This list of Mozart symphonies of spurious or doubtful authenticity contains 39 symphonic works where an initial attribution to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

 has subsequently been proved spurious, or is the subject of continuing doubt. The number of symphonies actually written by Mozart is imprecisely known; of the 41 formally numbered, three (Nos 2, 3 and 37) are established as by other composers and another, No. 11

Symphony No. 11 (Mozart)

Symphony No. 11 in D major, K. 84/73q, was at one time considered unquestionably to be the work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Its status has, however, been challenged, and remains uncertain. It is believed to date from 1770, and may have been written in Milan or Bologna, if it is a genuine Mozart...

, is considered by scholars to be of uncertain authorship. Outside the accepted sequence 1–41, however, there are around twenty other genuine Mozart symphonies, and beyond these, a larger number of problematic works which have not been authenticated as Mozart's. Some of these may be genuine; dubious works are often treated as authentic by the compilers of collected editions—eight are in the 1991 Neue Mozart-Ausgabe

Neue Mozart-Ausgabe

The Neue Mozart-Ausgabe is the second complete works edition of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A longer and more formal title for the edition is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...

(NMA: English New Mozart Edition). Some, however, have long been accepted as the works of other composers, who in many instances have been positively identified.

Many of the authentication difficulties arise from early Mozart symphonies, where original autograph scores are missing. In some instances the main body of the work has been entirely lost, its identity being preserved only through an incipit

Incipit

Incipit is a Latin word meaning "it begins". The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is the first few words of its opening line. In music, it can also refer to the opening notes of a composition. Before the development of titles, texts were often referred to by their incipits...

 (record of the opening few bars) catalogued by Breitkopf & Härtel

Breitkopf & Härtel

Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf . The catalogue currently contains over 1000 composers, 8000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on music. The name "Härtel" was added when Gottfried...

, who published the Alte Mozart-Ausgabe

Alte Mozart-Ausgabe

The Alte Mozart-Ausgabe is the name by which the first complete edition of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is known nowadays, published by Breitkopf & Härtel from January 1877 to December 1883, with supplements published until 1910...

(AMA) in 1883. The informal 18th century methods of publishing and distributing musical works caused additional confusion. Cataloguing errors based on inadequate information, and an occasional over-eagerness to attribute new discoveries to Mozart has added to the problem. However, the "spurious and doubtful" list of symphonies is not fixed, as new evidence can sometimes lead to authentication; it can also throw doubt upon, or disqualify, symphonies once generally accepted as genuine Mozart.

Reasons for misattribution

There are numerous reasons why symphonic works have been misattributed to Mozart. For example:

• A habit of the youthful Mozart was to copy parts of the music of other composers, for his own study purposes. The later discoveries of music scores, or fragments, in Mozart's hand, sometimes led to the belief that the work was his. In particular this factor has led to confusion between the early symphonies of Wolfgang and those of his father Leopold, and also those of other composers in the Mozart circle such as Michael Haydn
  Michael Haydn
  Johann Michael Haydn was an Austrian composer of the classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn.-Life:...
  
  .
• Mozart, when a mature composer and performer, would sometimes include the work of another—usually young and struggling—composer in one of his regular symphony concerts. Although he would present the true composer to the audience, the work's tenuous association with Mozart would sometimes lead to a continuing belief that he was the composer.
• Musical publishing and distribution methods were very lax in 18th century Europe, with manuscript versions of music being freely circulated. This could easily lead to confusion about authorship, and frequent misattribution.
• Early inaccuracies in identifying Mozart's works, for example by the Hamburg
  Hamburg
  -History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
  
   music dealer Johann Christoph Westphal, were carried forward into the later formal cataloguing by Breitkopf and Hãrtel and Köchel, and had a tendency to persist.
• An unknown number of Mozart's works are lost. Occasional "finds" of late 18th century music, particularly in places which have association with Mozart through personal visits or concert performances, have sometimes been rather hastily attributed to him, only to be disqualified on the discovery of contrary evidence.

