Minuet in D major (spurious), K. Anh.C 13.04 (likely by Leopold Mozart)
av Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Minuet in D major (K. Anh.C 13.04) is a brief orchestral dance transmitted under Mozart’s name but now generally regarded as spurious—most likely the work of Leopold Mozart. It is dated to 1769, though its place of origin and original performing context remain unknown.
Background and Context
K. Anh.C 13.04 belongs to the group of pieces once attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) but later reassigned or left in doubt; current reference listings describe the Minuet in D major as “in reality” by Leopold Mozart, and the year is usually given as 1769 (with no secure location). The work appears in modern overviews of spurious or doubtful Mozart orchestral items, where misattributions from later copies and circulating parts are a recurring feature.[1][2]
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In 1769 the Mozart family was in Salzburg before departing for the first Italian journey at the end of the year; in that period the 13-year-old Wolfgang certainly composed dances and light orchestral pieces for local use. Even so, nothing in the surviving documentation for K. Anh.C 13.04 ties it firmly to Wolfgang, and the weight of later cataloguing places it with Leopold’s music instead.[1]
Musical Character
As an orchestral minuet in D major, K. Anh.C 13.04 stands in the well-worn courtly tradition: a compact, symmetrical dance designed for clear phrasing and straightforward harmonic rhythm rather than thematic development. D major—favoured for outdoor and ceremonial repertory in the 18th century—also points toward practical, ensemble-friendly writing. Within Mozart-family sources, such minuets typically functioned as single movements in serenades, cassations, or as interchangeable dance numbers.
Place in the Catalog
K. Anh.C 13.04 is catalogued among spurious or doubtful works and is widely described as a Leopold Mozart piece rather than an authentic composition by Wolfgang.[1] In that sense it sits alongside other dance and orchestral items whose attribution history reflects the blurred transmission of “Mozart” repertory in 18th- and 19th-century copying and collecting.[2]
[1] Wikiland (French): Köchel catalogue table entry listing Anh.C 13.04 as a Menuet in D major “en réalité de Léopold Mozart.”
[2] Wikipedia: “Mozart symphonies of spurious or doubtful authenticity” (context for misattribution and the broader spurious/doubtful orchestral corpus).