Ave verum Corpus
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's setting of the ancient hymn Ave verum Corpus, K.618, was written for Anton Stoll (a friend of his and Haydn's) who was musical co-ordinator in the parish of Baden, near Vienna. It was composed to celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi and the autograph is dated 17 June 1791. It is only forty-six bars long and is scored for chorus, strings and organ. Mozart's manuscript itself contains minimal directions, with only a single sotto voce at the beginning.
The hymn's title means "Hail, true Body." It is based on a poem tracing back to a 14th century manuscript from Reichenau, Switzerland. The poem is a meditation on the Catholic belief in Jesus' Real Presence in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and ties it to Catholic ideas on the redemptive meaning of suffering in the life of all believers.
The text is in Latin, and reads:
- Ave verum Corpus, natum
- De Maria Virgine,
- Vere passum, immolatum
- In cruce pro homine,
- Cuius latus perforatum
- Unda fluxit et sanguine,
- Esto nobis praegustatum
- In mortis examine.
A translation in English is:
- Hail, true Body,
- Born of the Virgin Mary,
- Truly suffered, sacrificed
- On the Cross for mankind,
- Whose pierced side
- Flowed with water and blood,
- Be for us a foretaste
- In the trial of death.
The piece is a much loved choral work. It was written for use in a Catholic Mass, where it generally appears during Communion. It is a favorite in non-religious settings as well.
Mozart composed this motet while in the middle of writing his opera, Die Zauberflöte, and while visiting his wife, Constanze, who was pregnant with their sixth child and staying in a spa near Baden. At the time, Mozart had less than half a year to live. He passed away on December 5, 1791, a month, three weeks and a day before what would have been his 36th birthday.
There are many other settings of the poem, of which probably the best known are by William Byrd and Edward Elgar. The text is even used in an opera, Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites. Mozart's version, with instruments only, was adapted by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as one of the sections of his "Mozartiana," a tribute to Mozart. The Vienna Boys' Choir (Wiener Sangerknaben) made some notable recordings of Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus in the 20th Century.fr:Ave Verum Corpus it:Ave Verum Corpus (Mozart) lb:Ave verum corpus (Mozart) ja:アヴェ・ヴェルム・コルプス