' (complete title in historical spelling: '; The Obligation of the First and Foremost Commandment), K. 35, is a sacred musical play (geistliches Singspiel) composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1767 when he was 11 years old. It is Mozart's first opera or, more specifically, sacred drama, as is suggested by the name. The libretto is now attributed to , although Johann Adam Wieland or Jakob Anton Marianus Wimmer had been suggested earlier. (The title page of the libretto ascribes it only to "J.A.W.".) Only the first part of the opera was composed by Mozart; the second and third parts were contributed by Michael Haydn and Anton Cajetan Adlgasser respectively. However, these other two parts have not survived. Part 1 of the opera was first performed on 12 March 1767, in the Knights' Hall of the Palace of the Archbishop, the Salzburg Residenz. Part 2 was performed on 19 March, and part 3 on 26 March. The performances were predominantly in Salzburg in St. Peter's, in Cathedrals, on the Nonnberg, and in Residenz. The opera includes many recitatives for all of the characters, and each character sings one to three arias. The characters of the opera are two tenors: Christgeist and Christ (a Christian), and three sopranos: Barmherzigkeit, Gerechtigkeit, and Weltgeist. The opera does not have a chorus.

Part I of the opera was first performed on 12 March 1767 in the Knight's Hall of the Palace of the Archbishop, Salzburg. Part II was performed on 19 March, and Part III on 26 March.

The first modern performance of the opera took place on 23 January 1987 in the Große Saal of the University of Salzburg. Organized by the International Mozarteum Foundation, it was mounted as part of the 1987 Mozart Week and performed in collaboration with the Salzburger Landestheater.

Text

The attribution of the text's author has posed issues for musicologists. The libretto, now housed in the library of the University of Salzburg, states that the work was: "In three parts adapted by J. A. W." In the critical report of the work by , published in 1956 for the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe, he states that there had been various assumptions regarding the author. Johann Adam Wieland (1710–1774) was the first to be considered, before the musicologist and author Alois Josef Hammerle attributed the text to Jacobus Antonius Wimmer (1725–1793); both men were clergymen active in Salzburg during the 1760s.

However, a diary discovered in the Salzburg monastic archives in 1957 by , written by the Benedictine monk Beda Hübner, revealed critical information about the author of the work's text. A section of the diary, transcribed by Giegling, states as follows:

<blockquote>(1767) XIIma Martij Donnerstag ware anheüt nach dem abendlichen Gebethleiten bey Hoff in dem sogenannten Ritter Saal ein oratorium in der musique von fünf Personen, nämlich drey Singerinnen, und zweyen Mannesbilden Herr Meisner und Herr Spizeder. Den deutschen text hat componiret Herr Weiser ein Handels- und Ratsherr, die musique hat componiret der Wolfgang Mozart Knab alt von 10 Jahren which included that of Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots. The score was then bought from André by Prince Albert in 1841, who included part of the work in a performance on 8 May 1844:

<blockquote>[T]aken from the score of an oratorio composed by Mozart at the early age of ten years; which is in Prince Albert’s possession, in the composer’s own handwriting. There is in it something of affinity to Mozart’s maturer works. The melody is elegant and flowing, and the accompaniment by the stringed instruments at once light and spirited.</blockquote>

After Albert's death in 1861, Queen Victoria placed all of the manuscripts he acquired in the Royal Library, and the autograph score of Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots was placed in storage in 1863. It is now part of the Royal Collection, in the Royal Archives, at Windsor Castle.

Recordings

{| class="wikitable"

|+

!Year

!Barmherzigkeit<br />Gerechtigkeit<br />Weltgeist<br />Christgeist<br />Christ

!Conductor<br />Orchestra

!Label

|-

| 1978 || Edith Mathis<br />Margaret Price<br />Lilian Sukis<br />Norbert Orth<br />Claes H. Ahnsjö|| Wolfgang Sawallisch<br />Mozarteum-Orchester Salzburg

| Voce Records

|-

| 1980 || Sylvia Geszty<br />Krisztina Laki<br />Arleen Auger<br />Werner Hollweg<br />Claes H. Ahnsjö|| Roland Bader<br />Berliner Domkapelle

| Schwann Musica Sacra

|-

| 1989 || Margaret Marshall<br />Ann Murray<br />Inga Nielsen<br />Hans Peter Blochwitz<br />Aldo Baldin|| Sir Neville Marriner<br />Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart

| Philips Classics

|-

| 2012 || Sarah Fox<br />Cora Burggraaf<br />Sophie Bevan<br />Andrew Kennedy<br />Allan Clayton|| Ian Page<br />The Orchestra of Classical Opera

| Signum Classics

|-

| 2023 || Adèle Charvet<br />Gwendoline Blondeel<br />Gwendoline Blondeel<br />Artavazd Sargsyan<br />Jordan Mouaïssia|| Camille Delaforge<br />Ensemble Il Caravaggio

| CVS

|}

See also

  • Oratorio
  • List of operas by Mozart
  • Classical music written in collaboration

References

  • Libretto