The Great Mass in C minor, (German: Große Messe in c-Moll), K. 427 (K. 417a)), is a musical setting of the Mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The mass in C minor was composed in 1782 and 1783 in Vienna. The large scale work, set for two soprano soloists, a tenor and a bass, double chorus and large orchestra, remained unfinished.

Autograph of the first two pages of the Mass ("Kyrie")

Larger version of page 1 and page 2

History

The work was composed from 1782 to 1783. The Mass was written as a result of a vow Mozart made with himself in relation to his wife Constanze and his father Leopold and their strained relationship. It was first performed in the Church of St. Peter's Abbey in Salzburg on 26 October 1783.^[1] The premiere took place in its natural context of a Roman Catholic Mass, and the performers were members of the "Hofmusik", that is the musicians employed at the court of Salzburg's ruler, Prince-Archbishop Count Hieronymus von Colloredo.^[2] The soprano solos at the premiere were sung by Mozart's wife Constanze.^[1][3] There was a rehearsal in the nearby Kapellhaus on 23 October 1783.^[2]

Fragmentary status

The work is incomplete, missing all of the Credo following the aria "Et incarnatus est" (the orchestration of the Credo is also incomplete) and all of the Agnus Dei. The Sanctus is partially lost and requires editorial reconstruction. There is a good deal of speculation concerning why the work was left unfinished. Given the absolute necessity of a complete text for liturgical use, it is likely that Mozart spliced in movements from his earlier Masses for the premiere.^[4] For purposes of modern performances, the editions and completions available are those by H. C. Robbins Landon (Eulenburg), Helmut Eder (Bärenreiter), Richard Maunder (Oxford University Press), Philip Wilby (Novello) and Robert Levin (Carus-Verlag).

Mozart later reused the music from the Kyrie and Gloria, almost without changes except for the text, in the cantata Davidde penitente, K. 469.

Structure

• Kyrie (Andante moderato: Chorus and Soprano)
• Gloria
  • Gloria in excelsis Deo (Allegro vivace: Chorus)
  • Laudamus te (Allegro aperto: Soprano II)
  • Gratias agimus tibi (Adagio: Chorus)
  • Domine Deus (Allegro moderato: Sopranos I and II)
  • Qui tollis (Largo: Double choir)
  • Quoniam tu solus (Allegro: Sopranos I and II, Tenor)
  • Jesu Christe (Adagio: Chorus) – Cum Sancto Spiritu (Chorus)
• Credo
  • Credo in unum Deum (Allegro maestoso: Chorus)
  • Et incarnatus est (Andante: Soprano I)
• Sanctus (Largo: Double choir)
  • Benedictus qui venit (Allegro comodo: Quartet and Double chorus)

Influence

The work embodies pomp and solemnity associated with the Salzburg traditions of the time, but it also anticipates the symphonic masses of Joseph Haydn in its solo-choral sharing. The mass shows the influence of Bach and Handel, whose music Mozart was studying at this time (see Gottfried van Swieten).^[1]

Recordings

• Mozart: Mass in C minor – Edith Wiens (soprano), Delores Ziegler (mezzo-soprano), John Aler (tenor), William Stone (baritone), Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Robert Shaw (conductor). Label: Telarc.
• Mozart: Great Choral Works – Helen Donath (Soprano), Heather Harper (Soprano), Ryland Davies (Tenor), Stafford Dean (Bass), London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Colin Davis (Conductor). Label: Philips Classics Records
• Mozart: Mass in C minor, K. 427 (417a) "Great" – Barbara Schlick (soprano), Monika Frimmer (soprano), Christoph Prégardien (tenor), Klaus Mertens (bass), Collegium Cartusianum Orchestra, Cologne Chamber Choir, Peter Neumann (conductor). Label: Virgin Classics, 1988/1990/2008
• Version of Robert Levin: Diana Damrau, Juliane Banse, Lothar Odinius, Markus Marquardt, Gächinger Kantorei, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling, Rheingau Musik Festival 2006
• "John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir, Sylvia McNair, Diana Montague, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Cornelius Hauptmann
• "Leonard Bernstein, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Arleen Auger, Frederica von Stade, Frank Lopardo, Cornelius Hauptmann

Use in film and television

The mass is included in the soundtrack for the Academy Award nominated animated feature, The Triplets of Belleville for a scene when the characters are at sea. It uses the opening Kyrie movement, and evokes the distressed state of the characters, while capturing the turmoil of a storm at sea. It is also used in A Man Escaped.^[5] It occurs throughout the Channel 4 drama A Very British Coup; the Credo was used as the theme music.

Parts of the Kyrie are used in two separate scenes in the 1984 film Amadeus. Qui tollis is also used in a deleted scene that was included in the director's cut DVD.

See also

• Order of Mass

Footnotes

References

• Deutsch, Otto Erich (1965) Mozart: A Documentary Biography. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
• Solomon, Maynard (1995) Mozart: A Life. HarperCollins.
• Black, David (2007) "Mozart and the Practice of Sacred Music, 1781-91". PhD diss., Harvard University, 84-126.

External links

• Great Mass in C minor: Score and critical report (German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe
• Text and translation
• h2g2 article on the Große Messe