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

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paper dimensions, watermarks, the style of Latin script and the staff ruling all support the<br />

contention that they date from various points in the nineteenth century. In terms of both<br />

editorial method and the evaluation of specific sources, the treatment of the Baden parts in<br />

the NMA illustrates particularly clearly the inadequacy of the edition’s response to secondary<br />

material.<br />

One earlier source that does confirm Stoll’s possession of the autograph for K. 337 is<br />

a set of parts for the mass, now incomplete, acquired in January 2006 by the Baden<br />

Stadtarchiv. 213 The set, consisting of parts for soprano, alto and organ, bears a remark by one<br />

“Al. Hierz” that reads: “Diese schöne Messe schrieb H. Ambros Rieder, Regenschori zu<br />

Perchtoldstorf, aus dem eigenhändigen Manuscripte unsers unsterblichen W.A. Mozart’s im<br />

Jahre 1797 ab. W.A. Mozart componirte diese Messe im März 1780 zu Salzburg und<br />

verehrte sie H. Stoll, Regenschori zu Baden, als Eigenthum.” 214 Ambros Rieder (1771-1855),<br />

who claimed to have heard Mozart improvise at the piano, worked from 1797 in Döbling as<br />

a schoolteacher and became regens chori in Perchtoldsdorf in 1802. 215 Just how Hierz came<br />

across this information about the manuscript is unclear, and the parts are not textually<br />

significant as they date from after Mozart’s death and were based on the autograph.<br />

Nevertheless, if the remark is true, it provides an illuminating glimpse into the early<br />

preservation and transmission of Stoll’s precious inheritance.<br />

As I will discuss below, there is no direct evidence that Ave verum corpus was<br />

performed in Baden in 17<strong>91</strong>, or indeed that Mozart intended the piece solely for Anton<br />

Stoll. Nevertheless the Baden archive preserves a set of parts for the motet that appear to be<br />

213 The parts were once in the possession of Bernhard Nefzger, choirmaster at St. Stephen’s from 1<strong>91</strong>0 to 1948;<br />

see Maurer, Anton Stoll. I have not yet had the opportunity to inspect the manuscript personally.<br />

214 Hierz copied the three parts anew; the organ part is dated “13. März [1]857”.<br />

215 Deutsch, Dokumente, 480.<br />

328

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