Four Riddle Canons (K. Anh. H 9,11; 9,14)
par Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart’s four short Rätselkanons (“riddle” or “puzzle” canons), listed together as K. 73r / K. 89a II and in the Köchel Anhang as K. Anh. H 9,11 and 9,14, are usually placed in Bologna in the summer of 1772, when the composer was 16 [2] [3]. Their precise transmission is limited, but on the page they present Mozart’s youthful delight in contrapuntal craft as a game to be solved.
Background and Context
These four canons are associated with Bologna—where the teenage Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) renewed contact with learned counterpoint circles—and are commonly dated to summer 1772 (sometimes given more broadly as 1770/1772) [2] [3]. In the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe they appear as a compact group of “Four riddle canons” (Vier Rätselkanons), each pointing to a Latin incipit and circulating titles that link them to Padre Martini’s Storia della musica references (as the headings suggest) [1].
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Musical Character
A riddle canon (Rätselkanon) typically notates a single line with a textual cue, leaving performers (or readers) to infer the remaining entries—an elegant way of testing canonic technique in miniature. The set comprises four short Latin-text canons, conventionally listed as:
- Incipe Menalios mecum (“Sit trium series una”)
- Cantate Domino omnis (“Ter ternis canite vocibus”)
- Confitebor tibi Domine (marked ad duodecimam: “Clama ne cesses”)
- Thebana bella cantus (“Ter voce ciemus”)
These titles, preserved in modern catalog listings, underline the didactic and puzzle-like character: not a through-composed “vocal work” in the operatic sense, but concise contrapuntal problems—brief, singable, and designed for quick, informal demonstration rather than public display [1] [2].
[1] DME / Mozarteum: Neue Mozart-Ausgabe table of contents (NMA III/10), listing the four riddle canons under K. 73r / K. 89a II with individual incipits.
[2] IMSLP work page: “4 Puzzle Canons, K.73r,” giving Bologna dating (1770 or 1772) and the four canonical titles/incipits.
[3] Wikipedia: Köchel catalogue table entry for K. 73r / Anh. H 9,11, 9,14, listing “4 Riddle Canons,” Summer 1772, Bologna (reference overview).