Mozart - 4 Puzzle Canons, K. 73

1. Incipe menalios mecum (Sit trium series una)
2. Cantate Domino omnis (Ter ternis canite vocibus)
3. Confitebor tibi Domine (Ad duodecinum: clama ne cesses)
4. Thebana bella cantus (Ter voce ciemus)
A puzzle canon, riddle canon, or enigma canon is a canon in which only one voice is notated and the rules for determining the remaining parts and the time intervals of their entrances must be guessed (Merriam-Webster). "The enigmatical character of a [puzzle] canon does not consist of any special way of composing it, but only of the method of writing it down, of which a solution is required" (Richter 1888, 38). Clues hinting at the solution may be provided by the composer, in which case the term "riddle canon" can be used (Scholes, Nagley, and Whittall n.d.). J S Bach presented many of his canons in this form, for example in The Musical Offering. Mozart, after solving Father Martini's puzzles (Zaslaw and Cowdery 1990, 98), composed his own riddles using Latin epigrams such as "Sit trium series una" and "Ter ternis canite vocibus" ("Let there be one series of three parts" and "sing three times with three voices") (Karhausen 2011, 151).
Performers : Chamber Choir of Europe & Nicol Matt

[@hertzair1186]

Little Wolfgang (Wolferl) was 14 when he penned this…

[@DanielFahimi]

Elgar stole this idea from Mozart. I actually love this!

[@Kumagoroo23]

What a marvelous, witty, fun and genius idea. The more you learn about Mozart, the bigger his figure becomes.

[@robbywarren7050]

For the piece in B-flat Major it should show in the key signature with the B and E being flat.

[@scarbotheblacksheep9520]

Ah, the neat trick of making a canon by taking a short repeating section of multiple voices and then unraveling them as if they were one voice.