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Lyrics
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 flesh, born
of the Virgin Mary,
who has truly suffered, broken on the cross for man;
from whose pierced side flowed water and blood.
Be for us a foretaste of the trial of death.
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Programme Notes
Mozart's short funeral
motet Ave Verum Corpus was composed in June of 1791, the
year he died. It was his first sacred work since the
abandoned C minor Mass of 1783 and would be followed by
the immortal, and unfinished, Requiem later in the year.
It is thought the
work was written for the composer's friend, Anton Stoll,
to perform with his church choir in the nearby town of
Baden. Scored for choir, strings and organ, it is a
simple but elegant piece of Mozartian charm that has
become particularly popular.
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