Das Veilchen Song for voice and clavier
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Das Veilchen Song for voice and clavier
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On June 8, 1785, Mozart entered the song Das Veilchen (The Violet), KV 476 into his own handwritten catalog of works. The text stems from a singspiel, Erwin und Elmire, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1774). The poem deals with a small flower that is in love with a charming shepherdess. The love remains unfulfilled because the flower fails to arouse the girl’s attention; rather, she accidentally steps on it. Nevertheless, the dying violets expresses its joy since it suffered death from its beloved. The through-composed song was published in Vienna in 1789 together with the song Abendempfindung (Evening Sentiment), KV 523, as a pair of German arias to be sung with keyboard accompaniment.
Did you know that Mozart had a humorous sense of interfering with the texts he set to music? In the song Das Veilchen (The Violet), KV 476 Mozart repeated the final line “es war ein herzigs Veilchen” (“it was a sweet little violet”) from the first stanza at the end of the song after a freely invented exclamation “Das arme Veilchen…” (“The poor violet…”), which adds a certain irony to this little tragedy.
Mozart’s surviving songs mainly date from his Vienna years and were written for private use within his circle friends. According to records of his sister, Mozart composed only few songs during his Salzburg years. The typical song is a short setting of a strophic poem with keyboard accompaniment, using the same music for every stanza of the text. Mozart also wrote several through-composed songs, which were then usually called German arias rather than songs. The most famous of these is Das Veilchen, KV 476, based on a text by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The songs used at meetings of the Freemasons (see work group 31) stand between the solo song and the part-song because the last lines of the text are sung or repeated by a male chorus.
Autograph, 1785
Partitur: 2 Bl.
Abschrift, 1798
IV. Deutsche Lieder mit Clavier–Begleitung, von Wolfgango Amadeo/ Mozart. No 54
Partitur
Erstdruck, 1789
Zwey Deutsche Arien/ zum Singen beym Clavier/ in Musick gesetzt/ von Herrn Kapellmeister/ W. A. Mozart/ II-ter Theil./ [links:] In Wien bey Artaria Comp. [rechts:] 30. X-r/ 240-270
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Frühdruck, 1790
Musikalische Anthologie für Kenner und Liebhaber. Der Realzeitung praktischer Teil
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Frühdruck, 1795
Ehelicher Guter Morgen, und Eheliche Gute Nacht./ Abschiedslied und Das Veilchen./ fürs Clavier oder Forte Piano/ in Musick gesetzt./ von/ W. A. Mozart
Partitur
Frühdruck, 1798
Collection complette de tous les oeuvres pour le Fortepiano de Mozart DAS VEILCHEN/ fürs/ CLAVIER UND GESANG/ gesetzt, von/ HERRN W. A. MOZART
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Frühdruck, 1798
Sämmtliche/ Lieder und Gesänge/ beym Fortepiano/ vom Capellmeister/ W. A. Mozart
Partitur
Frühdruck, 1798
Sechs / Deutsche Lieder/ mit Begleitung/ des/ Piano–Forte/ von/ W. A. Mozart
Partitur: 27 S.
Frühdruck, 1799
[Reihentitel:] Oeuvres de Mozart./ Cahier V./ contenant/ Trente Airs et Chansons/ pour le Pianoforte. [Umschlagtitel:] OEUVRES COMPLETTES/ de/ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart/ Au Magasin de Musique de Breitkopf & Härtel/ à Leipsic. [Bandtitel:] XXX Gesänge/ mit/ Begleitung des Pianoforte/ von/ W. A. Mozart./ In der Breitkopf- und Härtelischen Musikhandlung/ in Leipzig./ V.
Partitur
Frühdruck, 1799
A Collection/ of Original/ Songs/ with an Accompaniment for the/ Piano Forte or Harp/ Composed by/ W. A. Mozart
Partitur