The record label Deutsche Grammophon has announced the upcoming release of three digital world premiere recordings of Mozart’s early work A Very Little Night Music. The global release date across all digital platforms will be on 11 October for the two chamber versions and on 18 October for the Orchestra version.   

A Very Little Night Music, a Serenade in C K 648 for two violins and bass, is a previously unknown piece of music that was discovered by researchers of the International Mozarteum Foundation in the Carl Ferdinand Becker collection of the Municipal Music Library in Leipzig, Germany.

Composed by Mozart when he was in his early teens, the piece dates to the mid-to late  -1760’s and consists of seven miniature movements for string trio.  It was introduced to the public on 19 September 2024 by the International Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg which oversaw the research and authentication under the direction of Dr. Ulrich Leisinger.

One rendition takes place in the Viennese Hall of the International Mozarteum Foundation by Leonhard Baumgartner, Margarita Pochebut (violins), Svenja Dose (double bass) and Oscar Jockel (harpsichord). Both violinists are still in their teenage years – like Mozart when he composed and performed the work for his sister – and the ensemble decided to collaborate with bass and harpsichord in the continuo section.

Another chamber recording was created by Unitel with the ensemble that gave the first live performance of the rediscovered work in Salzburg on 19 September in the context of the presentation of the new Kochel catalogue, featuring Haruna Shinoyama, Neža Klinar (violins), Philipp Comploi (cello) and Florian Birsak (cembalo). This version was pre-released already on 4 October, on Apple Music.

After unprecedented public interest the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig decided at short notice to devote a portion of their already scheduled sessions with their former music director and honorary conductor Herbert Blomstedt to recording the Serenade in C. The orchestra version mirrors the evolution of Mozart’s Serenade in G A Little Night Music, which was originally conceived for chamber ensemble, but is today more commonly known in a string orchestra version.

Rainer Heneis, CEO International Mozarteum Foundation, said ‘The huge amount of attention that the publication of the new Mozart piece has attracted worldwide shows the unbroken fascination with the greatest composer of all time. Thanks to the outstanding work of our colleagues at the scientific competence centre, this newly discovered composition could be verified as part of their ongoing research on the new Köchel catalogue.’

Dr Clemens Trautmann, President Deutsch Grammophon, said: ‘Deutsche Grammophon recordings have always been influential in establishing references and encouraging performances of newly composed or rediscovered musical works.’

The recordings will be released on 11 October for the two chamber versions and on 18 October for the Orchestra version. Alongside the audio recording, a performance video will be premiered on 12 October on STAGE+ as a promotional free transmission, preceding the Mozart recital broadcast of pianist Grigory Sokolov.