Rachel Barton Pine is a violinist passionate about discovery. So when she heard that a new Mozart piece had been uncovered more than 230 years after the composer's death, she knew she had to give it a try.
In September 2024, researchers made headlines worldwide when they discovered a bound manuscript. Upon examination, experts have concluded that the piece is a previously unknown work by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Getting to give one of the first performances of a work by Mozart is a huge opportunity.
But the thing that captured Rachel's attention most was the composer's age at the time of composition.
"The fact that he wrote it when he was a young teenager, or maybe even a preteen - well, I live with a young composer!" Rachel laughs "So I was really interested in what a kid back then would have been up to... "
Sylvia Pine, composer, violinist, and daughter to Rachel Barton Pine, joined her mother in WFMT's Levin Studio to make the Midwest premiere recording of the new Mozart piece. The pair was joined by the founder and Artistic Director of the Haymarket Opera Company - cellist Craig Trompeter. In an attempt to make the recording as period accurate as possible, all of the musicians played on Baroque instruments using classical era bows. Even the ensemble makeup itself was an intentional choice spurred on by historical accuracy.
"When Mozart was at the age that he would've been when he wrote this piece, he was always playing chamber music with his dad, who was a professional violinist, and his teacher" explains Barton Pine. "And of course his dad's colleagues - a bunch of other grown ups - would've all gotten together to jam with him on chamber music. This trio would've likely been played by Mozart, his dad and a friend... so I thought, why not Sylvia, her mom, and a friend!?"
Mozart's Serenade in C is a work for string trio in seven short movements. The world has already assigned the piece a nickname of "Ganz Kleine Nachtmusik" (Quite Little Night Music)... a decision that Barton Pine isn't really the biggest fan of. She argues that the work isn't that little at all. Despite its levity, she enjoys the piece's substance. One detail that Barton Pine particularly loves is the piece's interplay between the two violin parts.
"Honestly it's just such a catchy piece! And such a wonderful instrumentation of two violins and a cello... I love violists, don't get me wrong, but it's just fun to have an instrumentation that we love so much from the Baroque Trio Sonata genre brought into the classical era. No one else but Mozart could have written something this touching. It's also... mischievous?" She laughs. "That was the adjective that Sylvia came up with for Mozart's music back when she was 4 years old and played her first Mozart piece." At the mention of her name, Sylvia makes a disgruntled face at her mom. A typical response to having your mom bring up old stories about you in front of strangers.
But Sylvia had insight of her own to share about this piece: "It's so dramatic. It has flair, and it feels a lot freer than some of Mozart's later works are to me - even though they all have gorgeousness and grace. There are so many emotions in this adorable little serenade."
The difficulty of keeping the instruments in tune was worth it for the authenticity, the ensemble agreed. Though Rachel laughed that perhaps it would have been more accurate to play the piece on new instruments. After all, when Mozart was composing this piece, they would have played the piece on new instruments of the time and not antiques!
Still, cellist Craig Trompeter was happy to create one of the first period recordings of this new Mozart piece on his brand new Baroque cello. He also agrees with Barton Pine about the deceptive "simplicity" of the new piece.
"Whenever I listen to Mozart, I hear opera," he explains. " I feel like he was such a creature of the theater. He's always painting some sort of scene... I love observing and providing the rhythm he put on the page, and bringing the scene to life with two other people."
With this latest discovery, another work enters the canon of Mozart pieces. But what comes next? As Rachel expresses, "It makes you wonder what else there is left to be discovered."