12 Contredanses for Graf Czernin (Michael Haydn), K. Anh.C 29.01
ヴォルフガング・アマデウス・モーツァルト作
The so-called 12 Contredanses for Graf Czernin (K. Anh.C 29.01; formerly “K. deest” = K.⁶ 269b) survive only in a fragmentary keyboard transmission and are now regarded as incorrectly assigned to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Köchel catalogue and modern editorial commentary connect the source instead with Michael Haydn (1737–1806), and Mozart’s involvement—if any—cannot be securely demonstrated.12
What Is Known
The work listed as Contredances for Johann Rudolf Graf Czernin is preserved only as a clavier (keyboard) version and is described in the Mozarteum catalogue as fragmentary, uncompleted, and of incorrect assignment.1 The same entry names Michael Haydn as composer, reflecting the now-standard view that the contredanses long circulating under Mozart’s name belong to Haydn’s output rather than Mozart’s.1
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The Neue Mozart-Ausgabe (Series X: Works of Dubious Authenticity) notes that the surviving text comes solely from a copy made by Johann Michael Haydn, and it cannot be excluded that the arrangement itself was made by Haydn rather than Mozart.2 The numbering in the keyboard copy indicates a cycle of at least twelve dances, yet only four are extant (Nos. 1–3 and 12, with No. 3 surviving only fragmentarily); the orchestral original has not survived.2
A date around 1777 is traditionally given (often more specifically January 1777), tied to the source’s designation “del Sig’r Czernin” and Salzburg carnival circumstances recorded in a contemporary diary—connections that remain plausible but not definitive.12
Musical Content
What survives presents concise, functional contredanses in keyboard dress—music designed for social dancing rather than concert display. With the set incomplete and the orchestral version lost, the extant numbers offer only a partial view of the cycle’s tonal plan and dramaturgy; nevertheless, their regular phrasing and straightforward textures place them firmly in the late-18th-century ballroom tradition.2
[1] Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum, Köchel-Verzeichnis entry for K. Anh.C 29.01 (status, dating, instrumentation; names Michael Haydn and notes incorrect assignment and fragmentary transmission).
[2] G. Henle Verlag (PDF extract) quoting NMA Series X/29/3 commentary on the contredanses K. deest (269b): sole keyboard copy by Johann Michael Haydn; at least twelve dances; only Nos. 1–3 and 12 survive; orchestral version lost; dating hypotheses and Czernin context.