Composed in 1787 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as the opening aria of Don Giovanni, sung by Leporello who vents his frustration: 'To toil day and night for someone who appreciates nothing.'
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Diabelli Variations, Op. 120: Var. 22 (Allegro molto, alla "Notte e giorno faticar" di Mozart)
Published in 1823 as Variation 22 of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations (Op. 120). By directly quoting Mozart's bass motif onto Diabelli's waltz, Beethoven humorously compared his exhausting labor of composing 33 variations to Leporello's servitude.
A brilliant parody transmuting Mozart's comic opera into a structural critique of Diabelli's trite waltz.