Song (Lied) “Prüfung des Küssens” (“Meine weise Mutter spricht”), K. 721 (lost; doubtful)
ヴォルフガング・アマデウス・モーツァルト作
Prüfung des Küssens (“Meine weise Mutter spricht”), K. 721, is a lost song attributed doubtfully to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) and traditionally placed in 1784, the year he began his personal thematic catalogue in Vienna. No music is known to survive, and the work is best treated as a doubtful/spurious catalogue entry rather than a securely documented Lied.
What Is Known
The Köchel-Verzeichnis lists Prüfung des Küssens (“Meine weise Mutter spricht”), K. 721, as a lost song for one voice, with doubtful authenticity [1]. The text is attributed to the German poet Klamer Eberhard Karl Schmidt (1746–1824) [2]. A complicating point is that the same incipit is best known today from Beethoven’s setting, Die Prüfung des Küssens, WoO 89 [3], which may help explain why Mozart’s authorship has been questioned.
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Although older secondary discussions sometimes connect this title with material circulating after Mozart’s death—especially via Constanze Mozart’s contacts with publishers—no reliable musical source (autograph, early copy, or printed edition) can currently be cited for K. 721 itself, and the entry remains unverified as a Mozart composition [1].
Musical Content
Because no score is known to survive, nothing can be said securely about key, vocal range, accompaniment, or formal design beyond the catalogue’s minimal description (“song for 1 voice”). As a result, K. 721 cannot be placed with confidence among Mozart’s Viennese Lieder of 1784 (a period otherwise rich in refined, text-sensitive vocal miniatures) and is best approached as a doubtful, lost item rather than part of the performable repertory.
[1] International Mozarteum Foundation — Köchel-Verzeichnis entry for KV 721, listing status (lost) and authenticity (doubtful).
[2] Wikipedia — biographical overview of Klamer Eberhard Karl Schmidt; notes the poem incipit in connection with later settings.
[3] LiederNet Archive — text page for Beethoven’s “Die Prüfung des Küssens” (WoO 89), showing the incipit “Meine weise Mutter spricht.”