The Duty of the First Commandment
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Duty of the First Commandment |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (first part) |
| Libretto : | Ignatz Anton von Weiser |
| Premiere: | March 12, 1767 |
| Place of premiere: | Knight's Hall of the Salzburg Residence |
| Playing time: | approx. 1½ hours |
| people | |
The Obligation of the First Commandment KV 35, composed in 1767, is a sacred Singspiel , the first part of which is the first stage work by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart . The second part is by Michael Haydn , the third by Anton Cajetan Adlgasser . Only the part composed by Mozart has survived, the other two have been lost. The libretto is by Ignatz Anton von Weiser .
action
The allegorical figures of the Christian spirit, divine mercy and justice try to wrest the initially sleeping, “lukewarm Christians” ( Rev 3:16 EU ) from the influence of the world spirit. The imperative of the title refers to Mk 12,29f EU .
construction
- Sinfonia
- Recitativo : "The praiseworthy and just request" (Justice, Christian Spirit, Mercy)
- 1. Aria : "I must look with sadness" (Christgeist)
- Recitativo: "The fall of so many souls" (mercy, justice)
- 2. Ariah: "An angry lion roars" (mercy)
- Recitativo: "What do you believe?" (Mercy, Justice, Christian Spirit)
- 3rd Aria: "Awake, lazy servant" (righteousness)
- Recitativo: "He moves" (Christian spirit, mercy, justice)
- 4. Aria: "Has the creator of this life" (world spirit)
- Recitativo: "That dreams are dreams" (Christ)
- 5. Aria: "That thunder word power" (Christ)
- Recitativo: "If this is, o never doubt," (Weltgeist, Christian, Christiangeist)
- 6. Aria: "Describe a philosopher" (world spirit)
- Recitativo: "Who do I hear around here now" (Weltgeist, Christ, Christgeist)
- 7. Aria: "Sometimes evil wants" (Christgeist)
- Recitativo: "He thinks me like a sick person" (Christian, Christian spirit, justice)
- Recitativo: "Have you now experienced" (Mercy, Christian Spirit, Justice)
- 8. Terzetto : "Let me show your grace" (Christian Spirit, Mercy, Justice)
Stylistic position
The work, known as the “sacred Singspiel”, is stylistically closer to the oratorio than to an opera . The world premiere was probably staged, the only stage design, according to the libretto, is “a graceful area in a garden and a small forest”.
As expected, the score by eleven-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has extensive aids from his father Leopold Mozart , who, for example, entered all the recitative texts in the autograph. It is not known whether Leopold Mozart helped with the composition himself.
history
In the archbishop's residence in Salzburg in the 1760s there was a tradition of performing a sacred oratorio on a German text every year during Lent . In 1767 the commission for this composition went to Mozart, Michael Haydn and Anton Adlgasser as a joint work.
The first part of the piece was premiered on March 12, 1767 in the knight's hall of the residence of the Prince Archbishop of Salzburg , Sigismundus Christoph von Schrattenbach , on whose behalf the work was created. The second part was performed on March 19th and the third on March 26th
For a long time there was uncertainty about the author of the libretto, as he was only listed with the initials "JAW" in the original textbook from 1767. Johann Anton Wieland (1710–1774) or Jacob Anton Wimmer (1725–1793) were therefore considered possible authors . It was not until 1957 that the true authorship could be clarified through the discovery of a diary of the Benedictine Father Beda Hübner. The diary entry "Herr Weiser a merchant and councilor has the German text" brought the Salzburg archivist Herbert Klein on the trail of the Salzburg councilor and occasional poet Ignatz Anton von Weiser , who had published several poems under the pseudonym "JAW".
literature
- Hartmut Schick : "The debt of the First Commandment" KV 35. In: Silke Leopold (Ed.): Mozart-Handbuch. Metzler / Bärenreiter, Stuttgart / Kassel 2005, ISBN 3-476-02077-0 , p. 233 f.
Web links
- The Duty of the First Commandment : Score and critical report in the New Mozart Edition
- libretto
swell
- ↑ http://www.klassika.info/Komponisten/Mozart/Oratorium/KV_035/index.html
- ↑ http://www.operinwien.at/werkverz/mozart/aschuld.htm
- ^ Herbert Klein: Unknown Mozartiana from 1766/67. In: Mozart Yearbook 1957. Salzburg 1958, p. 168 ff.
The Obligation of the First Commandment (1767) | Apollo et Hyacinthus (1767) | Bastien and Bastienne (1768) | La finta semplice (1769) | Mitridate, re di Ponto (1770) | Ascanio in Alba (1771) | Il sogno di Scipione (1772) | Lucio Silla (1772) | Thamos, king in Egypt (1774) | La finta giardiniera (1775) | Il re pastore (1775) | Zaide (fragment) (1780) | Idomeneo (1781) | The Abduction from the Seraglio (1782) | The theater director (1786) | Le nozze di Figaro (1786) | Don Giovanni (1787) | Così fan tutte (1790) | La clemenza di Tito (1791) | The Magic Flute (1791)