The Toy Symphony, often attributed to Leopold Mozart or Franz Joseph Haydn, did not appear in published form until 1820. In the first edition the composer was given as "Haydn" with no further identification. From that time it was assumed that Franz Joseph Haydn was the composer of this seven-minute, three movement symphony which calls for toys, a trumpet, ratchet, nightingale, cuckoo and drum. A fanciful story was concocted in which Haydn composed this work after purchasing several toys at a fair, and then performed the result at Esterhazá for delighted children at a Christmas party. By the 1930s scholars began to doubt that this tale was truthful, as no such work appears in the exhaustive Entwurf-Katalog Haydn himself compiled of his own compositions.

The identity of the true composer of the Toy Symphony seemed cinched with the discovery of the work in its three-movement form in a manuscript copied by Leopold Mozart in 1759. This was supported by the existence of a similar work (also once believed to be Leopold Mozart's) The Musical Sleigh-Ride, which calls for a cracking whip, sleigh-bells and other sound effects that resemble those in the Toy Symphony. However, the accuracy of the Leopold Mozart attribution was called into question as it became clear that even The Musical Sleigh-Ride was likely not Leopold's work; he was an avid copyist who made exemplars of dozens of pieces by hand.

The best research indicates that the Toy Symphony is not even a symphony per se; its three movements are most likely compiled from one or even several toy cassations (i.e. divertimenti)—long, multi-movement works that were written in the 1750s and 1760s in and around the city of Berechtesgaden, a major manufacturer of toy musical instruments. Both professional and amateur composers wrote these pieces, and existing sources are not clear if much of this literature can be safely ascribed to any composers of note, let alone such 'magic' Classical-era names as those of the Mozarts or the Haydns.

In most cases, once certain misattributed works lose their 'name' composers, they likewise lose their place in the repertory. But not the Toy Symphony, which remains a staple at children's concerts. There is reason to believe that we will likely never know who wrote the "Toy", in whole or in part, given its mass-produced origins and the paucity of related manuscript sources. Nonetheless, that alone may not be enough to take Leopold Mozart's or Haydn's name off the concert programs, printed scores or recordings of the work when it is given. Anonymous just doesn't have the same drawing power.

© Uncle Dave Lewis , Rovi