From the Archives: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Salzburg 27 January 1756 – Vienna 5 December 1791

Viola part of a Contredanse, KV565a; ca 1790.

A manuscript viola part, in Viennese handwriting, of the Contredanse KV565a. The work was otherwise only known from the second violin part which is held by the School of Music at Ann Arbor, University of Michigan. The present viola part was once thought to be in Mozart’s own handwriting and originally displayed as such in the Society’s 20th century history. The music finishes with the words “da capo” and is followed by a later annotation “Mozarts Handschrift" and some initials which are probably “CA” and likely written by Carl August André (1806-1887). Carl’s father, Johann Anton André (1775-1842), was an important and busy music publisher in the first part of the nineteenth century; in November 1799 he had purchased the ‘Mozart-Nachlass’ from the composer’s widow, Constanze Mozart.

The manuscript, now heavily foxed or stained and thus difficult to read, continues with the notes:

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"Aus dem früheren Schatz Mozart'scher Manuscripte dem verdiensvollen Kapellmeister Georg Goltermann an meinem Geburtstag überreicht. C.A. André Frf [an abbreviation for Frankfurt] 15./6 [18]81" translating as “From the former trove of Mozartian manuscripts handed over to the deserving capellmeister Georg Goltermann on my birthday.  C.A. André” (Carl’s birthday was 15 June).

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Goltermann (1824-1898) was a virtuoso cellist in his younger days, and from 1874 the principal music director at Frankfurt. The manuscript came to the RSM from the estate of the pianist Agnes Maria Zimmermann (1847-1925, Member 00455) along with other items. Documentation from early 1926, held at the National Archives, pertaining to the probate of Zimmermann’s estate notes this particular item as “Mozart – a few bars of manuscript music.  £12”.

We are pleased to acknowledge the deciphering and translation of the inscription by Dr Ulrich Leisinger, director of the online Mozart Edition. This website also includes the recently published and substantially updated Köchel Catalogue.