Excerpt from the 19th Public Recording Concert Program

Mozart passed away in December 1791, but just half a year earlier, in June, he left behind a work of profound celestial quality, as if foreseeing his own death and what would follow.

This is “Ave verum corpus,” one of his final sacred works, alongside the masterpiece “Requiem.”

Mozart composed it for Anton Stoll, the choirmaster who had cared for his wife Constanze during her convalescence.

Considered a masterpiece of Mozart's late period, it features a simple instrumentation of chorus, strings, and organ, and is only 46 measures long. Yet, it depicts a pure and transparent world, transcending earthly entanglements.

Compared to the poignant “Requiem,” it is filled with a sense of peace, as if all struggles have ceased and one has returned to heaven.

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 Body, born of the Virgin Mary.

Who truly suffered, sacrificed on the cross for mankind,

From whose pierced side flowed water and blood.

Be for us a foretaste in the trial of death.

O gentle Jesus.

O merciful Jesus.

O Jesus, Son of Mary. Amen.