Canon for 6 Voices in 1 in D (K. Anh.H 10,13)
ヴォルフガング・アマデウス・モーツァルト作
Mozart’s Canon for 6 voices in 1 in D major (K. Anh.H 10,13) is a compact, unaccompanied social-style vocal piece associated with Vienna and the early 1780s. Usually dated to around 1784–85 (sometimes more broadly to c. 1782), it shows Mozart’s ease with strict imitation even in music meant for informal performance.[1][2]
Background and Context
Mozart was living in Vienna in his mid-twenties, newly established as a freelance musician and composer after his break with the Salzburg court. In this milieu, short canons circulated readily among friends and colleagues as practical music for convivial gatherings—quick to copy, quick to sing, and satisfying in their learned ingenuity.[2][3]
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
For K. Anh.H 10,13, modern cataloguing and editions preserve it as a finished six-part canon in D major; the work is transmitted in sources associated with Mozart’s Viennese sketch and copy context, though documentation about a first performance—or for whom it was written—does not survive in any secure, narrative form.[1][2]
Musical Character
The designation “for 6 voices in 1” indicates a canon in unison: all six singers take up the same notated line, entering in imitation at set time intervals, so that a single melodic idea generates the full polyphonic texture. In practice this creates a bright, tautly woven web of overlapping phrases—especially telling in D major, whose open resonance can keep densely stacked imitation clear even without instruments.[3]
Like many of Mozart’s canons from this period, the piece belongs to a tradition that turns contrapuntal “rules” into sociable wit: the singers must listen closely, balance their entries, and sustain line and tuning as the texture thickens. Even in miniature, it reflects a broader Viennese Mozart who could move fluently between public virtuosity and private craftsmanship—treating learned counterpoint not as a school exercise, but as living music made among people.[2]
[1] Mozarteum (KV): work entry for KV Anh. H 10,13, including key and dating information
[2] Digital Mozart Edition (Neue Mozart-Ausgabe) table of contents: Canons, listing K. Anh. H 10/13 with title incipit
[3] IMSLP work page: Canon for 6 Voices in D major, K.347/382f (unaccompanied; basic scoring and dating summary)