Six Divertimentos (lost), K. 41a (1767, Salzburg)
de Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart’s Six Divertimentos (K. 41a) are a lost set of small-scale ensemble pieces, tentatively dated to Salzburg in 1767, when he was 11. The title survives in catalogue traditions, but the music itself—its key, movement plan, and exact scoring—does not.
Mozart's Life at the Time
In 1767, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was back in Salzburg after the long “grand tour” years, working under Leopold Mozart’s close supervision and writing whatever was useful for local music-making at court and in aristocratic circles. K. 41a is associated with this Salzburg milieu and is generally placed in that year, although the evidence is indirect and later cataloguing traditions complicate attribution.[1]
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Musical Character
No score or reliable incipit survives for K. 41a, so its key and musical substance cannot be described with confidence. What can be said is that the set was understood (in later listings) as divertimentos “in 4 parts” for “various instruments”—wording that suggests practical, part-based outdoor or domestic entertainment music rather than a single large formal work.[1]
A further wrinkle is authenticity: a Breitkopf thematic-catalogue entry from 1767 for a “Divert.” for four instruments (including two horns, plus strings) has been connected possibly with this group, yet that entry has also been attributed to Leopold Mozart—leaving K. 41a best treated as a lost work of doubtful authenticity.[1]
[1] Mozart.gr — “Mozart: Lost Works” entry discussing K. 41a (six divertimentos), its listing in Leopold’s inventory, tentative Salzburg 1767 dating, and possible (contested) link to a Breitkopf incipit attributed to Leopold Mozart.