''Les petits riens'' (French for "The Little Nothings") is a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

in one act and three tableaux by

Jean-Georges Noverre Jean-Georges Noverre (29 April 1727 19 October 1810) was a French dancer and balletmaster, and is generally considered the creator of ''ballet d'action'', a precursor of the narrative ballets of the 19th century. His birthday is now observed as ...

, with music by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

and other unknown composers, first performed at the

Academie Royale de Musique The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

in Paris on 11 June 1778. The three tableaux are described in the ''Journal de Paris'': # ''l' Amour pris au filet et mis en cage''. "Love caught in a net and put in a cage", performed by Mme Guimard,

Auguste Vestris Marie-Jean-Augustin Vestris, known as Auguste Vestris (27 March 1760 – 5 December 1842), was a French dancer. He was born in Paris, the illegitimate son of Gaétan Vestris and Marie Allard (1742–1802). His father was a Florentine dancer who ...

and a young child. # ''Jeu de Colin-Maillard''. The story of Jean Colin-Maillard was a legend about a warrior who fought on even with his eyes poked out. His name is the French word for the game

Blind man's buff Blind man's buff or blind man's bluff is a variant of tag in which the player who is "It" is blindfolded. The traditional name of the game is "blind man's buff", where the word ''buff'' is used in its older sense of a small push. Gameplay Blin ...

. The main role in this scene was performed by

Jean Dauberval Jean Dauberval, a.k.a. Jean D’Auberval, (born Jean Bercher in Montpellier, 19 August 1742 – Tours, 14 February 1806), was a French dancer and ballet master. He is most noted for creating the ballet, ''La fille mal gardée'', one of the ...

. Such playful scenery usually had flirtatious connotations, which is famously depicted by Fragonard in his painting ''Le Collin-Maillard''. # ''Espieglerie de l'Amour''. "Playfulness of love" is a pastoral scene about a woman, played by Mlle Asselin, disguised as a male shepherd. Two other shepherdesses, performed by Mlles Guimard and Allard, fall in love with the shepherd. Finally, to disenchant the two shepherdesses the imposter ends up revealing her breasts to them. While Mozart was staying in Paris, Noverre asked him to compose a new score for a ballet that he had created in Vienna in 1767. The ballet was to be danced as an interlude in the new opera ' (1771) by

Niccolò Piccinni Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the ...

. The opera was a flop and closed after four performances. Although the ballet music was well-received,''

Journal de Paris The ''Journal de Paris'' (1777–1840) was the first daily French newspaper.(7 October 2014)The first French daily: Journal de Paris History of JournalismAndrews, ElizabethBetween Auteurs and Abonnés: Reading the Journal de Paris, 1787–1789 '' ...

'', 12 June 1778 Mozart was not credited with it, and he was at the time little known in Paris. The score, catalogued as K. Anh. 10/299b, was thought lost, but it was rediscovered in the Paris Opera's archives in the late 19th century and has since entered both the ballet and symphonic repertoire. The ''Passepied'' (nr. 11) in D major is reminiscent of the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Souvenir de Florence, Op. 70; a D minor version of the melody appears in bars 5 and 6. The motive derived from this is used throughout the piece.

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External links

, includes a list of recordings and sound files * * , conducted by

Willi Boskovsky Willibald Karl Boskovsky (16 June 1909 – 21 April 1991) was an Austrian violinist and conductor, best known as the long-standing conductor of the Vienna New Year's Concert from 1955 to 1979. Biography Boskovsky was born in Vienna, and joined the ...

Ballets by Jean-Georges Noverre Ballets by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1778 compositions {{ballet-stub