Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 9 K 271, “Jeunehomme”

— Rita Charbonnier. Portrait of Mozart painted in 1777, the year of the Concerto

I mention various pieces by Mozart in my novel, Mozart’s Sister, but only two of them have any real bearing on the story: one is the Fantasia in D minor K 397, the other is the Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major K 271, ‘Jeunehomme’.

The term in French means ‘young man’ but it actually refers to a woman, because that was the name of the famous French pianist who arrived in Salzburg in 1777, fresh “from the big world outside, to make the city reel with the scent of high society” – according to one of Mozart’s eminent biographers, Bernhard Paumgartner. Mozart was born in 1756. He therefore wrote this magnificent Concerto when he was little more than twenty years of age, inspired by a foreign “muse”.

Information regarding Jeunehomme stops here unfortunately: we know little else about her. In other works we find other references but most of it is hypothesis and little is known for certain. Who was this mysterious young woman? Was there some kind of romantic attachment between her and Mozart? Was she blind? And was she really called Jeunehomme or Jenamy as some academics have claimed? We almost wonder whether she really existed at all?

We have already discussed to what extent a novelist should give free rein to their imagination. But when we have so little historical information to go on then we feel much less bridled. So, I’ll have you know, this young lady had bright green eyes and long golden hair, and she seduced Mozart making his sister Nannerl jealous… (in Mozart’s Sister, page 168 onwards).

On this page you can find information about the Concerto and its mystery muse.

The pianist Alfred Brendel describes the Jeunehomme Concerto as “one of the wonders of the world”. Here you can find an interview where he discusses the piece at length.

If you want to listen to the Third Movement, Rondeau, you can click here and download it in m4a as well as all the other Mozart pieces mentioned in my novel together with some notes.

Finally, by clicking here you can watch a video where the formidable Mitsuko Uchida plays the Rondeau. In my novel Mozart’s sister, Nannerl, and Mademoiselle Jeunehomme play it in unison (page 181 onwards).

Happy browsing, reading, and listening!