“Make the soul dance a jig to heaven.”
Concerning the sacred compositions [pg 791] of Mozart, a recent French author, M. Felix Clement,[171] makes the following startling assertion:
“The religious musical compositions of Mozart are much less numerous than is generally believed, and the catalogues of music publishers and the repertories of maîtres de chapelle are not to be trusted. Many of these musicians frequently take the liberty of stealing from Mozart's operas, and even from his compositions for instruments, and of adapting them to a Latin text, let the adaptations be worth what they may.... The only authentic religious compositions of Mozart are the following:
“A Stabat mater for four voices, without instruments, and very short.
“A Veni Sancte Spiritus for four voices, two violins, two hautboys, two horns, a clarinet, tympanum, alto, and violoncello.
“A solemn Mass for four voices, two violins, two hautboys, two altos, four clarinets, and tympanum, 1768.
“A short Mass for four voices and the same accompaniment, 1768.
“A Grand Offertory for four voices and similar accompaniment, 1768.
“An Ave Verum Corpus, 1791.
“The Mass of Requiem.