Mozart's Thematic Catalogue - ff. 15v-16r

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24 February to 24 April 1788

In December 1787 Mozart was finally given a court appointment. Emperor Joseph II offered him the post of Court Composer with an annual salary of 800 gulden. The post consisted mainly of supplying new music for the popular Viennese court balls, for which Mozart duly wrote a large number of lively minuets and dances. The salary did little to relieve his dire financial situation. His opera Don Giovanni was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1788, but was not well received.

24 February 1788

K537. This piano concerto in D was probably begun by early 1787. It seems to have been premiered on 14 April 1789 in Dresden. It is one of two concertos both known as "Coronation" concertos because Mozart performed them during the celebrations for the coronation of the new Habsburg emperor Leopold II in Frankfurt on 15 October 1790.

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4 March 1788

K538. This aria for soprano and orchestra, Ah se in ciel, benigne stelle, was one of several which Mozart composed for the singer Aloysia Lange (née Weber). Mozart had fallen in love with Aloysia some years earlier and planned to marry her. He later married her younger sister Constanze, while she married the actor and painter Joseph Lange. However, they remained on good terms.

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5 March 1788

K539. A song with orchestral accompaniment, Ein Deutches Kriegslied (A German warsong) for Friedrich Baumann. It was performed in the Leopoldstädter Theater on 7 March 1788.

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19 March 1788

K540. An adagio in B minor for piano. This piece has been described as the finest single work for piano. It is also Mozart's only known independent piece in B minor.

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24 April 1788

K527. An aria Dalla sua pace Mozart composed for the part of Don Ottavio in the Vienna production of his opera Don Giovanni.

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Musical extracts recorded at the Royal College of Music, London