MOZART AND THE PRACTICE OF SACRED MUSIC, 1781-91 a ...

The two “sacred songs” O Gottes Lamm and Als aus Ægypten K. 343 have come to be
associated with Prague and St. Nicholas, although they have a surprisingly complex history
for such modest pieces. The unsigned and undated autograph was in the possession of
Johann August André during the time of Köchel, but subsequently disappeared. The loss of
the autograph forced Ernst Ballin, who edited the songs for the NMA in 1963, to rely on a
copy of it made for Otto Jahn. Ballin had however discovered that versions of both songs
appear in the fifth edition of a Prague hymn collection, Lieder zur öffentlichen und häuslichen
Andacht, dating from 1805. 96 The preface to the collection stated that “ein Mozart” had
provided melodies for Seelenmesse texts at the initiative of Strobach and a priest at St.
Nicholas, Emmanuel Stiepanowsky. The songs did not appear in the first edition of the
hymnbook from 1783, and despite an extensive search Ballin could not locate copies of the
second, third, or fourth editions. 97 Thanks to the researches of RISM, however, three copies
of the second edition of 1788 were subsequently identified in the Sammlung Wernigerode in
Berlin, Stift Schlägl in Austria and Pannonhalma Abbey in Hungary. 98 Sure enough, the
1788 edition includes Mozart’s melodies to the two hymns, although it makes no mention of
their provenance. 99 Finally, after being lost for more than a century, Mozart’s autograph
turned up at a Paris auction in 1999; see Figure 3.8. 100 It bears a “Nissen number” and the
speculative but ultimately correct dating of Johann Anton André, “178_”. Unusually, the
96 The hymnbook was edited “auf Veranlassung der k. k. Normalschuldirektion.” The responsible editors were
Franz Steinsky (1752-1816) and Ferdinand Kindermann von Schulstein (1740-1801).
97 Ballin, NMA KB III/8, 116-17.
98 Konrad Ameln, Markus Jenny, and Walther Lipphardt, eds., Das Deutsche Kirchenlied: Verzeichnis der Drucke
von den Anfängen bis 1800, 2 vols., Rism B/Viii (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1975-80), i.682.
99 The melodies are printed together at the back of the book in a highly compressed format, and the two in
question are attributed to “W. A. Mozart.” An “Anmerkung” includes the instruction: “Die Melodien, welche
hier der Wohlfeilkeit des Werkes wegen so klein gestochen sind, müssen in ein besonderes Choralbuch
abgeschrieben...”
100 Laurin–Guilloux–Buffetaud, Paris, 24 November 1999. The autograph appears to have remnants of blue felt
around its edges, suggesting it was once mounted. It bears a note of authenticity from Julius André dated 22
July 1863. The present owner of the manuscript is unknown.
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