"Bei der Hitz im Sommer eß ich" (English: In the heat of summer I eat) is a canon for three voices in G major, K. 234/382e/Anh.A 40. The music was long thought to have been composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart during 1782 in Vienna, but now thought to be the work of Wenzel Trnka. The lyrics appear to stem from Mozart.
Authenticity
In 1988, Wolfgang Plath presented evidence that the composer of this piece, as well as K. 233/382d/Anh.A 39, was in fact Wenzel Trnka (1739–1791). That Mozart might not be the author of K. 229, K. 230, K. 231, K. 233, K. 234 was already mentioned in the Bärenreiter Neue Mozart-Ausgabe (NMA) in 1974. Mozart's widow Constanze Mozart submitted the modified canon to publisher Breitkopf & Härtel.
Lyrics
The rediscovered, probably original text reads:
Bei der Hitz im Sommer eß ich gerne
Wurzl und Kräuter auch Butter und Rettig;
treibt fürtreflich Wind und kühlet mich ab.
Ich nehm Limonade, Mandelmilch,
auch zu Zeiten Horner Bier;
das im heißen Sommer nur.
Ich für mich in Eis gekühlts Glas Wein,
Auch mein Glas Gefrohrnes.In the heat of summer I like to eat
roots and spices, also butter and radish;
they expel a lovely wind and cool me.
I take lemonade, almond milk,
and at time beer from Horn;
that only in a hot summer.
I for me an ice-cooled glass of wine,
Also my glass of sorbet.
Alternative lyrics
Shown in Bärenreiter's Neue Mozart-Ausgabe is the text as changed for the 1804 edition of the canons in Œuvres Complettes by Breitkopf & Härtel.
Essen, Trinken, das erhält den Leib;
's ist doch mein liebster Zeitvertreib,
das Essen und Trinken!
Labt mich Speis und Trank nicht mehr,
dann ade, dann Welt, gute Nacht!
So ein Brätchen, ein Pastetchen, ach!
wenn die meinem Gaumen winken,
dann, dann ist mein Tag vollbracht!
Ach! und wenn im lieben Gläschen
Sorg und Gram darniedersinken,
dann aller Welt dann gute Nacht!Eating, drinking, that sustains the body;
'tis my dearest pastime,
eating and drinking!
If food and drink refresh me no more,
the adieu, then world, good night!
Such a roast, a pie, alas!
when they greet my tongue,
then, then my day is made!
Alas! and when in a dear glass
worries and grief are drowned,
then to all the world: good night!
See also
- The Mozart misattribution, for more on the canon's misattribution to Mozart
Notes
- Plath, Wolfgang; Bennwitz, Hanspeter; Buschmeier, Gabriele; Feder, Georg; Hofmann, Klaus (1988). Opera incerta. Echtheitsfragen als Problem musikwissenschaftlicher Gesamtausgaben. Kolloquium Mainz 1988. ISBN 3-515-05996-2.
- Silke Leopold (ed.); Jutta Schmoll-Barthel; Sara Jeffe (October 2005). Mozart-Handbuch. Stuttgart: Metzler. pp. 640, 653, 689. ISBN 3-476-02077-0.
{{cite book}}:|author=has generic name (help) - Dietrich Berke; Wolfgang Rehm; Miriam Pfadt (2007). "Endbericht" (PDF). Neue Mozart Ausgabe (in German). Bärenreiter. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2007. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
- Catherine Carl; Dan Manley; Dennis Pajot; Steve Ralsten; Gary Smith. "Koechel List". Mozart Forum. Archived from the original on 14 August 2007. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
- See NMA score, page IX (online)
- Dennis Pajot, K233 and K234 Mozart's "Kiss my Ass" Canons. Mozart Forum Archived February 8, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- "La musica vocale di Mozart", Conferenza di Bruno Bianco: IV Socialità giocosa, Trieste, 11 April 2006
- See NMA score, page X, footnote 10
References
- Bei der Hitz im Sommer eß ich: Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe