The Bibliothèque nationale de France has discovered and identified a previously unknown manuscript written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, dating from his stay in Paris in 1778. The 44-page notebook contains lessons he gave to Marie-Louise-Philippine de Bonnières de Guînes, a talented harpist and the daughter of the Duke of Guînes.
The document was discovered and identified in February 2026 in the Music Department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. It is considered an exceptionally important find because it offers a rare insight into how the musical genius taught. According to musicologists, it is one of the most significant Mozart discoveries of recent decades. It also sheds some light on Mozart’s final stay in Paris and his everyday life there.
The 44-page notebook documents the lessons Mozart gave in Paris in 1778 to Marie-Louise-Philippine de Bonnières de Guînes, a talented young aristocratic harpist. The manuscript was identified on the basis of Mozart’s handwriting.
Marie-Louise may have come into contact with Mozart through her father. The wealthy and highly respected duke invited the maestro to collaborate with him and perform the Concerto in C major for Flute and Harp, K. 299.
The notebook contains several exercises in Marie-Louise’s own handwriting. Six of the flute-and-harp pieces are already complete, although they are based on Mozart’s ideas. The seventh was left unfinished, followed by six blank pages, perhaps because the young woman’s studies came to an end when she married on July 26 of the same year.
