Lost Mozart Manuscript Found in Library
A new discovery at the National Library of France provides a glimpse into the life and career of one of the world’s greatest Classical composers.
New music by Mozart made its world premiere this year on June 22. France Musique aired excerpts from six previously unknown pieces for flute and harp, performed by two musicians from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, nearly 250 years after their composition.
The discovery of the pieces was the crowning achievement of a distinguished career. François-Pierre Goy, conservator for the National Library of France, was preparing to retire from his position after 31 years, and, in February of this year, noticed something special about an unassuming notebook in the library’s storehouses.
Goy believed he recognized the handwriting of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on the notebook’s 44 pages. He consulted with Laurence Decobert, Head of Iconography and Documentation for the Performing Arts Department at the library, who agreed that the notebook was likely the renowned composer’s. Armin Brinzig, director of the Bibliotheca Mozartiana at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, authenticated the manuscript in April.
The manuscript, written on French paper, is believed to record the lessons that 22-year-old Mozart gave to Marie-Louise-Philippine de Bonnières de Guînes, daughter of flutist Adrien-Louis de Bonnières de Souastre, Duc de Guînes, in Paris in 1778. The pages include composition exercises and seven pieces for flute and harp.
Mozart came to Paris in 1778, seeking employment after resigning from his position as a court musician in Salzburg, Austria. He would leave in 1778 after writing some of his most famous works, including Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra, which the Duc de Guînes had commissioned. The notebook provides rare insight into his brief time teaching music.
Duc de Guînes left Paris for England during the French Revolution, and Mozart’s notebook is believed to be one of “two packets of music” that were confiscated from his residence in 1794 and given to the National Library of France.
Gilles Pécout, president of the library, calls the manuscript “one of the most important discoveries in recent decades.”
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