But if treating one\u2019s offspring as a musical entr\u00e9e to high society and a quick buck did not necessarily start with Leopold, his efforts undoubtedly contributed to the trend.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> The trouble with pushy parents, of course, is that not all of them push in the same direction. Handel\u2019s father directed him strongly towards Law, banning him from playing the violin whereas his mother reacted by secretly installing a clavichord in the attic. <\/span><\/p>\n And while some delighted in their child\u2019s obsessions, such as the family of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor<\/a><\/strong>, whose relations clubbed together to put him through the Royal College of Music, few went as far in their disgust as Berlioz<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s devoutly Catholic mother, Marie-Antoinette. \u2018Go wallow in the filth of Paris, sully your name and kill me and your father with sorrow and shame!\u2019 she cried, after her renegade son announced that, having qualified in medicine, he would really rather go off and compose instead.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n And so, in honour of Leopold Mozart we take a look at ten composers whose parents ranged from those who had their foot too hard on the pedal to those who didn\u2019t even know where the pedal was. <\/span><\/p>\n Pushy didn\u2019t always means productive, however \u2013 sometimes it paid simply to let talents and passions develop in their own, unique way\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n Biographers have largely not been kind to Leopold, but in his time he was recognised as a passionate and innovative teacher. A jobbing court musician and composer, he sacrificed his own career to promote the incredible musical talents of his children, Maria Anna (Nannerl) and Wolfgang, although the former was forced to retire when she reached marriageable age.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Leopold tirelessly promoted his son, setting up introductions at many European courts. Denounced by some as controlling, it was inevitable, at any rate, that the wilful Mozart<\/a> <\/strong>would eventually cut loose.<\/span><\/p>\n HELP OR HINDRANCE?<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n His methods may have been controversial, but Leopold got results.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Beethoven\u2019s treatment at the hands of his alcoholic and pushy musician father was nothing short of abuse. Johann Beethoven \u2013 a tenor at the court of the Archbishop of Cologne at Bonn \u2013 recognised his son\u2019s talents early on. Aware of Leopold Mozart\u2019s success, Johann allegedly kept Beethoven up all night practising, pulling him out of bed to perform and beating him if he did not play to his alcohol-fuelled standards.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Greedy, too, he deliberately cast confusion over Beethoven\u2019s birth date to make his prodigy son appear younger than he really was. Ludwig, aged 17, eventually obtained a court order to procure half his father\u2019s salary to look after his long-suffering family.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n HELP OR HINDRANCE? <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Alcohol, abuse: it\u2019s hard to find much good in Beethoven\u2019s upbringing.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Sister of Felix Mendelssohn<\/a><\/strong> and dazzling child prodigy in her own right, Fanny Mendelssohn<\/a><\/strong> was taught to play the piano by her mother, Lea, who had herself been trained by a student of Bach<\/a><\/strong>, and supported, at first, by her father Abraham.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> Fanny excelled at both the piano and composition, and yet societal constraints fell hard on her, as they had on Nannerl Mozart. \u2018Music will perhaps become his (Felix\u2019s) profession, whereas for you it can and must be only an ornament,\u2019 said her father, devastatingly, of her prospects, shortly before she attained that ominous marriageable age. Luckily, her new husband did not take the same view.<\/span><\/p>\n HELP OR HINDRANCE? <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Mixed messages from the Mendelssohns for their talented daughter.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n We named Fanny<\/strong> Mendelssohn one of the best female composers of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Strauss\u2019s famous dad, Johann I, might have been the feted father of the Viennese Waltz but he was determined not to foster any musicians. Strict and domineering, he mapped out the future careers of all seven of his legitimate children, with Johann marked down as a banker. <\/span><\/p>\n Strauss Jnr had other ideas, secretly taking violin lessons with the leader of his father\u2019s orchestra, but was apparently whipped to \u2018beat the music out of him\u2019. Luckily for Strauss, his philandering father subsequently had seven more children with his long-term mistress. The heat now off, Strauss pursued his musical leanings, aided \u2013 very keenly \u2013 by his jilted mother, Anna.<\/span><\/p>\n HELP OR HINDRANCE?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n No stopping that Strauss family waltz gene, despite Father\u2019s best efforts.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Clara Wieck<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s outstanding talent led her driven father, Friedrich, to make her an example of his intensive teaching method, with daily theory, harmony<\/a><\/strong> and counterpoint, plus two hours practice.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> <\/section> His requirement to learn pieces from memory made Clara a sensation. If there wasn\u2019t much love shown, he at least exempted her from onerous domestic chores to allow her to concentrate on composition \u2013 something which her future husband, Robert Schumann<\/a><\/strong>, did not.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n HELP OR HINDRANCE?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n A rock-solid training for Clara but a cosy childhood was but a dream.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n C\u00e9sar Franck<\/a><\/strong> was the classic example of a wunderkind suffering from the exertions of an over-ambitious father. Bank clerk Nicholas-Joseph Franck doggedly flogged his young son around the salon circuit as a pianist-composer, but pushed him onto the Paris public too soon. <\/span><\/p>\n Reception was muted, even scornful, his father\u2019s blatant commercial instinct alienating critics. Franck eventually rebelled and married the girl who was the dedicatee of a song that his overbearing father had torn up on account of the fact that her parents were \u2018mere\u2019 theatre actors.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n HELP OR HINDRANCE? <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The public spotted a gimmick when Franck senior tried to cash in.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Acclaimed by one critic as \u2018the most remarkable child prodigy in history\u2019, Camille <\/a><\/strong><\/span>Saint-Sa\u00ebns <\/span><\/a><\/strong>grew up under the formidable tutelage of his mother Cl\u00e9mence and his great aunt, Charlotte Masson.<\/span><\/p>\nHow good and supportive were the parents of our favourite composers?<\/h2>\n
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Ludwig van Beethoven<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nFanny Mendelssohn<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/24\/2020\/05\/FANNY2_200-d73ab2c.jpg?quality=90&resize=200%2C200"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nJohann Strauss II<\/span><\/h3>\n
Clara Schumann<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/24\/2020\/05\/Clara_200-cb2164d.jpg?quality=90&resize=200%2C200"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\nC\u00e9sar Franck<\/span><\/h3>\n
Camille Saint-Sa\u00ebns<\/span><\/h3>\n