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Leck mich im Arsch (literally "Lick me in the arse") is a canon in B-flat major composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K. 231 (K. 382c), with lyrics in German. It was one of a set of at least six canons probably written in Vienna in 1782.^[1] Sung by six voices as a three-part round, it is thought to be a party piece for his friends.

English translation

A literal translation of the song's title and lyrics into English would be "Lick me in the arse". A more idiomatic translation would be "Kiss my arse", or even "Get stuffed".^[2]

Publication and modern discovery

Mozart died in 1791 and his widow, Constanze Mozart, sent the manuscripts of the canons to publishers Breitkopf & Härtel in 1799, saying that they would need to be adapted for publication. The publisher changed the title and lyrics of this canon to the more acceptable "Laßt froh uns sein" ("Let us be glad!"), similar to the traditional German Christmas carol, "Lasst uns froh und munter sein". Of Mozart's original text, only the first words were documented in a catalogue of his works.^[3]

A new text version, which may have been the authentic one, came to light in 1991. Handwritten texts to this and several other similar canons were found added to a printed score of the work in an historical printed edition acquired by Harvard University's Music Library. They had evidently been added to the book by a later hand. However, since in six of the pieces these entries matched texts that had, in the meantime, independently come to light in original manuscripts, it was hypothesised that the remaining three may, too, have been original, including texts for K231 ("Leck mich im Arsch" itself), and another Mozart work, "Leck mir den Arsch fein recht schön sauber" ("Lick my arse nice and clean", K233; K382d in the revised numbering).^[4] Later research has indicated that the latter composition is probably the work of Wenzel Trnka (1739–91).^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

Lyrics

The original incipit attested in the earliest Breitkopf catalog consisted only of the words Leck mich im Arsch.^[9] The text rediscovered in 1991 consists only of the repeated phrases:^[10]

Leck mich im Arsch^ⓘ (MIDI file, 9 KB, 2:16)

Leck mich im A… g'schwindi, g'schwindi!
Leck im A… mich g'schwindi.
Leck mich, leck mich,
g'schwindi
etc. etc. etc.

(where A… obviously stands for Arsch; g'schwindi means 'quickly').

The bowdlerized text of the early printed editions reads:

Laßt uns froh sein!
Murren ist vergebens!
Knurren, Brummen ist vergebens,
ist das wahre Kreuz des Lebens,
das Brummen ist vergebens,
Knurren, Brummen ist vergebens, vergebens!
Drum laßt uns froh und fröhlich, froh sein!

Let us be glad!
Grumbling is in vain!
Growling, droning is in vain,
is the true bane of life,
Droning is in vain,
Growling, droning is in vain, in vain!
Thus let us be cheerful and merry, be glad!

Another semi-bowdlerized adaptation is found in the recordings of The Complete Mozart edition by Brilliant:^[11]^[12]

Leck mich im Arsch!
Goethe, Goethe!
Götz von Berlichingen! Zweiter Akt;
Die Szene kennt ihr ja!
Rufen wir nur ganz summarisch:
Hier wird Mozart literarisch!

Kiss my arse!
Goethe, Goethe!
Götz von Berlichingen! Second act;
You know the scene too well!
Let's sing out now summarily:
Here is Mozart literary!

This is a clear allusion to the line … er kann mich im Arsche lecken! attributed to the late medieval German knight Götz von Berlichingen, known best as the title hero of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's drama.

This version contains a slight error about the Goethe source: the line occurs in the third act.^[13]^[14]

Notes

^ Eisen, Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians online, (subscription required)
^ Schemann, Hans (1997). English-German Dictionary of Idioms. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415172543.
^ Preface to the Neue Mozart Ausgabe
^ Kozinn, Allan (2 March 1991). "Three Naughty Mozart Texts Are Found". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 September 2007.
^ Plath, Wolfgang (1988). Opera incerta. Echtheitsfragen als Problem musikwissenschaftlicher Gesamtausgaben. Kolloquium Mainz 1988. ISBN 3-515-05996-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ Silke Leopold (ed.) (October 2005). Mozart-Handbuch. Stuttgart: Metzler. pp. pp. 640, 653, 689. ISBN 3-476-02077-0. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ Dietrich Berke, Wolfgang Rehm, Miriam Pfadt (2007). "Endbericht" (PDF). Neue Mozart Ausgabe (in German). Bärenreiter. Retrieved 10 September 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Catherine Carl, Dan Manley, Dennis Pajot, Steve Ralsten, Gary Smith. "Koechel List". Mozart Forum. Retrieved 10 September 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Preface to the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe Vol. III/10, p. X.
^ Denis Pajot: K233 and K234 Mozart's "Kiss my Ass" Canons. Mozart Forum
^ Brilliant Classics (2006). "Mozart Edition, Complete Works". Foreignmediagroup.com. Retrieved 12 September 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
^ integralemozart.info (2007). "Mozart Complete Edition (Brilliant), Volume 8: CD 1, Canons" (PDF) (in German and Italian). Integrale Mozart. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
^ Wikisource. "Götz von Berlichingen/3. Akt (unexpurgated))" (in German). Wikisource. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
^ Project Gutenberg. "Götz von Berlichingen/3. Akt (expurgated)" (in German). Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 12 September 2007.

