Who would have thought that 200 years after his death, Mozart would still be appearing on New Music Friday lists?

On Friday, June 19, the National Library of France announced the discovery of a 44-page notebook containing seven previously unknown sonatas for flute and harp by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart utilized this notebook from May to July 1778 while in France instructing Marie-Louise-Philippine de Bonnières de Guînes, the daughter of the Duke of Guînes, in harp lessons.

The notebook contains sonatas, daily exercises, and notes by Mozart, offering a unique view into his instruction and pedagogy.

Listen here:

Première mondiale : écoutez l’œuvre inédite de Mozart découverte par la BnF

En février 2026, la BnF a découvert un manuscrit inédit de Mozart, né de leçons données à une harpiste parisienne en 1778. Deux musiciens de l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France ont enregistré ces pièces pour flûte et harpe, diffusées en intégralité pour la première fois dans Relax! ce lundi.

France MusiqueLionel Esparza

The notebook was discovered by François-Pierre Goy, a conservator at the National Library, who had dedicated himself to working through a pile of anonymous documents before his retirement. Goy began working on the journal in February 2026 and it was authenticated in April 2026 by Armin Brinzing, the director of the Mozarteum Foundation in Austria.

"This is the most important Mozart discovery in decades," Brinzing said to the New York Times. "It is very clear that it is Mozart's handwriting. You can follow bar by bar. What did [de Guînes] write? What did Mozart correct?"

Scholars compared the document to other hand written works by Mozart, and corroborated the date of the journal with his personal letters. "The treble clefs are quite rounded and tilted slightly forward," Goy said in an interview with Classic FM. "I never imagined what I was about to find."

The National Library stated that the journal was "part of two bundles of music that were confiscated from the home of the Duke of Guînes in 1794." The Duke was a close friend of Marie-Antoinette, and fled to England at the start of the French Revolution. Mozart had been commissioned by the Duke to compose Concerto for Flute, Harp and Orchestra in C major, K.299 for de Guînes and his daughter to play.

The newly-unearthed works were performed publicly for the first time on Sunday, June 21, at the National Library in France, by flutist Mathile Caldérini and harpist Nicolas Tulliez. The pieces were recorded and broadcast exclusively on Radio France on Monday, June 22.