Ave verum corpus, K. 618
Program Notes by Martin Pearlman
Toward the end of his life, Mozart wrote one of the most simple and perfect works of his extraordinary career, a setting of the hymn Ave verum corpus. It was written in June of 1791 for Anton Stoll, the choirmaster of the local church in Baden, where his wife Constanze was taking a cure at the spa. The manuscript, dated June 18, 1791, is on a piece of paper from the batch that he was using to write The Magic Flute. The piece, for chorus with strings and organ, is only forty-six measures long, but they are perfect measures. In less than three minutes and with very few notes, Mozart reaches an emotional depth that few artists have achieved.
Ave verum corpus natum
de Maria virgine;
vere passum immolatum
in cruce pro homine.
Cujus latus perforatum
unda fluxit et sanguine,
esto nobis praegustatum
in mortis examine.
Hail, true body born
of the Virgin Mary,
who was truly sacrificed
on the cross for man.
May you whose pierced side
flowed with blood
be for us a foretaste
as we come to think of death.
Boston Baroque Performances
Ave verum corpus, K. 618
April 24, 1998
NEC’s Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Martin Pearlman, conductor