When did Mozart compose Ave verum corpus?
Mozart composed Ave verum corpus in June 1791. The autograph score is dated the 17th of June 1791, and the piece was written for the Feast of Corpus Christi, which fell on the 23rd of June that year.
Questions about Ave verum corpus (Mozart)
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who did Mozart write Ave verum corpus for?
Mozart wrote Ave verum corpus for Anton Stoll, a friend who served as musical director of the parish of St. Stephan in Baden bei Wien. Mozart was visiting the town while his wife Constanze was staying at the spa.
How long is Mozart's Ave verum corpus K. 618?
Ave verum corpus, K. 618, is forty-six bars long. It is scored for SATB choir, string instruments, and organ, and is set in D major.
What is the text of Ave verum corpus based on?
The text is drawn from the 13th-century Latin Eucharist hymn of the same name. Mozart set only the main verse, omitting the final three lines of the original hymn.
How does Ave verum corpus relate to Mozart's Requiem?
Scholars note that Ave verum corpus foreshadows aspects of the Requiem, including its declamatory gestures, textures, and integration of forward- and backward-looking stylistic elements. Mozart composed the motet less than six months before his death.
Did Liszt or Tchaikovsky arrange Mozart's Ave verum corpus?
Franz Liszt made transcriptions for piano solo (Searle 461a) and organ (Searle 674d), and quoted the motet in his Evocation a la Chapelle Sixtine (Searle 461). Tchaikovsky then incorporated an orchestration of Liszt's transcription into his fourth orchestral suite, Mozartiana, Op. 61.