Köchel catalogue: explanation

The Köchel catalogue, generally accepted as the definitive listing of Mozart's works, was published by Ludwig von Köchel

Ludwig Ritter von Köchel

Ludwig Alois Ferdinand Ritter von Köchel was a musicologist, writer, composer, botanist and publisher. He is best known for cataloguing the works of Mozart and originating the 'K-numbers' by which they are known ....

 in 1862, and has been revised and updated on several subsequent occasions. The original catalogue, known as K¹, listed incomplete or lost works in an appendix or "Anhang", without regard to chronological order. These works were identified by an "Anh.", not a "K" number. In the last major revision of the catalogue (1964, K⁶), the Anhang was extended to include doubtful and spurious works. On the basis of the most recent research and discoveries, some of the old K¹ Anhangs were promoted to "K" status, while others were relegated from the main catalogue into the K⁶ Anhang. However, as Zaslaw points out, the Köchel catalogue allocations between main listing and Anhang are not reliable indicators of authenticity or otherwise. Zaslaw deems some of the divisions "arbitrary", and calls for "clearer, more honest categories" for the problematic works.

"Deest" is used to identify works that have not been included in any of the Köchel catalogue versions, but which have at some stage in the past been thought of as Mozart compositions.

List of Mozart's symphonies of spurious or doubtful authenticity

No.	K1 number	K6 number	Year (if known)	Symphony Title	Mvts	Comments	Refce
1	K. 15a–ss	K. 15a–ss	1764	Keyboard sketches in E Flat major ("Symphony No. 0")	4	Mozart's London notebook contains 43 music sketches, catalogued K. 15a to K. 15ss. From four of these, Mozart scholar Neal Zaslaw Neal Zaslaw Neal Zaslaw is an American musicologist.Born in New York, Zaslaw graduated from Harvard in 1961 with a BA and obtained his master's from Juilliard in 1963. He played flute in the American Symphony Orchestra under Leopold Stokowski from 1962 to 1965. In 1970 he received his Ph.D from Columbia...  has hypothesized a possible lost "London" symphony in four movements. The chief basis for this conjecture is his interpretation of remarks by Nannerl Mozart Maria Anna Mozart Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart , nicknamed "Nannerl", was a musician, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and daughter of Leopold and Anna Maria Mozart.-Childhood:... , quoted in Zaslaw, p. 17, but there is no independent evidence of the work's existence.
2	K. 16b	Anh. C11.01	1765	Symphony in C major	–	This work from the London period exists only in sketch form, and is generally thought to be by Leopold Mozart Leopold Mozart Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.-Childhood and student years:He was born in Augsburg, son of... .
3	K. 17	Anh. C11.02	1765?	Symphony in B flat major Symphony No. 2 (Mozart) The piece of music once known as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 2 in B flat major, KV 17, is now considered to be not by him, but by possibly his father, Leopold Mozart...  "No. 2"	4	Attributed to Mozart in K1 on the basis of a 19th century copy, and labelled his second symphony, the provenance of this work has since been questioned, chiefly on the grounds of low quality (Dearling calls it "rustic and rather awkward.") Current assumption is that it is not Wolfgang's, but could be a Leopold Mozart symphony.
4	K. 18	Anh. A51	1764?	Symphony in E flat major Symphony No. 3 (Mozart) The so-called Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, K. 18, once attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is by today's scholarship considered not to be Mozart's own work but instead that of Carl Friedrich Abel, a leading German composer of the earlier Classical period....  "No. 3"	3	Included in K1 as Mozart's third symphony, this has been identified as Symphony No. 6 by Carl Friedrich Abel, copied and possibly re-orchestrated by Mozart in London, as an exercise.
5	Anh. 220	K. 16a	Unknown	Symphony in A minor ("Odense")	3	The orchestral parts for this work were found in Odense Odense The city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen... , Denmark, in 1983 and were hailed as the discovery of a lost A minor symphony. The first performance took place on 9 December 1984. Since then, examination of the manuscript and analysis of the lost work's history have led to the conclusion that the work is probably one of a number of spurious symphonies handled by Hamburg music dealer J.C. Westphal. (d. 1797)
