7 previously unknown works by Mozart and his pupil discovered

In 1778, a young musician named Marie-Louise-Philippine de Bonnières de Guînes was sitting in a composition lesson in Paris, trying to come up with a melody. She wracked her brains for 15 minutes. Finally, her teacher — Mozart — wrote the beginning of a tune and asked her to continue it.

Later, in a letter to his father, Mozart complained that his pupil, a duke’s daughter who was a talented harpist, completed her music theory exercises well enough, but “had no ideas at all.”

That may have been exasperating for Mozart, but it has given posterity a spectacular gift. On Friday, the National Library of France announced the discovery of a 44-page notebook from de Guînes’s lessons, The New York Times writes.

The notebook offers an extraordinary window into Mozart’s teaching method, showing his corrections and improvements on de Guînes’s work.

The discovery also yields repertoire pieces marked by Mozart’s imagination: seven previously unknown works for flute and harp. Experts say that while de Guînes composed these works under her teacher’s guidance, Mozart penned a substantial portion of the music himself.

The newly discovered works were played publicly for the first time on Sunday at the National Library of France. Most of the rediscovered pieces are light, short works.

Thanks to Mozart’s letters, scholars knew that he taught de Guînes from May to July 1778.

The Duke of Guînes hoped that his daughter would become a competent enough composer to write sonatas for flute and harp, the instruments they played.