[2][3] In 1953 musicologist Ernst Fritz Schmid published his discovery of a Cassation in G major for toys, 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings and continuo by Leopold Mozart[4] in seven movements, three of them identical to the well-known toy symphony, and concluded to have likely found the true composer.
It is rather believed that Mozart has incorporated the earlier toy symphony into his own composition, authoring only the remaining four movements.
[a] There is reason to believe that the true composer will likely never be known, in whole or in part, given its confused origins and the paucity of related manuscript sources.
[9] Other toy symphonies, overtures and works for ensembles by named composers include: Malcolm Arnold's Toy Symphony was first performed at a Savoy Hotel fund raising dinner in London on 28 November 1957, with toy instruments played by a group of eminent composers, musicians and personalities, including Thomas Armstrong, Edric Cundell, Gerard Hoffnung, Eileen Joyce, Steuart Wilson and Leslie Woodgate.
[18] Similarly, the Jubilee Toy Symphony by Joseph Horovitz was composed for the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977 and featured Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Richard Baker, Joseph Cooper, Humphrey Burton, James Blades, Fenella Fielding, Nigel Kennedy, Yehudi Menuhin, Steve Race and Malcolm Williamson, among others.