6	Anh. 222	K. 19b	1765?	Symphony in C major	–	A three-bar Bar (music) In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...  Allegro opening, all that exists of this work, was identified by musicologist Alfred Einstein as part of a lost C major symphony from Mozart's London period. Doubts have subsequently been cast on its origins, and its attribution is now uncertain.
7	K. 76	K. 42a	1767?	Symphony in F major "No. 43" (In NMA, Section 46)	4	Until recently its attribution to Mozart was accepted, but is now uncertain. Possibly by Leopold Mozart Leopold Mozart Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a German composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.-Childhood and student years:He was born in Augsburg, son of...  (Zaslaw), but this is disputed by Leopold expert Cliff Eisen, who thinks it the work of neither Leopold nor Wolfgang.
8	Anh. 214	K. 45b	1767?	Symphony in B flat major "No 55" (In NMA, Section 46)	4	Symphony was lost until a copy was found in Berlin, 1943. The origins of the symphony are disputed (1767, Salzburg per Zaslaw, 1768, Vienna per NMA). Attribution to Mozart cannot be confirmed, but it is frequently treated as genuine.
9	Anh. 215	K. 66c	1768?	Symphony in D major	–	One of a group of three lost symphonies (see 66d and 66e) known only by incipits in the Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf . The catalogue currently contains over 1000 composers, 8000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on music. The name "Härtel" was added when Gottfried...  catalogue. Dearling speculates they may have been written later, in preparation for the family's 1769 Italian trip, but there is no direct evidence that they are Mozart's work.
10	Anh. 217	K. 66d	1768?	Symphony in B flat major	–	See note on K. 66c
11	Anh. 218	K. 66e	Unknown	Symphony in B flat major	–	See note on K. 66c
12	Anh. 216	Anh. C11.03	1770?	Symphony in B flat major "No. 54"	4	Until 1910 this was known only by an incipit. A copy, since lost, was then discovered in the Berlin library, and the work was assumed to be authentic, on the basis of "style" rather than substantiation. Modern opinion, in the absence of direct evidence, is that its authorship remains uncertain.
13	K. 98	Anh. C11.04	1770?	Symphony in F major	4	Originally taken as authentic Mozart by, among others, Köchel, the symphony has since come to be regarded as the work of an unidentified composer with no connection to the Mozart circle.
14	–	Anh. C11.05	Unknown	Symphony in B flat major	2	Published in Paris around 1806, lost and rediscovered in 1937, this was then thought to be a second "Paris symphony". However, its low quality ("a third rate imitation of a French operetta overture" – Zaslaw) indicated that it was more likely a forgery by an unknown hand.
15	Anh. 219	Anh. C11.06	Unknown	Symphony in D major	–	Listed in the Brietkopf & Härtel catalogue as a Mozart work obtained from Hamburg Hamburg -History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...  music dealer Johann Christoph Westphal, this is a symphony by Leopold Mozart.
16	–	Anh. C11.07	Unknown	Symphony in D major	–	Known only by 2-bar incipit in the Breitkopf & Härtel Manuscript Catalogue. Attribution to Mozart uncertain.
17	–	Anh. C11.08	Unknown	Symphony in F major	–	Known only by 4-bar incipit in the Breitkopf & Härtel Manuscript Catalogue. Attribution to Mozart uncertain.
18	K. 81	K. 73l	1770	Symphony in D major "No. 44" (In NMA, Section 47)	3	Opinion is divided on the authorship, between Leopold and Wolfgang Mozart. Originally listed in the Breitkopf catalogue as Leopold's, later conjecture has proposed the work as Wolfgang's, but there is no certainty either way.
19	K. 97	K. 73m	1770	Symphony in D major "No. 47" (In NMA, Section 47)	4	Only the lack of an autograph score has created uncertainty in this symphony's attribution. It is frequently accepted as authentic Mozart. Dearling expresses no doubt as to its authenticity.
20	K. 95	K. 73n	1770?	Symphony in D major "No. 45" (In NMA, Section 47)	4	Zaslaw describes this as a symphony whose authenticity has "never been seriously enough questioned". Apart from the lack of an autograph score, the grounds for its assignment to 1770 and Rome in K1 and K6 are unstated. The work has Mozartian characteristics, and may be genuine but from an earlier period, but this cannot be verified.
