ABSTRACT
Leopold Mozart's appointment to the court of Joseph II in December 1787 has received surprisingly little scholarly attention. The golden age of the Viennese Hofkapelle culminated in the musical establishment of Joseph's grandfather Charles VI. Numbering 134 members at its peak, the Hofkapelle supplied all the court's ceremonial and entertainment needs. In setting up his Hofkapelle Joseph also stipulated that the few remaining court-appointed musicians from pre-Reutter days were not to be replaced when they died or retired. On 8 February 1793 Teyber sent a petition to the emperor reminding him that he had given up a good position as court organist in Dresden to respond to Leopold's summons to come to Vienna and suggesting that, if he could not be retained in the theatre, he be made a court organist or keyboard instructor to the imperial children.
