About this edition
Composed in 1781–82 for the new German National Singspiel in Vienna, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, K. 384, marks Mozart's triumphant arrival as an operatic master in his adopted city and represents the first great work of German-language opera. Its dazzling coloratura writing for Konstanze, the comic depth of Osmin (with the famously low D in his rage aria), and the exotic "Turkish" orchestration — piccolo, cymbals, triangle, and bass drum — produced a score so rich that, according to legend, Emperor Joseph II remarked it had "too many notes." The opera remains a cornerstone of the repertoire and a fascinating document of late 18th-century musical orientalism.
This volume reproduces the score as it appeared in the landmark Mozarts Werke complete edition, published by Breitkopf & Härtel of Leipzig between 1877 and 1883 — the first scholarly attempt to gather Mozart's entire output into a single, critically prepared collection. Die Entführung appears in Serie V, Band 7, No. 15 (1882, plate W.A.M. 384), edited by the distinguished conductors and scholars Julius Rietz (1812–1877) and Franz Wüllner (1832–1902). For more than a century this edition served as the standard performing and study text, and it remains a valuable reference prized for its careful engraving and clarity of layout.
About this edition:
- Full orchestral score with vocal parts (complete opera in three acts)
- Page size: 8.5 x 11 inches, printed on quality paper
- Faithfully reproduced from the 1882 Breitkopf & Härtel Mozarts Werke edition
- German libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie, set throughout the score
- Published by Purple 4R Publishing
This edition makes a historic public domain score available once again in an affordable, well-produced print format. We hope it brings Mozart's exuberant Singspiel to a new generation of conductors, singers, répétiteurs, students, and opera lovers — exactly as it was first set down for the world to study and enjoy.
