Contredanse in G major, “Les filles malicieuses” (K. 610)
di Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart’s Contredanse “Les filles malicieuses” (K. 610) is a compact ballroom showpiece whose French title (“The mischievous girls”) hints at its teasing, quick-footed character. Although entered into Mozart’s own thematic catalogue on 6 March 1791 in Vienna, the music appears to have circulated earlier and to belong stylistically to the court-and-public dance culture Mozart served after his 1787 appointment as imperial Kammermusicus (chamber musician) [1] [2].
Background and Context
Mozart’s Vienna was not only the city of subscription concerts and new operas, but also a city of dances—regular balls and Redouten where fashionable steps required fresh music. After Mozart was appointed Royal and Imperial chamber composer (Kammermusicus) in December 1787, one practical obligation was to supply dance music for the season’s festivities (especially the Carnival period), music designed to be instantly grasped and physically compelling rather than “worked out” like a symphonic argument [3].
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In this context, a contredanse could be both functional and artful. The genre—originally linked to English country dance and widely adopted across continental Europe—favoured clear phrase structure, strong rhythmic profile, and periodic repeats suitable for dancers’ patterns. Mozart wrote many such pieces in Vienna; they form a parallel repertoire to the celebrated concertos and operas, revealing his ability to crystallize character in the briefest span [3].
“Les filles malicieuses” (“The mischievous girls”) deserves attention precisely because it does more than keep time: it projects a tiny dramatic scene. Titles for these dances often function like stage directions—suggesting attitude, gesture, and social play—so that even without words, the music can feel theatrical.
Composition and Premiere
K. 610 is firmly associated with Vienna and survives with a secure attribution. A key documentary point is Mozart’s thematic catalogue (Verzeichnüß aller meiner Werke), in which he entered the contredanse together with a German dance in the same key (K. 611) on 6 March 1791 [1]. That catalogue entry anchors the work in Mozart’s final year.
At the same time, source and stylistic evidence suggest a more complex life for the music than a single “day of composition.” One documented view is that the piece appears (without its title) in another guise: it was reorchestrated as the last of the five contredanses of K. 609, a set typically linked to Mozart’s late-1780s dance obligations [1]. IMSLP, summarizing cataloguing uncertainty found in older reference traditions, likewise notes competing dates (“1783, revised 1787, 1791?”) [4]. For listeners, the practical takeaway is that this is dance music with a working history—adapted and reused in a living performance culture.
No specific premiere is documented in the way one might trace the first night of an opera. These contredanses were written to be played at balls and public events, often by court or theatre orchestras, and they likely entered circulation quickly through manuscript copying.
Instrumentation
The scoring is light and bright, tailored to a dance-orchestra sonority rather than symphonic weight. The printed full score (in the old Breitkopf & Härtel complete edition) labels parts for flutes, horns in G, and strings [5].
- Winds: 2 flutes
- Brass: 2 natural horns (in G)
- Strings: violins I & II; violoncellos and double basses (often without independent viola part)
That “no-violas” texture—common in some of Mozart’s dance music—sharpens the surface: upper voices sparkle, the bass drives, and the horns add festive punctuation without thickening the inner harmony.
Form and Musical Character
“Les filles malicieuses” is a single contredanse: concise, built from balanced phrases, and designed for repetition. Its most striking quality is how quickly it establishes a personality. In G major, the music leans into a buoyant, outdoor brightness, but the title invites us to hear something a little sly in the melodic turns—small feints and quick replies that feel like musical flirtation.
Several features help it stand out within Mozart’s large dance output:
- Economy with character. Mozart can sketch a “scene” in a handful of bars: a catchy theme, a neat cadence, and immediately the ear is oriented.
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- Orchestral colour in miniature. The pairing of flutes with horns gives a pleasantly blended brilliance—flutes tracing the contour, horns reinforcing harmonic pillars and signalling the dance’s public, ceremonial setting.
- Rhythmic clarity. The melody sits on a firm, regular pulse—essential for dancers—yet Mozart avoids monotony through quick harmonic turns and phrase articulation.
If one listens with “operatic ears,” it is tempting to treat the contredanse as a tiny piece of character music: not narrative, but unmistakably social. This is one reason such occasional works remain rewarding today—they compress Mozart’s theatrical instincts into functional forms.
Reception and Legacy
K. 610 has never had the public profile of Mozart’s concert works, but it persists in catalogues, editions, and recordings because it is both typical (a Vienna dance for public entertainment) and individual (a sharply profiled miniature with an evocative title). The work’s presence on the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum’s Köchel catalogue pages—and its continued circulation in modern sheet-music repositories—reflects a stable place in the documented Mozart repertoire [2] [4].
More broadly, “Les filles malicieuses” helps correct a common distortion in how Mozart is heard: as if his genius speaks only in “major” genres. The dances remind us that late-18th-century musical life was saturated with social music—and that Mozart, even at his most practical, wrote with precision, charm, and a knack for quick characterization.
Spartito
Scarica e stampa lo spartito di Contredanse in G major, “Les filles malicieuses” (K. 610) da Virtual Sheet Music®.
[1] Christer Malmberg (after Neal Zaslaw, The Compleat Mozart): contextual note on K. 610’s catalogue entry (6 March 1791) and its relationship to K. 609 and K. 611.
[2] Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum, Köchel-Verzeichnis: work entry for K. 610 “Les filles malicieuses.”
[3] Wikipedia: overview article on Mozart’s dance music and his 1787 court appointment as chamber composer for dance obligations.
[4] IMSLP work page for Contredanse, K. 610: general information, alternative dating notes, and instrumentation summary.
[5] IMSLP PDF full score (Breitkopf & Härtel, 1882, Mozarts Werke): instrumentation labels for K. 610.