Why is the tune ARIEL Attributed to Mozart?

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I'm not sure why or how that came to be, but based on the hymnals found on this site, it seems as if the trend to start crediting Mozart dates back to the Early 1900s, but the first hymnal where it shows it was arranged from Mozart is Hitchcock, Eddy, and Mudge's Carmina Sacra (https://hymnary.org/hymnal/CS1886?page=4).

 

The hymnals up until Sweney and Kirkpatrick's Mᴇʟᴏᴅɪᴏᴜs Sᴏɴɴᴇᴛs (https://hymnary.org/hymn/MS1885/page/116) either give full credit to Lowell Mason or have no composer listed.

 

Why is it even attributed to Mozart in the first place, what piece of his sounds similar to ARIEL anyway?

 

If anyone can confirm this is, in fact, a work of Mozart's, please let me know.


Comments

Most of the hymnals say Mason arranged or adapted the tune. The date that is given is 1836. Mason edited a number of hymnals in 1836 which either we do not have in our collection or which we have not edited, so the tune may be in one of these. It is useful to read the preface to find out if Mason composed the tunes or if he edited them.