Unknown Mozart Manuscript To Be Auctioned

BERLIN, GERMANY (Top40 Charts) One of the most important Mozart discoveries of recent years will be auctioned in Berlin on April 16. The autograph and manuscript dealer J.A.Stargardt is auctioning a recently discovered autograph music manuscript that has remained unknown to researchers until now. The sheet from 1783 shows on one side the complete first violin part for two orchestral dances, KV 609 No. 4 and KV 463 (448c) No. 1, and on the reverse side three drafts for the program of his famous concert of March 23, 1783, at the Burgtheater in Vienna.

The manuscript provides new insights into the genesis of the two dances, whose composition had previously been assigned to later years. Mozart's concert of March 23, 1783, took place under his own direction and participation in the presence of Emperor Joseph II; it became an artistic as well as a financial success and marked Mozart's establishment as a freelance musician. The drafts show Mozart's thoughts on the individual pieces, their order and the performers.

Since the mid-19th century, the manuscript has been in a German private collection. Now it will be auctioned on April 16 as part of J.A.Stargardt's autograph auction, with an estimated value of 140,000 euros.