KathrynIsaak AveVerumCorpusW.A.Mozart,K.

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MozartcomposedthispieceinJuneof1791,sixmonthsbeforehisdeath.Itwascomposedforhis friend,AntonStoll,whowasachoirmasteroftheparishchurchinBaden.Thistinymotetonly46 measureslonghasbeenamonghismostwidelyknownworksforovertwocenturies.Perhapsonly "Twinkle,Twinkle,LittleStar"andtheKV545CMajorPianoSonatasurpassitinthisregard. TheoldestversionofthetextcomesfromaFlorentinemanuscriptfrom1293accompaniedbytherubric oratioadhostiam.Becauseofthebrevityoftheprayerandtherhymeschemeitwasmostlikely conceivedasaprivatedevotion,perhapsintendedasaprayerattheelevationatMass.Whileitwasnot includedinofficialliturgiesoftheMassorofficeuntilthesixteenthcentury,thetexthadlongbeen associatedwiththefeastofCorpusChristi.Therearenumerousvariationsofthetextthatwereavailable inMozart'sday,somefollowinglocaltraditionsuniquetoAustria.6Thetextusedbyhim,however,is givenbelowwithatranslation.

1Ave,verumcorpusnatum 2DeMariavirgine, 3Verepassum,immolatum 4Incruceprohomine. 5Cuiuslatusperforatum 6Undafluxitetsanguine: 7Estonobispraegustatum 8Inmortisexamine. 1Hail,truebodyborn 2OftheVirginMary, 3Whichtrulysuffered,immolated 4Onthecrossforman. 5Whosepiercedside 6Flowedwithwaterandblood: 7Beforusaprotection 8Inthetrialsofdeath.

Theoriginaltextalsoincluded,Odulcis,Opie,OfiliMariaebutitwasacommonvariationtoomit theselasttwolines,asMozartdid. (Weber,PaulMatthew)

Theformofthispiecefollowsthepopularsonatastyleformthatwaswidelyusedbycomposersduring theclassicalperiod.Everythingrevolvedaroundatonalheirarchywhereapiecewouldstartinakey, moveawayfromthattonic,introduceanewkey,andthenmovebacktothehomekeytofinishthe work.Dissonancesfunctionwasalwaystobuildthetensionthatwouldresolveintotheconsonant chordsofthekey.Everynotewaswrittenout,ratherthanallowingsoloiststoimprovise.The composerhadcompletecontroloverthenotesandtheformandtheaudiencesknewwhattoexpect. AveVerumCorpuscomposedbyaverymaturemaster.Thispieceisdividedinhalfwiththemore consonantharmoniesinthefirsthalfAandthedissonantchordsandharmoniesoccuringinthe secondhalfwherethereismovementamong3differentkeysasitmovesbacktotheoriginaltonic harmoniesofthebeginning. 1. A(mm121)key:D...A a. Introduction(mm12) i. Orchestra b. Phrase1(mm310)HalfCadence i. Subphrase1(mm36)IAC ii. Subphrase2(mm710)HC c. Phrase2(mm1118)Key:A i. Subphrase1(mm1114)DCdiminished7thchord ii. Subphrase2(mm1518)PAC d. Interlude(mm1921) i. Orchestra 2. B(mm2246)key:A...F...d...D a. Phrase1(mm2225)Key:A...FIAC b. Phrase2(mm2629)Key:F...dHC c. Phrase3(mm3037)Key:DDC d. Phrase4(mm3843)PAC e. Coda(mm4445) i. Orchestra Mozartusesthemusictoaccompanythetext;i.e.theharmoniesandmovementofthechordsactas

textpaintingtodescribethemessage.Forexample,thereare4instancesofadiminished7thchord, whichisthemostdissonantofalltheharmonies.Mozartusestheseharmoniesincrucialspotsinthe piece;onthewords,immolatum,latus,sanguine,inmortis.Besideslatus,thesespotsoccurduring importantmovementsintheharmonieseitherawayfromthetonic,orinanefforttoworkbacktothe tonic.Also,thesechordsfallonthewordsthatdescribethedeathandsufferingoftheSaviorpainful chordsillustrateaterribleexperience. Spotstoworkon: 1. MozartbookendsthepiecewiththesopranossoaringtoasuspendedhighDinmm15and mm38;thefirstinstancereferstoChristsdeath,thesecondtoourdeath. 2. Phrasing.Thispieceisdividedinto4measurephrasesuntiltheveryendandtheharmonies shapethephrasesbeautifullyastheymovetowardscadences.Whereistheclimaxofthe phrase?Howcandynamicsshapethephrase? 3. ThethirdphraseofBisanimitativesequentialpassagethatpushesthemusicsobeautifullyto theclosingphrase. 4. IndividualPhrasesworkingondiminished7thchords. OverallOutcomes:StudentswillperformMozartsAveVerumCorpuswitharchingphrasesthat clearlyshowthedifferentphrasesandsectionsofthissonatastylepiece. Phrasing: AffectOutcome:Studentswilldiscusshowmusicalphrasesenhancethetext. 1. HaveastudentreadtheEnglishtranslationofthetextinmm318 Ifyouwereacomposer,howwouldyoubreakupthissentence? Howwouldyouusemusictointerpretthesephrases? 2. Haveaccompanistplaymm318whilechoirlistensandfollowsalong. HowdidMozartusemusictointerpretthephrasesinthetext? KnowledgeOutcome:Studentswilldefinemusicalphrase 1. Discussliterarysentencesandmaketheconnectiontomusicalsentences. SkillOutcome:Studentswillperformarchedphrases,showingunderstandingoftensionand release

1. Havestudentspairupandtakehands.Pullapartduringtensionandrelaxonthe release. 2. Everyonesingthesopranolineandusetheirhandsbypullingapartduringtensionand relaxingbacktogetherduringrelease.

DiminishedChords: KnowledgeOutcome:Studentswillidentifydiminished7thchordsvisuallyandaurally 1. Ontheboardshowamajor/minor7chordonthestaff 2. Playthechordonthepianosingthetonethatitsoundslikeitwantstogoto 3. Ontheboardshowadiminished7chordonthestaff(pointouttheaccidentals) 4. Playthechordonthepianosingthetonethatitsoundslikeitwantstogoto 5. Showmm28beat4mm29beat1buildthechordsonthestaffinrootposition 6. Playmeasure28beat4,thinkoftheresolution,playmeasure29beat1. SkillOutcome:Studentswillsingdiminishedchordsin4partharmony 1. Mm2829B,BA,T,TS,BATSonsolfege(dminor) Bla,so,fi,so Tti,do,le,re Are,do,ti,do,ti Sfa,me,re,me,re AffectOutcome:Studentswilldiscusshowdiminished7thchordsillustratethetext 1. Pointoutmm14beat1,mm2728,mm3839instancesofdiminished7thchordsand havestudentsdiscusswhytheythinkMozartwouldhavechosenthesespotstouse thesechords. 2. Whataffectdothechordsproduce?