Ave verum Corpus
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's setting of the ancient hymn Ave verum Corpus, K.618, was written for Anton Stoll (a friend of his and Haydn's) who was musical co-ordinator in the parish of Baden, near Vienna. It was composed to celebrate the feast of Corpus Christi and the autograph is dated 17 June 1791. It is only forty-six bars long and is scored for chorus, strings and organ. The title means "Hail, O true Body."
He composed this motet while in the middle of writing his opera, Die Zauberflöte, and while visiting his wife, Constanze, who was pregnant with their sixth child and staying in a spa near Baden. At the time, Mozart had less than half a year to live. He passed away on December 5, 1791, a month, three weeks and a day before what would have been his 36th birthday.
There are many other settings, of which probably the best known are by William Byrd and Edward Elgar. Mozart's version, minus the vocals, instruments only, was adapted by Peter Ilych Chaikovsky as one of the movements of "Mozartiana," his tribute to Mozart. The Vienna Boys' Choir (Wiener Sangerknaben) made some notable recordings of Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus in the 20th Century.ja:アヴェ・ヴェルム・コルプス