New Mozart Just Dropped: Lost Manuscript Reveals Centuries-Old Music

A hitherto-unknown portion of euphony by the Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was precocious discovered by researchers the Leipzig Municipal Libraries.

The expanse euphony itself was not scribed by Mozart, the composer of specified celebrated works arsenic The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, and Requiem (personally, I’m partial his Symphony No. 40). The precocious uncovered manuscript is simply a copy, written astir 1780, that the copyist attributed to a “Wolfgang Mozart.” The deficiency of Mozart’s mediate sanction successful the copyist’s signature suggests that Mozart wrote the portion earlier 1769, erstwhile helium started to see the mediate of his moniker, according to a Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg release.

The portion is simply a 12-minute-long enactment successful C major, written for 2 violins and a bass. It has been catalogued successful Köchel, the catalogue of Mozart’s work, arsenic KV 648, but is besides dubbed “Ganz kleine Nachtmusik” and “Serenate ex C.” The portion consists of 7 miniature movements. Based connected the composition’s approximate timing, Mozart was betwixt 10 and 13 years aged erstwhile helium wrote it.

Until the epoch successful which KV 648 was written, Mozart was mostly known for his keyboard music, arias, and sinfonias, according Ulrich Leisinger, the caput of probe astatine the International Mozarteum Foundation and exertion of the latest mentation of Köchel, successful the release. Leisinger added that, by the clip Mozart was 17, helium astir apt wouldn’t person written euphony successful that benignant anymore.

“We cognize from a database drawn up by Leopold Mozart that helium wrote galore different enclosure works successful his youth, each of them unluckily lost,” said Leisinger. “It looks arsenic if – acknowledgment to a bid of favourable circumstances – a implicit drawstring trio has survived successful Leipzig. The root was evidently Mozart’s sister, and truthful it is tempting to deliberation that she preserved the enactment arsenic a memento of her brother.”

According to the German outlet MDR, the portion was played successful Mozart’s hometown of Salzburg connected Thursday, and debuted successful Germany connected Saturday astatine the Leipzig Opera. You tin perceive a drawstring trio playing a spot of Mozart via the German work ZDF Heute here.

The refreshing summation to Mozart’s catalogue comes conscionable a twelvemonth aft caller insights into the beingness of Beethoven, the large German pianist and composer. Research published past year recovered that Beethoven had superior liver problems and a hepatitis corruption earlier his decease successful 1827. Mozart is successful the quality for a overmuch much pleasant reason, but here’s hoping we observe much astir these composers successful the caller future, adjacent astir 2 centuries since their deaths.