Aria for Tenor, “Dalla sua pace” (K. 540a) in F Major
ヴォルフガング・アマデウス・モーツァルト作
Mozart’s tenor aria “Dalla sua pace” (K. 540a) was completed in Vienna on 24 April 1788 and is best known as Don Ottavio’s replacement aria for the Vienna version of Don Giovanni. Written when Mozart was 32, it offers an unusually concentrated portrait of steadfast devotion—musically as well as dramatically.[1]
Background and Context
In spring 1788, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) prepared Don Giovanni for Vienna’s Burgtheater, and “Dalla sua pace” (K. 540a) was added for Don Ottavio for that production.[1] The aria is dated Vienna, 24 April 1788, with a first performance listed as 7 May 1788.[1] It is transmitted in an autograph score (a brief, self-contained set of pages), alongside later copies, suggesting the piece circulated quickly as a discrete number even while remaining tied to the opera’s Viennese revision process.[1]
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Musical Character
Despite its reputation for simplicity, “Dalla sua pace” is finely judged vocal writing for lyric tenor: predominantly stepwise, warmly cantabile, and shaped in long-breathed phrases that make steadiness itself the expressive point. The orchestration is classical and transparent—pairs of flutes, oboes, bassoons, and horns with strings—supporting the voice with gentle harmonic motion rather than theatrical disruption.[1] Heard against the more brilliant, virtuosic Ottavio aria “Il mio tesoro”, this insertion offers an inward complement: a sustained, almost devotional tone that fits Mozart’s late-Viennese gift for saying more with less.
[1] Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum, Köchel-Verzeichnis entry for KV 540a: dating (Vienna, 24 April 1788), first performance (Vienna, Burgtheater, 7 May 1788), authenticity status, and instrumentation.