Mozart: Serenade in C Major, K. 648 "A Very Little Night Music" (Version for 2 Violins, Cello & Harpsichord) [World Premiere Recording]

It’s not every day we get to hear the world premiere recording of a piece by Mozart. In September 2024, experts working on a fresh version of the Köchel catalogue, the official record of the Austrian composer’s music, came across the manuscript of the previously unknown Serenate ex C, or what’s now been dubbed Ganz kleine Nachtmusik (A Very Little Night Music or A Very Little Serenade). After close inspection, the chamber work was certified as “very likely” to be by Mozart, and was subsequently given the new Köchel number of KV. 648.

The seven movement string trio was probably composed around the mid to late 1760s while Mozart was still in his teens—although not in Mozart’s hand, the manuscript bears an attribution to “Wo[l]fgang Mozart,” and its light-hearted and sometimes boisterous nature bears striking stylistic similarities to other works from that time.

Scored for two violins and cello (heard here with additional harpsichord accompaniment), Ganz kleine Nachtmusik was given its world premiere performance on September 19, 2024 at the Mozarteum in Salzburg—this recording features the same performing lineup: Haruna Shinoyama and Neža Klinar (violins), Philipp Comploi (cello) and Florian Birsak (harpsichord).