Prolific composer Mozart died over 230 years ago, yet he has still managed to drop a new single in the 21st century.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an 18th-century Austrian who is considered to be one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, is known worldwide for his extensive repertoire. His music is well regarded for its “melodic beauty, its formal elegance and its richness of harmony and texture.” After an exceedingly short but incredible life, Mozart died tragically at the age of 35 in his home in 1791 after crafting over 600 compositions.
Yet, on Sept. 19, Leipzig Municipal Libraries announced that they had uncovered a previously undiscovered work of Mozart’s in their collection. Just 280 miles south of Salzburg, Mozart’s birthplace, researchers were working on updating the Köchel catalogue, a chronological compilation of the composer’s works, when the seven-movement composition was found.
Written on off-white handmade laid paper in dark brown ink, the piece was originally titled Serenate ex C but has now been named Ganz kleine Nachtmusik, which means “quite or very little music.”
While the physical print of this composition is believed not to have been transcribed by Mozart himself, it was likely written down by someone else who was making a copy of the work around the year 1780.
Ulrich Leisinger, the head of research at the Mozarteum Foundation, said that based on the piece’s compositional characteristics, it is likely that Mozart wrote the composition between the ages of 10 to 13 years old during the mid-to late 1760s. Furthermore, the absence of the composer’s middle name in his ascription suggests that the work must have been completed prior the Mozart’s first trip to Italy, as after 1769 the musical aficionado started to include “Amadeo” in his attribution. Mozart wrote many chamber works like this in his younger years, and many of these works were thought to have been lost to history.
“We are convinced that we can now present a completely unknown, charming piece by the young Mozart,” Leisinger told the German Press Agency following some concerns that the piece could have been misattributed.
Leisinger went on to say that “[t]he similarity with other Mozart compositions from this period and the external features such as the composer’s name on the notes speak for the fact that this serenade came from Mozart. This is not 100 per cent verifiable. But everything has been done to rule out that this piece is in some archive under the name of another composer.”
The premier of the 12-minute-long opus took place on Sept. 21 at the Leipzig Opera, resulting in 400-metre-long lines of people desperate to hear the piece played live. Consisting of two violins and a bass, Ganz Kleine Nachtmusik was played by three graduates of the Johann Sebastian Bach Music School.
The three musicians then played the piece again outside, where researchers think it was written to be played, for crowds who could not attend the official performance.
A video of the performance can be found here.