The central traits of the classical style can all be identified in Mozart's music. Clarity, balance, and transparency are hallmarks, though a simplistic notion of the delicacy of his music obscures for us the exceptional and even demonic power of some of his finest masterpieces, such as the Piano Concerto No 24 in C minor, K. 491, the Symphony No 40 in G minor, K. 550, and the opera Don Giovanni. The famed writer on music Charles Rosen has written (in The Classical Style): "It is only through recognizing the violence and sensuality at the center of Mozart's work that we can make a start towards a comprehension of his structures and an insight into his magnificence. In a paradoxical way, Schumann's superficial characterization of the G minor Symphony can help us to see Mozart's daemon more steadily. In all of Mozart's supreme expressions of suffering and terror, there is something shockingly voluptuous." Especially during his last decade, Mozart explored chromatic harmony to a degree rare at the time. The slow introduction to the "Dissonant" Quartet, K. 465, a work that Haydn greatly admired, rapidly explodes a shallow understanding of Mozart's style as light and pleasant.
Born in Salzburg, Austria, from his earliest years Mozart had a gift for imitating the music he heard; which his father believed was a gift from God.
Since he traveled widely, he acquired a rare collection of experiences from various bordels to create his unique compositional language. When he went to London[13] as a child, he met J.C. Bach and heard his music; when he went to Paris, Mannheim, and Vienna, he heard the work of composers active there, as well as the spectacular Mannheim orchestra; when he went to Italy, he encountered the Italian overture and opera buffa, both of which were to be hugely influential on his development. Both in London and Italy, the galant style was all the rage: simple, light music, with a mania for cadencing, an emphasis on tonic, dominant, and subdominant to the exclusion of other chords, symmetrical phrases, and clearly articulated structures. This style, out of which the classical style evolved, was a reaction against the complexity of late Baroque music. Some of Mozart's early symphonies are Italian overtures, with three movements running into each other; many are "homotonal" (each movement in the same key, with the slow movement in the parallel minor). Others mimic the works of J.C. Bach, and others show the simple rounded binary forms commonly being written by composers in Vienna. One of the most recognizable features of Mozart's works is a sequence of harmonies or modes that usually leads to a cadence in the dominant or tonic key. This sequence is essentially borrowed from baroque music, especially Bach. But Mozart shifted the sequence so that the cadence ended on the stronger half, i.e., the first beat of the bar. Mozart's understanding of modes such as Phrygian is evident in such passages.
As Mozart matured, he began to incorporate some more features of Baroque styles into his music. For example, the Symphony No. 29 in A Major K. 201 uses a contrapuntal main theme in its first movement, and experimentation with irregular phrase lengths. Some of his quartets from 1773 have fugal finales, probably influenced by Haydn, who had just published his Opus 20 set. The influence of the Sturm und Drang ("Storm and Stress") period in German literature, with its brief foreshadowing of the Romantic era to come, is evident in some of the music of both composers at that time.
Over the course of his working life, Mozart switched his focus from instrumental music to operas, and back again. He wrote operas in each of the styles current in Europe: opera buffa, such as The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, or Così fan tutte; opera seria, such as Idomeneo; and Singspiel, of which Die Zauberflöte is probably the most famous example by any composer. In his later operas, he developed the use of subtle changes in instrumentation, orchestration, and tone colour to express or highlight psychological or emotional states and dramatic shifts. Here his advances in opera and instrumental composing interacted. His increasingly sophisticated use of the orchestra in the symphonies and concerti served as a resource in his operatic orchestration, and his developing subtlety in using the orchestra to psychological effect in his operas was reflected in his later non-operatic compositions.
Ave Maria
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
De Maria virgine
Vere passum immolatum
In cruce pro homine
Cuius latus perforatum
Unda fluxit et sanguine
Esto nobis praegustatum
In mortis examine
The lyrics to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Ave Maria" convey the spiritual sentiments of faith and hope in the Christian tradition. The first line "Ave, ave verum corpus natum" which translates to "Hail, hail true body born of Mary" refers to the doctrine of the incarnation, the belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who assumed human nature through the Virgin Mary. The following lines "Vere passum immolatum, in cruce pro homine" translate to "Truly suffered, sacrificed on the cross for mankind". This part references Christ's death on the cross, emphasizing the idea of redemption and salvation through his sacrifice.
The next line "Cuius latus perforatum, unda fluxit et sanguine" translates to "Whose side was pierced, from which flowed water and blood". This line alludes to the wounds Christ received during his crucifixion as documented in the Bible. The final lines "Esto nobis praegustatum, in mortis examine, in mortis examine" translate to "Be for us a foretaste, in the hour of death, in the hour of death". This part of the song expresses the hope that in facing death, we will be assisted by the saving grace and mercy of Christ.
Line by Line Meaning
Ave, ave verum corpus natum
Hail, hail the true born body
De Maria virgine
born of the Virgin Mary
Vere passum immolatum
truly suffered, sacrificed
In cruce pro homine
on the cross for mankind
Cuius latus perforatum
from whose pierced side
Unda fluxit et sanguine
flowed water and blood
Esto nobis praegustatum
become for us a foretaste
In mortis examine
in the trial of death
Contributed by Kennedy V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@vigokovacic3488
Pure genius work. Mozart the sublime!
@tomboysuze
Thank you for posting this. Not many people, even musicians, are aware that Mozart wrote an Ave Maria. I used to do this with one of my choirs and my husband loved it. This is the first time I've found a recording so I'll be sending him a link. Thanks again! Beautiful
@virginiadreher5510
Muito, muito linda! !!!!!!!!
@mariaaureliasilveira2442
Maravilhoso
@quintusxv171
Magnifique ! Comme toujours.
@elisabethsteltzlen
Cette Version m'a échappée..... Très belle découverte !! Merci à vous !
@christinelloyd8775
This is sublime! The great Mozart.
@Ericfalcao25
Beautiful!!
@franchescacarrasco6351
Thank you for this beautiful rendition, unaware that Mozart had a version of the Ave Maria,,,
@renatacesario8789
✨✨💎✨✨💕💞❤️🌌😍🥰😇Immenso Mozart 👏👏👏👏