Incomplete Works
About 150 of Mozart's surviving works are incomplete, roughly a quarter of the total count of surviving works. A number of completed works can be shown (e.g. by inspecting watermarks or inks) to be completions of fragments that had long been left incomplete. These include the piano concertos K. 449, K. 488, K. 503, and K. 595, as well as the Clarinet Concerto K. 622.
It is not known why so many works were left incomplete. In a number of cases, the historical record shows that what Mozart thought was an opportunity for performance or sale evaporated during the course of composition. Braunbehrens (1990) observes: "Most pieces ... were written on request or with a specific performance in mind, if not for the composer's own use. Mozart frequently emphasized that he would never consider writing something for which there was no such occasion. Indeed, hardly a single work of his was not written for a particular occasion, or at least for use in his own concerts."
Read more about this topic: Mozart's Compositional Method
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