Leck mir den Arsch fein recht schön sauber

Leck mir den Arsch fein recht schön sauber (English: Lick my ass right well and clean) is a canon

Canon (music)

In music, a canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration . The initial melody is called the leader , while the imitative melody, which is played in a different voice, is called the follower...

for three voices in B-flat major, K. 233/382d, long thought to have been composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

during 1782 in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

Authenticity

In 1988, Wolfgang Plath presented evidence that the composer of this piece, as well as K. 234/382c, was in fact Wenzel Trnka

Wenzel Trnka

Wenzel Trnka von Krzowitz was a physician, professor, and amateur composer of the 18th century.-Life:...

(1739–1791). That Mozart might not be the author of K. 229, K. 230, K. 231, K. 233, K. 234 was already mentioned in the Bärenreiter

Bärenreiter

Bärenreiter is a German classical music publishing house based in Kassel. The firm was founded by Karl Vötterle in Augsburg in 1923, and moved to Kassel in 1927, where it still maintains headquarters; it also has offices in Basel, London, New York and Prague...

Neue Mozart-Ausgabe

The Neue Mozart-Ausgabe is the second complete works edition of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. A longer and more formal title for the edition is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...

(NMA) in 1974. The Trnka canon's original lyrics were "Tu sei gelosa, è vero," but Mozart set the canon to his own scatological lyrics, probably for the purpose of being sung by partiers. Mozart's widow Constanze Mozart

Constanze Mozart

Constanze Mozart was the wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-Early years:Constanze Weber was born in Zell im Wiesental. Her mother was Cäcilia Weber, née Stamm. Her father Fridolin Weber worked as a "double bass player, prompter and music copyist." Fridolin's half-brother was the father of composer...

submitted the modified canon to publisher Breitkopf & Härtel

Breitkopf & Härtel

Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf . The catalogue currently contains over 1000 composers, 8000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on music. The name "Härtel" was added when Gottfried...

Lyrics

The rediscovered, probably original text reads:

Leck mire den A… recht schon,
fein sauber lecke ihn,
fein sauber lecke, leck mire den A…
Das ist ein fettigs Begehren,
nur gut mit Butter geschmiert,
den das Lecken der Braten mein tagliches Thun.
Drei lecken mehr als Zweie,
nur her, machet die Prob'
und leckt, leckt, leckt.
Jeder leckt sein A… fur sich.

Lick my ass nicely,
lick it nice and clean,
nice and clean, lick my ass.
That's a greasy desire,
nicely buttered,
like the licking of roast meat, my daily activity.
Three will lick more than two,
come on, just try it,
and lick, lick, lick.
Everybody lick their ass for themselves.

Alternative lyrics

Shown in Bärenreiter's Neue Mozart Edition is the text as changed either by Johann Christoph Härtel (1763–1827) or
by Christoph Gottlob Breitkopf (1750–1800) for the 1804 edition of the canons in Œvres Complettes by Breitkopf & Härtel

Breitkopf & Härtel

Nichts labt mich mehr als Wein;
er schleicht so sacht hinein,
er schleicht so sacht, er schleicht sacht hinein!
Er netzt, wenn alles gleich lechzet,
die trockenen Kehlen allein;
läßt wenn Murrkopf auch ächzet,
stets fröhlich mich sein.
Drum schwingt mit mir die Gläser! Stoßt an!
Laßt alle Sorgen sein! Stoßt an!
Wir ersäufen sie im Wein!

Nothing refreshes me more than wine;
It sneaks so gently in,
It sneaks so gently, it sneaks so gently in!
It wets, when everything yearns,
The dry throats alone;
Even when I grumpily groan
It always cheers me up.
So let's raise the glasses! Let's toast!
Let all sorrows be! Let's toast!
We'll drown them in wine!

In Brilliant Classic's Mozart Complete edition a different adaptation is used:

Leck mir den Arsch fein rein.
Soll das denn Urtext sein?
Soll das denn Mozarts Urtext sein?!
Leck mir?! O nein, o nein!
Dies Bildnis ist so rein,
ist so weiss wie ein Schwan!
Leck mir? Das kann nicht sein, nein!
O nein!
Soll das denn wirklich Urtext sein?
Nein, der Mozart war ein feiner Mann!

Lick me in the ass fine and clean.
Should that be the Urtext

Urtext

Urtext is a word of German origin; ur- means "original," and text is as in English.In the humanities and social sciences, the word is often used in a metaphorical fashion to refer to a primitive, seminal, or prototypical example of an artistic genre or the basis of an ideological movement...

?
Should that then be Mozart's Urtext?!
Lick me?! Oh no, oh no!
This image is so pure,
Is as white as a swan!
Lick me? That cannot be, no!
Oh no!
Should that then really be the Urtext?
No, that Mozart was a decent man!

Authenticity

Lyrics

Alternative lyrics

See also