Nannerl’s Only Known Composition

Listen to Mozart scholar Ulrich Leisinger’s performance of the only surviving composition by Mozart’s sister, Maria Anna (“Nannerl”), heard here in its complete form for the first time thanks to the discovery, in the Morgan Library’s collection of music manuscripts, of a fragment containing the ending of the piece. 

On July 7, 1770, Mozart wrote to his “dear sister,” “I was quite surprised that you can compose so beautifully. In a word, the song is beautiful, and try it more often.” Unfortunately, that song, composed by Maria Anna Mozart, has not been preserved. The fragments seen here (two facsimiles and one original), which were cut apart in the nineteenth century, come from her only extant composition. This short keyboard piece (perhaps from a longer set of variations) was composed under the guidance of her father. The original fragment at the end, which was recently discovered in the Morgan’s collection and now seen for the first time in over 150 years, contains the ending of the piece.