In early October, three young musicians of the Leipzig Youth Symphony Orchestra were given some untitled sheet music and asked to learn the mystery piece for a public performance. Only two days before they were about to hit the stage, they found out the origins of this unusual classical piece, and the pressure was instantly piled high. It was a long-lost Mozart piece, only just discovered in Leipzig, and the teenage trio were about to debut it to the world.
The public premiere of this stunning new song has already passed half a million views in under a month. Entitled “Ganz kleine Nachtmusik” KV648, or “Serenade in C,” the piece weaves through seven short upbeat movements. As one viewer noted, a polonaise features within the piece, making this piece extra special for classical music buffs who know these polonaises are a rarity amongst Mozart’s vast catalogue.
The Leipzig teens certainly start on some shaky notes, but as they sink into the new grooves freshly pulled from the gloom of antiquity, their command over the piece’s complexities is simply staggering for their age. They take on the mountainous pressure like absolute professionals, their minimal bum notes just adding to the mastery of Mozart, who composed this piece at around the same age (if not younger) as these performers are today.
17-year-old first violinist Vincent Geer shares an incredible chemistry with his 16-year-old brother and second violinist David, glancing at him throughout the piece to give unspoken cues and support, executed flawlessly as if the two share a hivemind.
David embodied the heart of every classical violinist when he revealed to Classic FM the pressure of debuting a long-lost Mozart piece to the world, “Once we heard the news that we were the ones performing the German premiere of a rediscovered piece by Mozart, in front of international media and a big audience, our first thought was, ‘we need to practice more!’”
Twenty-year-old cellist Elisabeth Zimmerman, meanwhile, reflected on the tone of the piece, drawing some wholesome conclusions about their performance: “It feels a bit like you are transported back in time – and especially our second performance on the steps of the Leipzig Opera made me think, the piece might have been written for outdoor concerts – it just fits.”
This tune first premiered in a private performance in Mozart’s Salzburg birth city, quickly following the announcement of the discovery. When news of the long-lost Mozart manuscript discovery hit the media, social media flooded with comments on the likeliness of Mozart still dropping bangers 250 years after his death. Music Man readers are bound to be moved by the sentiment that we can finally experience what it’s like to witness the world debut of a Mozart piece in all its genius, despite still being stuck in the modern age.