Maria Anna Barbara or Babette Ployer (2 September 1765 – before April 1811) was an Austrian piano and composition pupil of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

, for whom he wrote two piano concertos in 1784, No. 14 KV. 449 and No. 17, KV. 453, which were both premiered at her residence by her in 1784. She was born on 2 September 1765 in Sarmingstein, Austria, and died before April 1811, in Bresane,

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. She was the daughter of Franz Kajetan Ployer, a timber-merchant and tax collector. After her mother died in 1779 she moved to Vienna to live with her uncle, Court Councillor Gottfried Ignaz von Ployer, the agent of the

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

court in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where she came in contact with Mozart. After her marriage she moved to Kreuz in Croatia, where her spouse Cornelius Bujánovics von Agg-Telek (c.1770–1844) had his estate. Both the concertos that Mozart wrote for her are of the highest quality, and the piano parts are testing, suggesting she was highly accomplished both technically and musically.

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

's Variations in F minor for piano were not written for her, but for Gottfried Ignaz von Ployer's wife Antonia von Ployer, née von Spaun.Michael Lorenz, "New and old Documents concerning Mozart's Pupils Barbara Ployer and Josepha Auernhammer", in ''Eighteenth-century Music'', Vol. 3, No. 2, (Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 313. Mozart could take pains with a backward pupil, but a good one caused him much pride. On June 9, 1784, he wrote to his father: "I am fetching Paisiello in my carriage, as I want him to hear both my pupil and my compositions." This pupil was Barbara Ployer, of whom he made a portrait-sketch in the margin of one of his compositions, reproduced in the sheet music for Mozart's Sonata in D Major KV. 448 for Two Hands, published in 2014 by Alfred Music.

Notes

References

* Lorenz, Michael: "New and Old Documents Concerning Mozart's Students Barbara Ployer and Josepha Auernhammer", Eighteenth-Century Music, vol. 3, No. 2, September 2006 (Cambridge University Press 2006), 311-22. *Clive, Peter 1993. ''Mozart and His Circle: A Biographical Dictionary''. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. . *Dubal, D. 1987 (second edition) ''The Art of the Piano''. Simon and Schuster. * Hinson, Maurice "At the Piano With Mozart" Van Nuys, California, Alfred Publishing Company, 1986 * Hinson, Maurice and Nelson, Allison (ed) Mozart Sonata in D Major for two hands. Alfred Music 2014 () {{DEFAULTSORT:Ployer, Barbara 1765 births 1811 deaths Musicians from the Austrian Empire Joseph Haydn Austrian classical pianists Austrian women pianists 18th-century Austrian musicians Women classical pianists