References

Eisen, Cliff, et al.: "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart", Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed September 9, 2007), (subscription required)
Zaslaw, Neal (2006) The Non-Canonic Status of Mozart’s Canons Eighteenth-Century Music (2006), 3: 109–23 Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/S1478570606000510

External links

Leck mich im Arsch: Score in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
30-second preview on the iTunes store, performed by the Chorus Viennensis & Uwe Christian Harrer

[1] Eisen, Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians online, (subscription required)

[2] Schemann, Hans (1997). English-German Dictionary of Idioms. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415172543.

[3] Preface to the Neue Mozart Ausgabe

[4] Kozinn, Allan (2 March 1991). "Three Naughty Mozart Texts Are Found". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 September 2007.

[5] Plath, Wolfgang (1988). Opera incerta. Echtheitsfragen als Problem musikwissenschaftlicher Gesamtausgaben. Kolloquium Mainz 1988. ISBN 3-515-05996-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[6] Silke Leopold (ed.) (October 2005). Mozart-Handbuch. Stuttgart: Metzler. pp. pp. 640, 653, 689. ISBN 3-476-02077-0. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help); |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[7] Dietrich Berke, Wolfgang Rehm, Miriam Pfadt (2007). "Endbericht" (PDF). Neue Mozart Ausgabe (in German). Bärenreiter. Retrieved 10 September 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[8] Catherine Carl, Dan Manley, Dennis Pajot, Steve Ralsten, Gary Smith. "Koechel List". Mozart Forum. Retrieved 10 September 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[9] Preface to the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe Vol. III/10, p. X.

[10] Denis Pajot: K233 and K234 Mozart's "Kiss my Ass" Canons. Mozart Forum

[brill-11] Brilliant Classics (2006). "Mozart Edition, Complete Works". Foreignmediagroup.com. Retrieved 12 September 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

[pdf-12] tegralemozart.info (2007). "Mozart Complete Edition (Brilliant), Volume 8: CD 1, Canons" (PDF) (in German and Italian). Integrale Mozart. Retrieved 12 September 2007.

[gotz1-13] Wikisource. "Götz von Berlichingen/3. Akt (unexpurgated))" (in German). Wikisource. Retrieved 12 September 2007.

