Canon in C minor for 2 Voices in 1 (doubtful), K. Anh.H 10,23
de Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The Canon in C minor for 2 voices in 1 (K. Anh.H 10,23) is a short vocal canon associated with Vienna in 1782, when Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was 26. Its attribution is doubtful, yet the surviving tradition preserves it as a compact study in strict imitation on the words “Selig, selig alle.”[1]
Background and Context
In Mozart’s Vienna of 1782—amid a flourishing output that ranged from theater to chamber music—canons provided a practical arena for counterpoint: music meant to be sung at sight, tested among friends, and valued for its craft as much as for its charm. This small piece is transmitted as a canon for two voices “in one” (a single notated line intended to generate two parts in strict imitation), but it is not securely authenticated as Mozart’s work and is catalogued as doubtful.[1]
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The text incipit is preserved as “Selig, selig alle …”, associated with the poet Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty; the canon is thus linked to the pious consolation of “Blessed are all who fall asleep in the Lord,” a tone quite removed from the earthy conviviality of some of Mozart’s better-known canons.[1][2]
Musical Character
Notated in C minor and conceived for two unaccompanied voices, the canon is a miniature in strict style: a single melodic strand is designed to be shadowed by a second voice at a fixed distance, creating harmony “automatically” as the imitation unfolds.[3] Its affect is correspondingly concentrated—more inward than theatrical—yet it speaks clearly in the concise, singable phrases typical of late-18th-century social music-making. Even if the authorship remains uncertain, the piece shows how a simple canonic premise can yield expressive gravity within a handful of measures.[1]
[1] Digital Mozart Edition (Mozarteum): NMA III/10 Canons table of contents listing “Canon for two voices (“Selig, selig”, Hölty) K. Anh. H 10,23 (230; 382b)”
[2] The LiederNet Archive: Hölty text beginning “Selig, selig alle, die im Herrn entschliefen!”
[3] IMSLP: work page for *Canon for 2 Voices in C minor*, K.230/382b (general info: key, scoring, year, first publication notes)