Die Schuldigkeit

[french frank]

Listening to 'Desperately Seeking Mozart' (silly title), I thought it dealt pretty well with the demolition of Shaffer's Mozart. One point that someone made was that his style of writing for the voice, or setting words, was established at a very early age, probably in his sub-teens(??).

I thought this was interesting because listening earlier in the evening to Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots, especially the tenor solos, it reminded me quite eerily of the vocal lines of some of the Masonic works. I can't now recall which ones specifically, but I believe that, apart from 'O heiliges Band', none are earlier than the mid-1780s. Anyone have any more concrete knowledge?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I only know of the Masonic Funeral Music K477 (1785) and (presumably) Die Zauberflote, K620 (1791). Looking through Mozart's catalogue, I can find no other "Masonic" music.

[aeolium]

There is also the very late Eine Kleine Freimaurerkantate K623, but Mozart was only initiated into a lodge in December 1784 so works with specific Masonic associations are unlikely prior to that date.

[vinteuil]

FF - do you mean K619 ("Die ihr des unermesslichen Weltalls Schöpfer ehrt") of July 1791?

[french frank]

Now that the schedule seems finally to have been restored, I see on the Last Night (Wed 12 Jan) there will be a performance of K623, mentioned by aeolium, the Kleine Freimaurer-Kantate, with Schreier, Blochwitz, Schmidt, the Leipzig Radio Chorus and the Dresden Staatskapelle.

I have the CD of what I take to be all the Masonic works (LSO/Kertész, with Werner Krenn and Tom Krause, and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus). When I said 'eerily', I just can't recall the particular bits of what I spontaneously thought of. I do love these performances, and especially Krenn (but Schreier and Blochwitz will do very nicely too!).

I can't remember the story behind 'O heiliges Band'. I seem to remember there was an attempt at an explanation for why it was written that early (it's K148), but the Mozart database raises the possibility of a much later date than the Köchel number suggests.

[french frank]

The Decca disc here with audio clips.

If you listen to 'O heiliges Band' you get an idea of the lyrical simplicity which seemed to me already present in Die Schuldigkeit.

'Dir danken wir die Freude' another favourite. I once got it played on Morning on 3 in the days when they didn't play requests. Of course, now that they beg for them I wouldn't dream of asking for anything . [Actually, it was on On Air, before the days of Mo3.]

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

So there's rather more than I thought:
K.148, 429, 468, 471, 477, 483, 484, 619, 623.
The K.148 is indeed a puzzle. I must give it a spin.

[french frank]

Quite worth a listen, Alps. There's something quite ... gripping? ... can't think of the word ... about the concept of 'brotherhood' which comes through the music and performances. Nowt to do with the contemporary idea of Freemasons. More to do with the Enlightenment and a spiritual religion set somewhere above Christianity.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Yes indeed. I'm listening to the relevant CD from the Philips Complete Mozart Edition (as I write ), and I really don't think K.148 can be such an early work.

But, on reflection, this assumption is based upon a single chord progression - and this is Mozart, so maybe...

[Simon]

I look forward to reading the conclusions of your learned debates ... meanwhile, I have a question.

What does sub-teens mean? Is it a new way of saying 10-12 years old?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I look forward to reading the conclusions of your learned debates ... meanwhile, I have a question.

What does sub-teens mean? Is it a new way of saying 10-12 years old?

I suppose it is, but it could mean 0-12.

[french frank]

I suppose it is, but it could mean 0-12.

I've no idea if it has a generally accepted meaning. I used it as suggesting, intuitively, 'under 13, but let's be reasonable in the context and understand, ooh, I don't know, p'raps 11, 12' which is a bit of a mouthful.

[LeMartinPecheur]

Yes indeed. I'm listening to the relevant CD from the Philips Complete Mozart Edition (as I write ), and I really don't think K.148 can be such an early work.

But, on reflection, this assumption is based upon a single chord progression - and this is Mozart, so maybe...

EA: the new K* number for K148 is 125h so it looks as if modern scholarship is moving it backwards not forwards in the Mozart canon. A not-so-modern Mozart scholar, Einstein, says it firmly that cannot be a Viennese work, though he doesn't explain why.

[french frank]

EA: the new K* number for K148 is 125h so it looks as if modern scholarship is moving it backwards not forwards in the Mozart canon. A not-so-modern Mozart scholar, Einstein, says it firmly that cannot be a Viennese work, though he doesn't explain why.

I had a feeling that his father joined the same Masonic lodge when he came to Vienna (so late), but I must try to track down the reference which explained why a youthful Mozart (still in Salzburg?) wrote the piece. The liner notes of my CD are ... skimpy on details

According to the Masons, apparently, it was 'adopted for Masonic use', rather than having been composed for the Masons.

Grove gives the date Salzburg, 1773, so when he was 17.

[LeMartinPecheur]

ff: I've just found an H C Robbins Landon essay on the masonic music. He includes K148/ 125h and comments "Although supposedly an early work, it is unlikely to have been completed before Mozart himself became a freemason in 1784. The title on the autograph manuscript reads: 'Lobgesang - Feyerlich fur die Johannisloge'...it would seem to have been intended for use at the opening of a Viennese Lodge."

The obvious question would then be when the Viennese Johannisloge actually opened (assuming that there really was a Viennese Johannisloge, and that the 'opening' of a masonic Lodge is a unique event, not some sort of annually-repeated ceremony or whatever). But HCRL doesn't seem to have followed this up, and he gives no explanation of how such a gross misdating might have happened, nor anything in the way of handwriting or paper analysis to back up his big contention.