A French musicologist has discovered a previously unknown Mozart manuscript. The 44-page music book contains seven pieces for harp and flute as well as composition exercises, explained François-Pierre Goy, curator in the music department of the French National Library. They date from 1778, when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart taught the French harpist Marie-Louise-Philippine de Bonnières de Guînes to compose.
A 44-page manuscript that the French National Library identified as the work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Photo: Jérémy Halkin/French National Library/dpa
Handwriting and paper provide crucial clues
The pieces for harp and flute, which are about 20 minutes long in total, are scheduled to be performed at a concert in the National Library on Sunday at the traditional music festival on June 21st.
The musicologist Goy, who specializes in anonymous manuscripts, examined the notebook covered in marbled paper after looking at other Mozart teaching materials. He noticed the “rounded, slightly forward-leaning treble clefs” and the “bass clefs notated differently than in France”. Comparisons with other manuscripts and the paper used also supported the authorship of the Austrian composer. This was later confirmed by the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Next find after the “Very Little Night Music”
The manuscript was confiscated from the Duke of Guînes during the French Revolution and was later found in the French National Library. In 2024, a previously unknown youth work by Mozart was discovered in Leipzig, which was given the title “Very Little Night Music”.
