Klarinet Archive - Posting 000461.txt from 2004/08

From: "dnleeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Mozart`s 'Ave Verum Corpus'
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 08:50:32 -0400

The first two measures of the Ave Verum Corpus has a distinct
melodic similarity to the first two measures of the unfinsished
quartet for clarinet and three basset horns, K. 580a. It is
possible, of course, for Mozart to have reused these two measures
(or to have them pop up in his mind in some subconscious way as
he began to write the Ave Verum Corpus), but it's a stretch. The
man created melodies as you and I breathe. So if there is a
melody that appears in two separate compositions (and only for
two measures), it most probably is accidental.

But that this melodic duplication exists is incontestable.
Stangely, the instrumentation for the Ave Verum Corpus includes
one clarinet and three basset horns, so the same melody found in
a quartet for that unusual combination may really be more than a
fortuitous accident.

Bottom line: you really can't say anything certain about a two
measure melodic similarity occuring in two separate pieces.

Dan Leeson
DNLeeson@-----.net

-----Original Message-----
From: tony-w@-----.uk]
Sent: Sunday, August 15, 2004 3:06 PM
To: klarinet@-----.org
Subject: [kl] Mozart`s 'Ave Verum Corpus'

Would anyone be able to help a colleague of mine clear up any
mystery here?
Please post to me privately, or to the list - it does seem rather
intriguing.
Thanks,
Tony W.

Mozart's 'Ave Verum Corpus'
Posted by Christopher Bee

>I seem to remember reading somewhere, a couple of years ago, an
article
about the composition of this piece. In this article, the claim
was made
that this beautiful choral work is actually a reworking of
another piece
that Mozart had abandoned. Now this is where my memory is vague.
I can't
remember if the article claimed that it was either a) the slow
movement of a
second clarinet quintet that Mozart was working on, or b) a
clarinet
sonata - presumably for clarinet and piano.
I've searched high and low for this article and cannot find any
reference to
it. My feelings on this are, and were, that the article is
nonsense. In the
case b) above, would this not have required Mozart to "invent"
the sonata
for clarinet and piano? (Could the clarinet scholars here correct
me on
this?) My question is, has anyone read or heard of this claim. Is
there any
evidence to support it? Would you agree that it is highly
unlikely that Ave
Verum Corpus is a reworking of another piece as described?

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