Two lost Mozart pieces discovered

[Conservationist]

The International Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg announced Thursday that it had discovered two previously unknown compositions written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

"The Department of Research at the International Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg has identified two works, which have long been in the possession of the Foundation, as compositions of the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart," the foundation said in a statement, without giving any more details.

The two pieces for piano are to presented to the press on August 2. They will be performed by clavichordist Florian Birsak on Mozart's own fortepiano at the family's old Salzburg residence.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ilHxvMnlRTYuGBqXTUMxrN0-vK5A

Could be exciting. Then again, why were they lost -- did he hide them because they were bad, forget them because they were boring, or stash them because they were too good for the public? heh

[tumours for TV stars]

Maybe they were kvlt limited edition hand-numbered compositions only for close komrades!!!!!

Seriously though, I'm interested in hearing this. Guess it should be online somewhere by now (I'll post a link if so).

[cmargir]

Maybe they were kvlt limited edition hand-numbered compositions only for close komrades!!!!!

Seriously though, I'm interested in hearing this. Guess it should be online somewhere by now (I'll post a link if so).

No you're not. They're works of juvenilia that had been known for a long time but that were attributed to his father instead. After studying the pieces, musicologists saw that they contained important 'mistakes' that a seasoned musician like his father would most likely not make, thus making it more likely that they were written by a very young Wolfgang.

commentary on the story
link to the original story with recordings of the two works if you're still interested.

[david johnson]

...and sometimes wolfgang would make an arrangement of someone else's tune for them and sign his arrangement.  over the ages, the fact is forgotten and a later scholar decides it's mozart's actual work.   i'm glad the mozart researchers are still at work.
side note...have you ever checked the arkivmusic catalog?  there are over 6K mozart different recordings available.  it was the same in the old schwann catalog.

dj

[tumours for TV stars]

Thanks a lot for the link, I'm still interested in hearing them.

I see it a bit like classic metal demos recorded in the band's youth: often technically not as accomplished as the later albums and perhaps with less compositional awareness but interesting to listen to in order to get a sense of artistic development and also for academic purposes.

[Eleison]

It's not like anyone has ever listened to the complete works anyway.