Mozart and Bach
SIR,—I am puzzled by the, following statement by Professor Brogan in his review of The New Col' bridge Modern History: 'I might note that in the admirable contribution on music, Frederick the Great is given no credit for the part he played ill calling to the serious attention of the young W. A. Mozart, the then not very fashionable works 01 J. S. Bach.'
What part did he play? There is no record of anY meeting between Mozart and Frederick the Great. When Mozart visited the Potsdam court in 1789, three years after the death of Frederick the Great, he was presented to Frederick William II, who woe also a keen musician and played the cello well, hat again there is no evidence that he introduced 'the young W. A. Mozart' to the works of J. S. Bach. True, it was during this journey to Potsdam that Mozart stayed in Leipzig and there heard in St. Thomas's the Bach motet that made him exclaim with delight: 'Here is something from which one may still learn,' but it is difficult to see 'how any credit for this incident can be given to Frederick the Great or to his successor, Frederick William II.
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