News

The Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris has announced the most important Mozart discovery in France this century. Senior librarian François-Pierre Goy identified a music notebook in the historical archives as Mozart’s original teaching materials for Marie-Louise-Philippine de Bonnières de Guînes (1759–1795). Until now, these lessons had been documented only through letters Wolfgang Amadé Mozart wrote to his father from Paris in early summer 1778. On 14 May 1778, for example, he wrote enthusiastically: “I already wrote to you in my last letter that the Duc de guines, whose daughter is my pupil in composition, plays the flute incomparably, and she plays the harp magnificently; she has a great deal of talent, and genius, above all an incomparable memory.”

 

At the time of the lessons, the young duchess was 19 years old and already a virtuoso harpist. Her father, Adrien Louis de Bonnières, Duc de Guînes, and Mozart had hoped to train her as a composer as well. However, Mozart soon realized that it was not merely a lack of practice that held her back. The extensive collection begins with typical instructional material, such as studies in polyphony, but quickly progresses to exercises in free form. Of particular interest are several previously unknown minor compositions by Mozart for harp, as well as for flute and harp.

 

Armin Brinzing, head of the Bibliotheca Mozartiana at the International Mozarteum Foundation, was consulted by the Bibliothèque nationale de France as an expert in the identification process: “I was completely surprised when I saw these unique studies, which undoubtedly bear Mozart’s handwriting. This sheds a whole new light on Mozart’s teaching methods. It is particularly interesting to see the teacher’s high artistic standards reflected in the handwriting: He repeatedly revised those drafts by his student that he considered lacking, and developed his own compositional versions from them.”

 

The International Mozarteum Foundation extends its warmest congratulations on this sensational discovery and has invited François-Pierre Goy to present this important find in Salzburg this fall. A facsimile edition with a transcription and commentary is planned. This is the first addition that would require a new listing in the 2024 edition of the Köchel Catalog: According to Ulrich Leisinger, director of research at the International Mozarteum Foundation, the “Teaching Materials for Marie-Louise-Philippine de Bonnières de Guînes” would need to be included in the appendix as “KV Anh. H 1, No. 5.”

 

Bibliothèque nationale de France: Discovery of an unpublished autograph manuscript by Mozart in the BnF Music Department

The New York Times: Here’s What ‘the Most Important Mozart Discovery in Decades’ Sounds Like