Curator finds rare Mozart manuscript at French library

A French curator has unearthed a significant musical treasure: a 44-page manuscript by a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Francois-Pierre Goy, a curator at France's National Library (BnF), discovered the notebook while preparing for retirement. It contains a dozen daily exercises and seven pieces for flute and harp, composed in 1778 when Mozart was 22.

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I never imagined what I was about to find.

Mozart wrote these pieces for his aristocratic student, Marie-Louise-Philippine de Bonnieres de Guines, who was a skilled harpist. The manuscript provides a rare glimpse into Mozart's role as a teacher and his time in Paris, a period for which historical information is scarce. The discovery came about as Goy noticed stylistic similarities to Mozart's known works, including distinctive treble and bass clefs.

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It just so happened that I had been looking at some of Mozart's teaching material a few weeks earlier.

Further comparisons with Mozart's other manuscripts, the French paper used, and stamps matching those on a commissioned work for the Duke of Guines, the student's father, strengthened the curator's suspicions. The Mozarteum Foundation in Austria authenticated the document in April. The manuscript was among music confiscated during the French Revolution and later deposited at the BnF.

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Could it be him?

Music department director Mathias Auclair called the find "almost unheard of" for a composer of Mozart's stature. While other Mozart compositions have been rediscovered in recent years, this find is particularly valuable for harpists and flautists, who have a limited repertoire. The BnF president noted the sheets illuminate Mozart's life in 1778, offering new insights into his activities during his final Parisian stay.

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Discoveries like this for such a famous composer are almost unheard of.