It’s a little treasure for music lovers. A work attributed to Mozart was performed for its public premiere on Thursday, September 19 in Salzburg, Austria, the city where the famous composer was born. This short piece, previously unknown and probably composed by the Austrian musician in his youth, was discovered in Leipzig, in eastern Germany, researchers announced.
The work is a set of seven movements for string trio with a total duration of around twelve minutes, believed to have been written in the mid- to late 1760s, Leipzig’s municipal libraries explained in a statement. Researchers discovered the work in the city’s music library while compiling the latest edition of the Köchel catalogue, the complete collection of Mozart’s musical works.
A child prodigy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in 1756 and began composing at an early age under the direction of his father, Leopold Mozart. The new Köchel catalogue specifies that “The work was written before Mozart’s first trip to Italy”.
“The manuscript is a copy or transcription made around 1780. Therefore, it is not written in Mozart’s own handwriting. Dark brown ink and white kraft paper were used. (…) the manuscript is not signed »specifies the press release.
“A little night music”
In the new catalogue, the unpublished piece is called Small Night Music Ganz (“A little night music”), a reference to one of Mozart’s most famous works. A performance will take place at the Leipzig Opera in Germany on Saturday.
For Ulrich Leisinger, scientific director of the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation, quoted in a press release, this article sheds new light: “So far, we know the young Mozart mainly as a composer of piano music, arias and symphonies.”
“However, a list by Léopold Mozart has taught us the existence of many other chamber music compositions dating from his youth, all of which have unfortunately been lost.”duck.
“A complete string trio seems to have been preserved in Leipzig thanks to a combination of favourable circumstances. As the model seems to have been written by Mozart’s sister, it is tempting to imagine that she preserved the work in memory of her brother.explains Mr. Leisinger.
