Overture and 3 Contredanses (doubtful), K. 106
av Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart’s Overture and 3 Contredanses (K. 106) is a short orchestral set transmitted under his name and usually dated to around 1790 in Vienna, when he was 34, but its attribution remains doubtful. What survives points to practical, dance-oriented music—an overture followed by three Contretänze—in a lean scoring typical of functional entertainment.
What Is Known
K. 106 (also catalogued as K. 588a) comprises four movements—an overture and three contredanses—and is generally dated to 1790.[1] The piece was first published posthumously in 1886 in the Breitkopf & Härtel collected edition edited by Gustav Nottebohm (in the Supplement volume), a transmission history that offers little help in confirming Mozart’s authorship.[1] Modern reference sources routinely label the work as doubtful.[2]
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The scoring as printed is for orchestra without violas—2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, and strings—which aligns with the compact, outdoor-friendly instrumentation often used in late-18th-century social music, even if the musical handwriting behind K. 106 cannot be confidently tied to Mozart.[1]
Musical Content
The set is laid out as a self-contained sequence: Overture followed by Contredanse Nos. 1–3.[1] The contredanses are the kind of brisk, symmetrical, repeat-structured pieces associated with Viennese ballroom practice (typically in 2/4 and built in short repeated strains), music designed less for thematic development than for clear phraseology and reliable rhythmic lift.[3] Read against Mozart’s documented Vienna years—when he was simultaneously producing works of far greater ambition—K. 106, if genuine, would most plausibly represent occasional “use” music rather than a concert work; if not genuine, it still reflects the sound-world in which Mozart’s late Viennese dances circulated and were imitated.[1]
[1] IMSLP: work page with movements, dating (1790), first publication (1886), and instrumentation details for K. 106/588a.
[2] Mozart225 discography page listing “Overture and Three Contredanses, K.106 (doubtful)”.
[3] Mozarteum KV site (example entry) describing typical contredanse features (time signatures, repeated sections) in Mozart’s dance practice.