Unknown Teenage Mozart Composition Discovered in Germany

A previously unknown piece of music composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was uncovered in the Leipzig Municipal Libraries, Germany, by researchers compiling the latest edition of the Köechel catalogue, the definitive archive of the composer's music.

The piece dates to the mid- to late-1760s and was probably written in his early teens. It consists of seven miniature movements for a string trio lasting around 12 minutes, a statement by a library spokesperson said.

The manuscript is said to have been written in dark brown ink on medium-white handmade paper and is bound in individual parts.

Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756. Mozart was a child prodigy who began composing at a very early age under his father’s supervision.

It is probable that the newly discovered manuscript was a copy of Mozart’s original manuscript which the researchers believe was made around 1780.

The piece, which is called “Ganz kleine Nachtmusik” (Very Little Night Music) was performed by a string trio at the unveiling of the new Köechel catalogue in Salzburg on Thursday and will receive its German premiere at the Leipzig Opera on Saturday, Sept. 21.

Ulrich Leisinger director of the research department of the International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg said that this new piece challenges the perceived wisdom that the young Mozart was a composer of piano music, arias, and symphonies.

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A list compiled by his father had suggested at the existence of chamber music compositions written by him as a youth none of which were believed to have survived.

Leisinger said, “Since the inspiration for this apparently came from Mozart's sister, it is tempting to imagine that she kept the work as a memento of her brother.”