Previously Unknown Mozart Composition Discovered in German Library

During his lifetime, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed more than 600 works—symphonies, operas, sonatas, and concertos—that earned him a place in the pantheon of Western classical music. But his renowned oeuvre has become even greater after a German library unearthed a previously unpublished piece he wrote in his youth.

While working on a new edition Kochela comprehensive catalogue of the Austrian composer’s works that has been circulating for 160 years, researchers at the Leipzig City Library have discovered a manuscript dating from around 1780. Although not written by Mozart, the transcription, in dark brown ink on handmade paper, is believed to be a copy of his composition for string trio, made in the mid- to late 1760s. It is attributed to “Wofgang Mozart.”

The newly discovered piece is a 12-minute piece in seven miniature movements, written in the key of C major for two violins and bass. It has been given the title “Ganz kleine Nachtmusik” and is catalogued in Kochel as KV 648.

According to Ulrich Leisinger, head of research at the International Mozarteum Foundation and editor of the latest version KochelMozart’s father, Leopold, kept a list of chamber works composed by his son. Although all of these pieces have been lost, he said, “it seems that — thanks to a series of favorable circumstances — an entire string trio survived in Leipzig.”

He also emphasised the significance of this piece in Mozart’s previous output, because “up until now the young Mozart had been known to us mainly as a composer of keyboard music, arias and sinfonias”.

According to the dating of “Ganz kleine Nachtmusi”, the piece was composed by Mozart during his teenage years. By that time, the child prodigy had already composed his first symphony and completed a three-year concert tour that took him and his family to the courts of the nobility in Munich, Paris, London, and Amsterdam, among other places. Kochel describes the new piece as “written before Mozart’s first trip to Italy.”

Leisinger also pointed out that the manuscript “apparently” came from Mozart’s sister. “One would think that she had kept the work as a memento of her brother,” he added. “Perhaps he wrote the Trio especially for her and for her name day.”

The German premiere of “Ganz kleine Nachtmusik” will take place this weekend. For the first time in centuries, the work will be performed on the stage of the Leipzig Opera.