![]() The manuscript can be traced through various auctions in Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ī nineteenth-century scholar, thought perhaps to be Weber, repaired the manuscript by attaching new paper to its right edge, and on the added material wrote "Originalhandschrift von Mozart", that is, "original manuscript by Mozart". In a number of places the lyrics are blurry and difficult to read, a condition Weber attributed to stray droplets of champagne. The autograph (original manuscript copy) has survived it is a "tiny slip of paper" (Searle) on the reverse side of which is-as Weber noted-the original copy of K. Weber does not say where his story came from.įor more on Mozart's habit of favoring his friends with vulgar mockery, see Joseph Leutgeb. After the strange Latin words had emerged from Peyerl's mouth in the anticipated comical way-to the satisfaction of all present-Mozart turned over the page, and had the group, instead of applauding, sing the triumphal mocking canon "O du eselhafter Peierl". ![]() ![]() At the same time, on the reverse side of the same sheet of paper Mozart wrote the mocking canon " O du eselhafter Peierl" ("Oh, you asinine Peierl"), K. would emerge in Peyerl's pronunciation in a comical way, with the expectation that he would not notice this and would be fooled. One evening, at a merry gathering, Mozart had the idea of writing a canon in which the few Latin words "Difficile lectu" etc. The otherwise outstanding Peierl had a number of remarkable idiosyncrasies of pronunciation, which Mozart often poked fun of in friendly interactions with him and with other friends. In his commentary, Weber included the following. ![]() In an 1824 issue of Caecilia, the journal he edited, Weber published a facsimile of the original manuscript of the canon (see figure above). Michael Quinn writes, "Mozart clearly relished the incongruity resulting from ribald verse set as a canon, traditionally regarded as the most learned of all compositional techniques." First performance Ī tale concerning how the canon was composed and first sung was offered by Gottfried Weber, a musicologist and editor of the early 19th century. The line thus translates as "It is difficult to lick my arse and balls". Emanuel Winternitz explains that when this word is sung repeatedly and rapidly, as in the canon, its syllables are liable to be heard as the Italian word cujoni, or in modern writing coglioni, meaning "balls, testicles". The second pun in the canon is based on the single Latin word jonicu. More idiomatically, the phrase could be translated "kiss my arse" (American English "kiss my ass"). As Jean-Victor Hocquard points out, the pseudo-Latin lyrics lectu mihi mars, as Peyerl would have sung them, resemble Bavarian German leck du mi im Arsch, which in a literal English rendering is " lick me in the arse". The German pun is based on the strong Bavarian accent of the tenor-baritone Johann Nepomuk Peyerl (1761–1800), who can be presumed to have been the lead singer in the first performance (see below). The humor of the work consists of hearing these words instead as vulgar phrases of German and Italian. The lyrics are-ostensibly-in Latin, though as they are given in sequence they do not make sense in this language:ĭifficile lectu mihi mars et jonicu difficile. The work features two bilingual puns and some scatological humor. 559 was evidently meant entirely for fun. Text Īlthough some of the canons in the 1788 set have serious (that is, religious) lyrics, K. The work was entered by the composer into his personal catalog on 2 September 1788 as part of a set of ten canons it was probably written some time during the years 1786–87. The words are probably by Mozart himself. The music, in F major, is set for three singers. 559, is a canon composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Autograph score (facsimile published by Gottfried Weber)
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