An exceptional discovery has enriched the world's musical heritage. At the National Library of France, a handwritten notebook attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been identified after more than two centuries in the collections. The document contains several pedagogical exercises as well as seven previously unpublished pieces for flute and harp, which will be performed for the first time on the occasion of the Fête de la Musique (World Music Day).
A manuscript rediscovered thanks to the eye of a conservator
The story begins at the start of the year when François-Pierre Goy, a curator in the music department of the BnF (National Library of France), undertook to examine several anonymous manuscripts before his retirement. Among them was a small, untitled notebook of forty-four pages, which had long remained without any particular identification.
Upon closer examination of the musical notation, several elements caught his attention: certain shapes of musical clefs, distinctive graphic symbols, and similarities to other documents by the composer that he had recently studied. After comparing the manuscript with digitized copies and analyzing the paper and markings present on the document, his intuition was confirmed. The notebook's authenticity was subsequently validated by a musicologist and then by an expert at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Seven new works and a fresh perspective on Mozart the professor
The notebook dates back to the spring and summer of 1778. It contains a series of composition lessons intended for Marie-Louise-Philippine de Guînes, a young and renowned musician and harpist, daughter of the Duke of Guînes, himself a passionate flute player. According to the BnF (National Library of France), she was Mozart's first known composition student.
The document also contains seven pieces for flute and harp (one of which remained unfinished) that attest to the collaborative work between the composer and his student. According to explanations provided by the Library, some scores demonstrate a genuine pedagogical exchange: Mozart would initiate a theme or write an instrumental part before allowing his student to continue the musical development.
These previously unreleased works, totaling approximately twenty minutes, will be presented for the first time this Sunday at the National Library of France by Mathilde Calderini on flute and Nicolas Tulliez on harp, both members of the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra. The original manuscript will then be added to the exhibition spaces of the BnF museum.
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