Or che il dover – Tali e cotanti sono

The aria was written in late 1766 in Salzburg when Mozart was ten years old. The author of the lyrics is unknown. It was the first composition by Mozart since his family's return to Salzburg from their Grand Tour,{{cite book|last=Sadie|first=Stanley|author-link=Stanley Sadie|title=Mozart: The Early Years 1756–1781|page=112|edition=reprint|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780198165293}} and was first performed on 21 December 1766 as part of an entertainment marking the anniversary of the installation as archbishop of Sigismund von Schrattenbach.{{AllMusic|author=Anne Feeney|class=composition|id=mc0002362403|title=Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: 'Or che il dover...Tali e cotanti sono', recitative and aria for tenor & orchestra, K. 36 (K. 33i)}}

The work is scored for two oboes, two bassoons, two horns in D, two trumpets in D, timpani, strings and tenor.[https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/objs/ed/ucb10_81_36.jpg "Aria" from K. 36], p. 36, NMA II/7/1, vol. 1 It is Mozart's first use of trumpets and drums.

The aria is performed as a {{lang|it|licenza}}, a tribute to a patron on a festive occasion. The text given to Mozart used the abbreviation 'Riv^o ' for 'riverendo' throughout, and Mozart set the music for this single syllable. When sung, some rewriting of Mozart's rhythm is required to accommodate the extra syllables.[https://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/objs/ed/ucb10_81_39.jpg "Aria" from K. 36], p. 39, NMA II/7/1, vol. 1

Or che il dover m'astringe,

In scelte e corte rime

Grato mostrarmi a qual onor sublime,

Di cui ci ricolmaste, o prence eccelso,

Ne' miei pensieri immerso

Ricerco un buon concetto.

Rumino colla mente,

Penso, ripenso, e poi non trovo niente.

Febo e le Muse in mio soccorso imploro;

Compariscono tutte a me dinanzi,

Confuse in volto e colle cetre infrante.

D'un simile scompiglio

Le chiedo la ragion, tacer le miro,

E dopo mille al più sospir cocenti

Una così ripose:

Riverendo pastor, t'accheta, e in simil

Giorno non obbligarci a dire il nostro

Scorno; sulle rive della Salza ogni

Nostro potere, ogni saper fu crine

Da quella luce onde il suo prence è cinto.

Tali e contanti sono

Di Sigismondo i merti,

Che i nostri ingegni incerti,

Non sanno qual riverendo cor.

Se la pietà si canta;

La giustizia non cede,

Ch'ogni virtù, riverendo,

Siede in trono suo cor.

Now that duty compels me,

in select and brief verses,

to show my gratitude for that eminent honour

with which you have overwhelmed us, august prince,

I delve deep into my thoughts

for an inspiration.

I rack my brains,

consider, reflect, but find nothing

I involve Phoebus and the muses to my aid;

they all appear before me

shamefaced and with broken lyres.

I ask the reason

for such confusion, and see them mute;

and after a thousand or so burning sighs

one thus replies:

Revered shepard, be appeased, and on such a day

do not force us to confess our shame.

On the banks of the Salzach,

all our power, all our wisdom was as nothing

to that light with which your prince is surrounded.

So great and so many

are Sigismund's merits

that our paltry minds

cannot know that illustrious heart.

If this compassion is hymned,

it is not at the expense of his justice,

for every virtue, Excellency,

is enthroned in your heart.{{Clear|left}}

{{Reflist}}

{{NMA|81|33|82|46}}

• {{IMSLP|work=Or che il dover, K.36/33i (Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus)|cname="Or che il dover"}}
• {{YouTube|x1BLqv0qoQ4|Animated score}}, Thomas Moser, tenor; Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Leopold Hager
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120425142214/http://www.mozart-weltweit.eu/mozart-turm/23a03.mp3 Recording] at mozart-archiv.de

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Category:Arias by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Category:1766 compositions

Category:Compositions in D major

Category:Tenor arias