ABSTRACT
Leopold Mozart’s application of ornaments is tasteful and distinguished, detailed but never excessive, and eloquent, refined and yet naive; it raises even the most banal eighteenth-century formulas to the level of eternal verity. In his notation of ornaments, Mozart again aimed for the maximum of clarity. The Violinschule by Mozart’s father is refreshing to read because of its common sense. Mozart senior expects the violinist to add embellishments now and then, but he abhors those violinists who add ornaments everywhere and cannot leave a long note unaltered. The internal evidence of Mozart’s music regarding ornaments is revealing, indeed. Mozart’s ornaments prescribed by signs consist mainly of appoggiaturas, arpeggios, turns, and trills. Appoggiaturas were originally nothing but accented passing notes. If in the course of the eighteenth century they lost some of this meaning, it is a very good thing to remember their origin.
