Why is the discovery of this Mozart manuscript so important?
Firstly because it is an autograph, written by the composer himself, and not a copy. Among Mozart’s surviving composition lessons, this is the only one for which we have associated correspondence. In a letter addressed to his father on May 14, 1778 during his stay in Paris, Mozart recounts the fourth lesson he gives to the daughter of the Duke of Guînes. He describes teaching methods that we find in the manuscript: he often uses the minuet for example, or writes the first bars of a piece and then lets his student complete it.
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