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, and was first performed on 21 December 1766 as part of an entertainment marking the anniversary of the consecration of Archbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach.
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 Salzaogni 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.
