Franz Xaver Mozart was born the 21st September 1791 in Vienna, the sixth child of Constanze and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Constanze recognized the musical talent of her youngest son at a very early stage and sent him to the most distinguished teachers, including Salieri and Albrechtsberger, who had been the mentors of Ludwig van Beethoven.

He composed the Polonaises Op.17 in 1816, Op.22 in 1820 and Op.26 after 1821. Ten of the twelve he named “polonaises mélancoliques“. The musical form is still traditional, in three parts: polonaise, trio, repeated polonaise, whereas the musical gesture, harmony and melody look to the future.

For this recroding, Susanne von Laun chose two historical instruments from the Beurmann Collection in Hamburg: a fortepiano by Johann David Schiedmayer (1801) for the Rondo and a fortepiano from Vienna by Joseph Brodmann (around 1815) for the recording of the Polonaises.