Grazie agl’inganni tuoi ("La libertà a Nice") — sketch/fragment for vocal trio and instruments (K. Anh.A 54)
ヴォルフガング・アマデウス・モーツァルト作
Grazie agl’inganni tuoi (K. Anh.A 54) is a short, doubtful sketch/fragment in B♭ major, associated with Vienna in 1787 and linked in the sources to the singer Michael Kelly. What survives suggests a projected terzetto setting of Metastasio’s canzonetta “La libertà a Nice”, but the piece is incomplete and its authorship remains uncertain.
What Is Known
Only a brief fragment survives for Grazie agl’inganni tuoi (K. Anh.A 54), transmitted as an incomplete terzetto in B♭ major. Modern cataloguing associates it with Vienna (1787) and with the Irish tenor Michael Kelly (1762–1826), a close participant in Mozart’s Viennese theatrical circle—though the precise nature of Kelly’s connection (commission, performance plan, or later recollection) cannot be demonstrated from the fragment alone.[1]
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The text incipit points to Pietro Metastasio’s canzonetta “La libertà a Nice” (“Grazie agl’inganni tuoi, / al fin respiro, o Nice…”), a poem that attracted multiple musical settings in the eighteenth century.[2] Surviving materials appear to be insufficient for a secure performing version without editorial completion; accordingly, the work is rarely encountered outside reference listings and fragment publications.[3]
Musical Content
What can be inferred from descriptions of the source is modest but suggestive: a projected vocal trio (soprano, tenor, bass) with instrumental accompaniment, in B♭ major, apparently conceived as a compact, serenade-like number rather than a large concert piece.[1] In Vienna in 1787—between Le nozze di Figaro (1786) and Don Giovanni (premiered October 1787)—Mozart was adept at giving small vocal forms a distinctly theatrical profile; even in fragmentary traces, one would expect clear declamation and quick characterization, especially in an ensemble texture where voices can comment, overlap, and contradict.[2]
[1] Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum, KV Online: entry for K. Anh.A 54 (Michael Kelly), “Grazie agl’inganni tuoi” (terzett fragment; scoring and catalogue notes).
[2] LiederNet Archive: Metastasio, “La libertà a Nice” — full Italian text beginning “Grazie agl’inganni tuoi” (context for the fragment’s incipit).
[3] IMSLP: “Grazie agl’inganni tuoi, K.532/Anh.A 54” — reference page noting incompleteness and providing access to older published materials/editions.