[gotz2-14] Project Gutenberg. "Götz von Berlichingen/3. Akt (expurgated)" (in German). Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 12 September 2007.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[Image:Wolfgang-amadeus-mozart 1.jpg|right|thumbnail|[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] — posthumous painting by Barbara Krafft in 1819]]
+[[File:Wolfgang-amadeus-mozart 1.jpg|thumb|[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] — posthumous painting by Barbara Krafft in 1819]]
 '''''Leck mich im Arsch''''' (literally "Lick me in the arse") is a [[Canon (music)|canon]] in [[B-flat major]] composed by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]], [[Köchel catalogue|K. 231 (K. 382c)]], with lyrics in German. It was one of a set of at least six canons probably written in [[Vienna]] in 1782.<ref>Eisen, [[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]] online, {{Subscription}}</ref> Sung by six voices as a three-part [[round (music)|round]], it is thought to be a party piece for his friends.
 ==English translation==
-A literal translation of the song's title and lyrics into English would be "Lick me in the [[arse]]". A more [[idiom]]atic translation would be "Kiss my arse", or even "Get stuffed".<ref>{{cite book | last = Schemann | first = Hans | title = English-German Dictionary of Idioms | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | year = 1997 | isbn = 0415172543 }}</ref> The [[Scatology|scatological]] title and lyrics have been used as evidence to support the contention that Mozart had [[Sociological and cultural aspects of Tourette syndrome#Speculation about notable individuals|Tourette syndrome]], although this view is not widely held by medical professionals.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kammer T |title=Mozart in the neurological department — who has the tic? |journal=Frontiers of neurology and neuroscience |volume=22 |issue= |pages=184–92 |year=2007 |pmid=17495512 |doi=10.1159/0000102880 |url=http://www.uni-ulm.de/~tkammer/pdf/Kammer_2007_Mozart_preprint.pdf |format=PDF|accessdate={{Date|2007-09-10}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Ashoori A, Jankovic J |title=Mozart's movements and behaviour: a case of Tourette's syndrome? |journal=J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatr. |volume=78 |issue=11 |pages=1171–5 |year=2007 |pmid=17940168 |doi=10.1136/jnnp.2007.114520}}</ref>
+A literal translation of the song's title and lyrics into English would be "Lick me in the [[wikt:arse|arse]]". A more [[idiom]]atic translation would be "Kiss my arse", or even "Get stuffed".<ref>{{cite book | last = Schemann | first = Hans | title = English-German Dictionary of Idioms | publisher = Routledge | location = New York | year = 1997 | isbn = 0415172543 }}</ref>
 ==Publication and modern discovery==
@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 The original incipit attested in the earliest Breitkopf catalog consisted only of the words ''Leck mich im Arsch''.<ref>[http://dme.mozarteum.at/DME/nma/nma_cont.php?vsep=93&gen=edition&l=1&p1=-20 Preface to the ''Neue Mozart-Ausgabe''] Vol. III/10, p. X.</ref> The text rediscovered in 1991 consists only of the repeated phrases:<ref>Denis Pajot: ''K233 and K234 Mozart's "Kiss my Ass" Canons.'' [http://www.mozartforum.com/Lore/article.php?id=070 Mozart Forum]</ref>
+{| class="wikitable" align=right
-<poem>
+| {{Audio|Leck mich im Arsch.mid|''Leck mich im Arsch''}}<br />([[Musical Instrument Digital Interface|MIDI]] file, 9&nbsp;[[Kilobyte|KB]], 2:16)
-Leck mich im A… g'schwindi, g'schwindi!
+|}
+<poem>Leck mich im A… g'schwindi, g'schwindi!
 Leck im A… mich g'schwindi.
 Leck mich, leck mich,
 g'schwindi
-etc. etc. etc.
+etc. etc. etc.</poem>
-</poem>
 (where ''A…'' obviously stands for ''Arsch''; ''g'schwindi'' means 'quickly').
@@ Line 33: / Line 34: @@
 {|
 |width=300px|
-<poem>
+<poem>Laßt uns froh sein!
-Laßt uns froh sein!
 Murren ist vergebens!
 Knurren, Brummen ist vergebens,
@@ Line 40: / Line 40: @@
 das Brummen ist vergebens,
 Knurren, Brummen ist vergebens, vergebens!
-Drum laßt uns froh und fröhlich, froh sein!
+Drum laßt uns froh und fröhlich, froh sein!</poem>
+|
-</poem>
+<poem>Let us be glad!
-||
-<poem>
-Let us be glad!
 Grumbling is in vain!
 Growling, droning is in vain,
@@ Line 50: / Line 48: @@
 Droning is in vain,
 Growling, droning is in vain, in vain!
-Thus let us be cheerful and merry, be glad!
+Thus let us be cheerful and merry, be glad!</poem>
-</poem>
 |}
@@ Line 57: / Line 54: @@
 {|
 |width=300px|
-<poem>
+<poem>Leck mich im Arsch!
-Leck mich im Arsch!
 Goethe, Goethe!
 Götz von Berlichingen! Zweiter Akt;
 Die Szene kennt ihr ja!
 Rufen wir nur ganz summarisch:
-Hier wird Mozart literarisch!
+Hier wird Mozart literarisch!</poem>
+|
-</poem>
+<poem>Kiss my arse!
-||
-<poem>
-Kiss my arse!
 Goethe, Goethe!
 Götz von Berlichingen! Second act;
 You know the scene too well!
 Let's sing out now summarily:
-Here is Mozart literary!
+Here is Mozart literary!</poem>
-</poem>
 |}
@@ Line 80: / Line 73: @@
 This version contains a slight error about the Goethe source: the line occurs in the third act.<ref name="gotz1">{{Cite web|url=http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/G%C3%B6tz_von_Berlichingen/3._Akt|title=Götz von Berlichingen/3. Akt (unexpurgated))|accessdate={{Date|2007-09-12}}|publisher=Wikisource|author=Wikisource|language=German}}</ref><ref name="gotz2">{{Cite web
 |url=http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/?id=12&xid=859&kapitel=10&cHash=48a97f66532|title=Götz von Berlichingen/3. Akt (expurgated)|accessdate={{Date|2007-09-12}}|publisher=[[Project Gutenberg]]|author=[[Project Gutenberg]]|language=German}}</ref>
-==Media==
-{{audio|help=no|Leck mich im Arsch.mid|Leck mich im Arsch (MIDI file, 9KB, 2:16)}}
 ==See also==
-*''[[Difficile lectu (Mozart)]]'' -- a canon with a disguised Latin version of the same text
+*''[[Difficile lectu (Mozart)]]'' — a canon with a disguised Latin version of the same text
 *''[[Leck mir den Arsch fein recht schön sauber]]'' (English: ''Lick me in the ass fine well and clean'')
-*''[[Bona nox]]'' -- "Good night", a multilingual scatological canon
+*''[[Bona nox]]'' — "Good night", a multilingual scatological canon
-*''[[Nigel Tufnel]]'' -- The guitarist from the semi-fictional band [[Spinal Tap (band)|Spinal Tap]] who writes a piano piece called ''Lick My Love Pump'', which he says is influenced by Mozart and Bach.
 ==Notes==