A manuscript containing music written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and one of his pupils was discovered in the archives of France’s National Library, leading to performances of pieces that may have not been heard for more than two centuries.
The 44 page notebook was found earlier this year at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) in Paris by curator François-Pierre Goy while he was reviewing a series of little-known anonymous manuscripts held by the library.
With his retirement approaching next year, he had decided to revisit around 20 anonymous manuscripts from the 17th and 18th centuries whose descriptions had often remained unchanged for decades.
On February 2, he opened an untitled music notebook from the late 18th century.
"It was a typical composition exercise book," Mr Goy told The Connexion. "There was the hand of the student, not very skillful, and the hand of the teacher correcting things, proposing themes and so on."
At the end of the notebook were several pieces for flute and harp. Looking more closely, Mr Goy began to notice something familiar in the handwriting.
"The more I looked at it, the more certain details awakened memories," he said. "A few weeks earlier I had been looking at Mozart manuscripts. I thought: could this be his handwriting?"
After comparing the writing with authenticated Mozart documents, he sought a second opinion from a colleague who is a musicologist and specialist in Mozart’s collections.
"She had absolutely no doubt."
The manuscript was then examined by Armin Brinzing, director of the Bibliotheca Mozartiana at the Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg, who also confirmed the attribution.
"When he turned the first page and saw Mozart's handwriting, I understood from his expression that he shared our opinion," Mr Goy said.
Jérémy Halkin / BnF
'At first it was like a hallucination'
Even after receiving confirmation, Mr Goy struggled to believe what he had found.
"At first it was like a hallucination. I could barely believe it because it was so incredible," he said.
The manuscript itself dates from Mozart’s final stay in Paris in 1778 and contains composition lessons given to Marie-Louise-Philippine de Bonnières de Guînes, a talented harpist and daughter of the Duke of Guines.
The lessons took place between May and July 1778, before Mademoiselle de Guînes’ marriage brought them to an end.
For music historians, the notebook is very valuable because it provides direct evidence of how Mozart taught composition.
“We see exactly how he proposed themes to his student, allowed her to complete them, and then corrected her work," said Mr Goy.
It is the earliest known surviving document illustrating Mozart's approach to teaching composition, according to the BnF.
In letters to his father, the composer complained that Mlle de Guînes lacked musical ideas and later dismissed her abilities in harsh terms.
Yet the manuscript suggests she was more capable than he claimed in his letters.
A first performance in Paris
The music was brought back to life in Paris for what is believed to be its first modern performance by musicians from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the flautist Mathilde Calderini and the harpist Nicolas Tulliez.
The performance took place on June 21 at the Bibliothèque nationale de France’s Richelieu site in front of the public.
"These works had probably never been played at all," Mr Goy said. "They were essentially exercises."
For him, the importance of the discovery has less to do with uncovering a forgotten masterpiece than in the recovery of a lost teaching moment from Mozart’s time in Paris.
"It's certainly not the greatest Mozart," he said, noting that the manuscript contains contributions from both teacher and student. "But it is beautiful music and, in my opinion, it deserves a place in the repertoire."
