The Octave Day of Corpus Christi
Today the true Roman Calendar celebrates the Octave Day of Corpus Christi, something that Pius XII’s liturgical “reforms” of 1955 abolished.
For this feast, I’d like to share1 an arrangement2 I put together back in 2022 of a little-known gem of a musical setting of the Eucharistic hymn Ave Verum Corpus, by the Austrian Classical composer Franz Xaver Süssmayr:
This motet contains certain similarities to Mozart's work of the same title; indeed, both were written for the choirmaster Anton Stoll, a friend of both Mozart and Süssmayr. Mozart had written his piece one year prior, on 17 June 1791. After his death on 5 December 1791, Mozart left his Requiem unfinished, and it was completed by Süssmayr, who is best remembered for this task.
Enjoy!
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Due to variations in editions, certain discrepancies exist between the presented score in this video and the recording, which is taken from the performance conducted by Riccardo Muti on 28 September 2003. No copyright infringement is intended.
Thank you!
Sublime