When did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart write the motet Ave verum corpus?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote the motet Ave verum corpus in 1791. The autograph bears the date the 17th of June 1791.
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote the motet Ave verum corpus in 1791. The autograph bears the date the 17th of June 1791.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed the work while visiting his wife Constanze in Baden bei Wien. He set the music for a small town church choir rather than an opera house.
Anton Stoll served as the church musician for St. Stephan in Baden and requested the piece from Mozart. Stoll was a friend who asked Mozart to write this specific choral work.
The score calls for an SATB choir accompanied by string instruments and organ. The work spans only forty-six bars in length with minimal directions within the manuscript.
Later composers preserved the original D major key while expanding its reach through new textures. Franz Liszt created transcriptions of the motet for piano solo and produced versions for organ that kept the core melody intact.