Lost Mozart Composition Unearthed in Leipzig Library

A previously unknown musical composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has been discovered by researchers at the Leipzig Municipal Libraries. The piece, a 12-minute-long work in C major for two violins and bass, offers a rare glimpse into the early creative period of one of classical music's most celebrated composers.

The manuscript, dated around 1780, is not penned in Mozart's own hand but is a copy attributed to "Wolfgang Mozart." The absence of his middle name "Amadeus" in the attribution suggests the piece was composed before 1769, the year he began including his middle name in signatures. This detail, highlighted by a release from the Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg, indicates that Mozart was likely between 10 and 13 years old when he wrote the piece.

Cataloged in the Köchel directory as KV 648 and also known as "Ganz kleine Nachtmusik" and "Serenate ex C," the composition consists of seven miniature movements. Its discovery adds a significant work to Mozart's early repertoire, a period from which few chamber pieces have survived.

"Until the era in which KV 648 was written, Mozart was generally known for his keyboard music, arias, and sinfonias," said Ulrich Leisinger, head of research at the International Mozarteum Foundation and editor of the latest Köchel catalog. "By the time Mozart was 17, he probably wouldn't have written music in that style anymore."

Leisinger noted that a list compiled by Mozart's father, Leopold Mozart, mentioned many chamber works composed during Mozart's youth, most of which are lost. "It looks as if—thanks to a series of favorable circumstances—a complete string trio has survived in Leipzig," he said. "The source was evidently Mozart's sister, and so it is tempting to think that she preserved the work as a memento of her brother."

The piece was performed in Mozart's hometown of Salzburg on Thursday and made its German debut on Saturday at the Leipzig Opera, according to German outlet MDR. 

This remarkable addition to Mozart's catalog comes just a year after new insights into the life of Ludwig van Beethoven were published. Research revealed that Beethoven suffered from serious liver problems and a hepatitis infection before his death in 1827.