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The manuscript was discovered while working with 18th-century archival materials. According to the National Library of France, musicologist François-Pierre Gua, who was preparing to retire after 31 years at the institution, found a 44-page notebook containing musical notation dated 1778. An initial analysis suggested a possible connection between the manuscript and Mozart based on the characteristics of the handwriting and musical style.
Laurence Decobert, an expert on the composer’s Parisian period, joined the research effort. The final expert opinion was prepared by musicologist Armin Brinzing of the Mozarteum Research Center in Salzburg, who confirmed the high probability that Mozart was the author.
The manuscript consists of seven short pieces and musical sketches for flute and harp. According to the researchers, they may have been composed during the composer’s teaching work in Paris. In 1778, the 22-year-old Mozart was in the French capital, where he gave composition lessons to Marie-Louise-Philippine de Bonier de Gin, an aristocrat and harpist.
Analysis of the manuscript shows that the materials are primarily educational in nature. Some fragments appear to be musical exercises, sketches, or drafts that may have been used in the teaching process. After the lessons ended in the summer of 1778, work on some of the pieces was likely discontinued, and one of the compositions remained unfinished.
Despite the research-oriented nature of the discovery, the works have already been performed on stage. The first public performance of the discovered compositions took place on France Musique radio. They were performed by flutist Mathilde Calderini and harpist Nicolas Tully, with the participation of musicians from the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra.
Radio France notes that the discovered manuscript expands the known body of works associated with Mozart and is of significant interest to researchers of his oeuvre. The document will remain in the custody of the National Library of France, which houses one of Europe’s largest collections of the composer’s autographs.
Experts emphasize that even if the discovered works consist primarily of teaching materials and sketches, they help provide a better understanding of Mozart’s time in Paris, his teaching methods, and his interactions with students and patrons.