21	K. 84	K. 73q	1770	Symphony in D major Symphony No. 11 (Mozart) Symphony No. 11 in D major, K. 84/73q, was at one time considered unquestionably to be the work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Its status has, however, been challenged, and remains uncertain. It is believed to date from 1770, and may have been written in Milan or Bologna, if it is a genuine Mozart...  "No. 11" (In NME, Section 47)	3	Copies of the score from Vienna, Berlin, and Prague attribute the work respectively to Wolfgang, Leopold, and Carl Dittersdorf Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf ----August Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf was an Austrian composer, violinist and silvologist.-1739-1764:... . Stylistic analysis indicates that, of the three, Wolfgang is the most likely composer, and Dittersdorf the least.
22	K. 75	K. 75	1771	Symphony in F major "No. 42" (In NMA, Section 47)	4	Although its authenticity is uncertain, its attribution to Mozart has not been generally questioned, despite what Zaslaw calls a "mysterious provenance". Also, the Minuet and Trio is atypically the second rather than the third movement.
23	K. 96	K. 111b	1771?	Symphony in C major "No. 46" (In NMA, Section 47)	4	Certain stylistic features challenge the work's assumed dating; the work may be of later provenance. In the absence of an autograph score or other direct evidence it cannot be attributed to Mozart with certainty. However, it is usually treated as authentic.
24	Anh. 293	Anh. C11.09	1775	Symphony in G major	4	Widely accepted as a symphony by Leopold Mozart, it has in the past been attributed to Wolfgang.
25	K. 291	Anh. A52	1781?	Symphony in D major	3	This symphony, Perger Perger-Verzeichnis The Perger-Verzeichnis is a thematic-chronological catalogue of instrumental compositions by Michael Haydn, compiled by Lothar Perger in 1907...  No. 43 Symphony No. 23 (Michael Haydn) Michael Haydn's Symphony No. 23 in D major, Perger 43, Sherman 22, Sherman-adjusted 23, MH 287, is believed to have been written in Salzburg around 1779. It was attributed to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Ludwig von Köchel's original catalog as K. 291....  by Michael Haydn Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn was an Austrian composer of the classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn.-Life:... , was wrongly attributed to Mozart on the basis of a fragment of manuscript which Mozart copied, apparently to help him study the fugue Fugue In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....  form of the final movement.
26	–	Anh. A59	1783?	Four incipits in D, G, and D and C major	–	Three of these incipits have been identified with symphonies by Joseph Haydn Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms... : Nos 47, 62 and 75. The fourth is unidentified, and is possibly a fragment of a lost Mozart symphony.
27	–	Anh. C11.10	Unknown	Symphony in F major	?	A symphony, wrongly attributed to Mozart, by Ignace Pleyel (1757–1831), an Austrian Austrians Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....  composer and Kapellmeister at Strasbourg Strasbourg Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...  in 1789. He wrote many symphonies and other orchestral pieces, but his greatest fame was as a piano manufacturer.
28	–	Anh. C11.11	1783	Symphony in C major	?	A symphony by the Bohemian Bohemian A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...  composer Adelbert Gyrowetz (1763–1850). This was performed in 1785 at a concert given by Mozart in Vienna, and assumed to be Mozart's own work.
29	K. 444	Anh. A53	1784?	Symphony in G major "No. 37" Symphony No. 37 (Mozart) The so-called Symphony No. 37 in G major, K. 444/425a, is an introduction by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a symphony in G by Michael Haydn.- History :...	3	A symphony by Michael Haydn Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn was an Austrian composer of the classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn.-Life:... , Perger Perger-Verzeichnis The Perger-Verzeichnis is a thematic-chronological catalogue of instrumental compositions by Michael Haydn, compiled by Lothar Perger in 1907...  