Mozart’s First Keyboard Compositions K1-7 (11 pieces)

These early works, known as Köchel numbers 1 through 7 (K. 1–7), are a collection of short keyboard pieces found in the "Nannerl Notenbuch" (Nannerl's Music Book), a notebook that Mozart's father, Leopold, used to teach his older sister, Maria Anna (Nannerl), and eventually Wolfgang.

Facts and Description:

• Primary Instruments: These were written for the harpsichord or clavichord, the domestic keyboard instruments of the time.

• Types of Pieces: The collection is composed of simple, stylized baroque and early classical dances and short movements, including Minuets, Allegros, and Andantes. K. 1 actually includes six distinct small pieces (K. 1a–1f).

• Method of Composition: Since Wolfgang was too young to write music, he would compose the pieces at the keyboard and play them for his father, who then transcribed them into the notebook.

• A First: K. 1 is generally recognized as containing Mozart's very first documented compositions.

Written When Mozart Was:

• K. 1–5: Primarily composed around 1761–1762, when Mozart was five years old. His father noted the exact date for some, such as learning a piece a day before his 5th birthday and composing shortly after.

• K. 6–7: Written in 1763–1764, when he was seven years old, during the family's first grand musical tour of Europe. These two pieces are keyboard arrangements of movements from his first published works, his earliest violin sonatas.