Sketch sheet 1772a (19): Riddle canon “Hymnum canunt demulcentque” by Padre Martini (Storia II, 57), resolution sketch

Canons are short musical compositions designed so that the same melody is sung by multiple voices at staggered intervals. Most of Mozart’s canons were composed in Vienna, where there was a strong tradition of private music-making. It appears that Mozart occasionally wrote the texts for these himself. Canons without text and those with Latin texts were also used in counterpoint instruction (see Appendix H).