No. 16 Symphony No. 25 (Michael Haydn) The Symphony No. 25 in G major, Perger 16, Sherman 25, MH 334 is a classical symphony that was composed by Michael Haydn in 1783, with a completion date of May 23. It is scored for flute , 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns and strings.... , for which Mozart wrote a 20-bar slow introduction. It was premiered in Linz Linz Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about...  at the same concert as Mozart's 36th ("Linz Symphony No. 36 (Mozart) The Symphony No. 36 in C major, KV 425, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart during a stopover in the Austrian town of Linz on his and his wife's way back home to Vienna from Salzburg in late 1783. The entire symphony was written in four days to accommodate the local count's announcement, upon... ") symphony. Until 1907 the entire work was thought to be Mozart's, and it was frequently performed as his 37th.
30	–	Anh. C11.12	Unknown	Symphony in F major	–	Zaslaw identifies this work, from the K.6 Anhang as a symphony of Carl Dittersdorf, mistakenly attributed to Mozart.
31	Anh. 294	Anh. C11.13	Unknown	Symphony in G major	–	Zaslaw identifies this work, from the K.6 Anhang as a symphony by Leopold Mozart.
32	–	Anh. C11.14	Unknown	Symphony in C major	?	Discovered in Milan in 1944, and announced as a lost Mozart symphony, this was found to be the work of Anton (also known as Franz Josef) Eberl Anton Eberl Anton Eberl was an Austrian composer, teacher and pianist.-Biography:Eberl was born in Vienna and studied piano and composition from several teachers, including Mozart. Besides being an outstanding composer, he was a pianist of the first rank and toured throughout Europe. He wrote well over 200...  (1765–1807), a near-contemporary of Mozart's, whose compositions sometimes appeared under Mozart's name.
33	–	Anh. C11.15	Unknown	Symphony in C major	4	Symphony by an unknown composer, manuscript held by the Národní Muzeum, Prague Prague Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million... . The name "Mozart" appears on the cover, but, according to Zaslaw: "There are no compelling source or musical reasons to suppose that (this) came from the pen of Wolfgang Mozart".
34	–	Anh. C11.16	Unknown	Symphony in G or C major	–	A symphony by an unknown composer, identified by Zaslaw as at some time attributed to Mozart, but no details of its provenance are given.
35	–	K. deest	1767	Symphony in G major ("Neue Lambach")	4	Discovered at the Lambach monastery which the Mozart family visited in 1769, this is generally accepted as by Leopold Mozart than Wolfgang. Dearling notes a "remarkable" resemblance to Dittersdorf's Symphony No. 1.
36	–	K. deest	1760	"Sinfonia"	1	A work by Johann Georg Wassmuth (d. 1766), court composer and Kapellmeister Kapellmeister Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...  at Würzburg Würzburg Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian.... . A manuscript in the Thurn und Taxis Thurn und Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis is a German family that was a key player in the postal services in Europe in the 16th century and is well known as owners of breweries and builders of many castles.- History :...  library, Regensberg Regensberg Regensberg is a municipality in the district of Dielsdorf in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland. It is located just to the west of Dielsdorf, on a ridge of the Lägern .-History:... , wrongly attributes it to Mozart.
37	–	K. deest	1785	Symphony in C minor	4	A symphony by Joseph Martin Kraus Joseph Martin Kraus Joseph Martin Kraus , was a composer in the classical era who was born in Miltenberg am Main, Germany. He moved to Sweden at age 21, and died at the age of 36 in Stockholm...  (1766–1792), mistakenly categorised by Bibliothèque nationale Bibliothèque nationale de France The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:... , Paris 1971, as a work by Mozart, probably based on misreading of the manuscript signature.
38	–	K. deest	1730	Symphony in D major	2	A work, Artaserse, by Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a considerable quantity of sacred music... , mistakenly attributed to Mozart by the later addition of his name on the original manuscript in Thurn und Taxis library, Regensberg.
39	–	K. deest	Unknown	Symphony	?	A symphony of Joseph Haydn, mentioned by Zaslaw as having a spurious attribution to Mozart, identified only as "Hob. I:6."