Mozart sheet music found in Newbury

Rare musical find worth £3,000 found amongst donations to Newbury charity shop

A VERY rare piece of musical history, written and possibly touched by the young prodigious Mozart, was donated to a charity shop in Newbury.

The rare piece of sheet music, estimated to be worth £3,000 was anonymously donated to Oxfam in Northbrook Street.

But no-one in the store, which doesn't have a sheet music specialist, realised its worth, and it was passed to Reading's Oxfam Music where the discovery was made.

It turned out to be the first print of a run of sheet music for six short sonatas printed in 1765, when Mozart was visiting London, aged eight.

The item will now go on sale in a Sotheby's auction next Wednesday, where it has already attracted widespread interest.

Sotheby's book specialist, Doctor Simon MacGuire, said: “It's quite a nice story, so that's added a bit of interest.

“There are different variations of this first addition, but we only know of one other just like this one. To find something like this in a charity shop is extremely unusual.”

“There is a good chance that Mozart himself would have this item.”

The manager of Oxfam Newbury, Janet Bates: “It's very exciting to find know that something like that was donated to a shop in Newbury. I don't know if the owner knows what they were giving away, but they ought to be very pleased that they've given it to us.

“I really don't know when it came in or who brought it, but as far as I know, this is the most valuable item that has ever been donated to this Oxfam store.”