Just three of the adjectives classical music fans have used to describe it...

We have available a unique Musical Manuscript.

Over 220 years old, written by hand by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

From a purely historical point of view it's possibly Mozart's most important work.

Without it he may not have had the funds to build the reputation he enjoys to this day.

It is a working draft of Mozart's masterpiece 'The Wind Serenade in E Flat Major, K.375'. In it Mozart pens the opening five bars of the first movement.

This serenade is one of the most important works from the first year of Mozart's career as a free-lance composer in Vienna.

It is also considered to be the key work in the repertory of chamber music for wind instruments.

This is believed to be the only surviving draft copy.

I'll explain why it is such an important piece of work...

Prior to Vienna Mozart had been working in Salzburg. To make a living composers needed rich benefactors to commission works.

Mozart had struggled to earn a crust due to his insistence that he wouldn't accept any old job.

He had hankered after a career in Munich, then the centre of the music world.

If he had won a permanent appointment in Munich then it is likely his musical career would have taken a different path.

However 1781 marked a watershed in his life.

Mozart personally reported that he left Salzburg 'with a kick on my arse by order of our worthy Arch Bishop'.

He was still in his mid twenties and his career as an independent, and infinitely more ambitious, composer in Vienna had begun.

Mozart was soon producing enough fine music to make his move to Vienna seem worthwhile.

He wrote to his father 'Let me tell you, that at the table the other day the Emperor gave me the very highest praise'.

In October 1781 Mozart set to work on a new piece. He had told his father in a letter that this new piece was commissioned by the sister-in-law of the Royal Court painter Joseph Heckel.

It was scored for the usual sextet of instruments, two each of a treble instrument (clarinets), horns and bassoons.

By mid October The Serenade in E Flat was completed. On the 15th October it was given its first performance at the home of Joseph Heckel.

Although the piece was composed for Therese Hickel, in actual fact Mozart mainly wished to impress Emperor Joseph II.

Mozart was aware that Johann Kilian Strack attended recitals at the Hickel home.

Strack was none other than the valet and musical confident of the Emperor.

In a later letter Mozart admitted 'the chief reason I wrote it was to let Herr von Strack hear something of my composition, so I wrote it rather carefully'

Mozart was appointed Imperial Chamber Composer by Joseph II a few years later.

Dating from the 1780's this Serenade is one of Mozart's most important works. It gave him access to the patronage of Emperor Joseph II.

With that patronage Mozart enjoyed a huge income and financial security to write his most famous pieces that you listen to today... His most famous compositions, The Marriage of Figaro, and the most popular Piano concertos were all composed after the Wind Serenade.

Mozart himself has admitted he wrote the original piece 'very carefully' to impress the Emperor.

However the Emperor preferred a new, larger ensemble. He had decided that his band should have not six, but eight players, to distinguish itself from other bands.

As such Mozart quickly rewrote the piece to turn it into an octet suitable for the Emperor's new ensemble.

Mozart modified the piece with oboes and it is this re-written work that we offer today – the piece modified for the taste of Emperor Joseph II.

This is the final version that is heard in music halls around the world today.

We hold the musical piece Mozart wrote to please the ear of the Emperor.

The manuscript is one page, including music for the oboe parts and the opening notes of both bassoon parts.

If you are looking for a unique historical item of great importance then this is the item for you.

At this level you need to be sure of the provenance. How can we be sure it is genuine?

Well, the item has exquisite provenance. In fact it doesn't get any better.

It has come from the collection of Johann Andre, Mozart's publisher.

The piece has been signed by his son Julius Andre as he archived the collection in the 1800s.

This super piece is presented in an elaborately carved gold leaf and ivory silk frame. It comes complete with an engraved portrait of Mozart in profile.

Click here to view

(Total dimensions are 23 inches wide by 18 inches high)

It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase an original piece written in the hand of Mozart, arguably the greatest composer of all time.

Mozart items are incredibly rare on the open market, incredibly rare.

They are mostly purchased by Museums, libraries and other institutions.

If you have an interest please contact us immediately. Once this is sold, it's unlikely to be seen on the private market again.

Call on +44 (0)1481 708 277

Email aroose@stanleygibbons.co.uk

Toll Free from the USA 1 866 644 6146

Regards

Adrian Roose