Nannerl'), to learn and play. His son
Wolfgang also used the book, and wrote his earliest compositions there. The book contains simple short
keyboard (typically
harpsichord) pieces, suitable for beginners; there are many anonymous
minuets, some works by Leopold, and a few other composers including
C. P. E. Bach. There are also some technical exercises, a table of
intervals, and some
modulating figured basses.
[1]
The Notenbuch provides evidence of the collaboration between the young Wolfgang and his father. For example, number 48 is an arrangement of the third movement of Leopold's D major serenade, but the trio also appears as Menuet II in Wolfgang's Sonata K6.
[2]
The Notenbuch is also useful in providing evidence of Leopold's approach to teaching music. The tables of intervals show that he taught
music theory to his children from the start. It seems that he also taught
composition from the outset, by means of
[1]
★ a given bass line
★ a melody to be varied
★ a melody to be continued
★ a structural model
The earliest compositions by Wolfgang are written in Leopold's hand; the father's gentle suggestions for amendments came later.
[4]
Wolfgang Mozart's compositions in the book
The Notenbuch contains the following pieces by Wolfgang:
# ''
Andante in C'', K. 1a
# ''
Allegro in C'', K. 1b
# ''
Allegro in F'', K. 1c
# ''
Minuet in F'', K. 1d
# ''
Minuet in G'', K. 1e
# ''
Minuet in C'', K. 1f
# ''
Minuet in F'', K. 2
# ''
Allegro in B-flat'', K. 3
# ''
Minuet in F'', K. 4
# ''
Minuet in F'', K. 5
# ''
Allegro in C'', K. 5a
# ''
Andante in B-flat'', K. 5b
References
★
Cliff Eisen, Simon P. Keefe, ''The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia, '' Cambridge University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-521-85659-0
★
Cliff Eisen, ''Mozart Studies 2'', Oxford University Press, 1998, ISBN 0-19-816343-6
Notes
1. Eisen and Keefe, ''op. cit.'' page 322
2. Cliff Eisen, 'Leopold Mozart', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed [9 May 2006])
3. Eisen and Keefe, ''op. cit.'' page 322
4. Eisen and Keefe, ''op. cit.'' page 323