Great Mass in C minor, K.

427

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Great Mass in C minor

Unfinished missa solemnis

by W. A. Mozart

Interior of St Peter's Abbey, Salzburg, where the mass

was first performed

Catalogue K. 427/417a

Performed 26 October 1783 (1783-10-26): Salzburg

Movements 6

SATB double chorus

Vocal
soloists: 2 sopranos, tenor, bass

Instrumental orchestra

Great Mass in C minor (German: Große Messe in c-Moll), K. 427/417a, is the common name of the
musical setting of the mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and considered one of his greatest works.[1]
He composed it in Vienna in 1782 and 1783 after his marriage when he moved to Vienna from Salzburg.
This large-scale work, a missa solemnis, is scored for two soprano soloists, a tenor and a bass, double
chorus and large orchestra. It remained unfinished, missing large portions of the Credo and the
complete Agnus Dei.

Contents

1 Composition and first performance

2 Fragmentary status

3 Structure

4 Influence

5 Recordings

6 See also

7 References

8 External links

Composition and first performance[edit]

See also: List of masses by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

The work was composed during 1782/83. In a letter to his father Leopold dated 4 January 1783, Mozart
mentioned a vow he had made to write a mass when he would bring his then fiancée Constanze as his
wife to Salzburg to meet his family for the first time after his father's earlier opposition. Constanze then
sang the "Et incarnatus est" at its premiere.[2]

The first performance took place in Salzburg on Sunday 26 October 1783 (the twentieth Sunday after
Pentecost).[3] Mozart had moved to Vienna in 1781, but was paying a visit to his home town in the
company of Constanze, who had not yet met his father or his sister (Nannerl).

The performance consisted of the Kyrie, Gloria and Sanctus and took place in the Church of St. Peter's
Abbey in the context of a Roman Catholic mass. 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 and thus Mozart's former colleagues.[4] There was a rehearsal in the nearby Kapellhaus on 23
October 1783.[4]

Fragmentary status[edit]

Autograph of two of the pages of the mass ("Kyrie")

Larger version of page 1 (recto) and page 2 (verso)

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,[5] although Richard Maunder has noted
that the surviving parts (including an organ part) contain only the completed movements. 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), Robert Levin (Carus-Verlag) and Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs (Musikproduktion Höflich). Robert
Xavier Rodriguez has also completed the Agnus Dei.[6] The editions by Robbins Landon, Eder and
Maunder aim to simply fill out the missing orchestrations and choral parts in the Credo and Sanctus,
whereas the editions by Wilby, Levin and Cohrs all aim to complete the work by composing new music
for the Credo and Agnus Dei through the use of parody or elaboration of period sketches by Mozart.

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

Structure[edit]

I. Kyrie (Andante moderato: Chorus and Soprano)

II. 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)

III. Credo
Credo in unum Deum (Allegro maestoso: Chorus)

Et incarnatus est (Andante: Soprano I)

IV. Sanctus (Largo: Double choir)

V. Benedictus qui venit (Allegro comodo: Quartet and Double chorus)

Influence[edit]

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).[3]

In July 2015, Pope Francis told reporters that the "Et incarnatus est" from the work "is matchless; it lifts
you to God!"[7]

On 20 August 2016 the version reconstructed by Helmut Eder was performed at the Royal Albert Hall,
for the first time as part of The Proms series, by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and BBC
Symphony Chorus, with Ilan Volkov conducting and featuring Louise Alder, Carolyn Sampson, Benjamin
Hulett and Matthew Rose.[8]

Recordings[edit]

1. Kyrie

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2. Gloria

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3. Laudamus te

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4. Gratias agimus tibi

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5. Domine Deus

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6. Qui tollis

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7. Quoniam tu solus

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8. Jesu Christe

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9. Cum Sanctu Spiritu

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10. Credo in unum Deum

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11. Et incarnatus est

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12. Sanctus

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13. Benedictus

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Ferenc Fricsay, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Chor der St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale Berlin,
Maria Stader, Hertha Töpper, Ernst Haefliger, Ivan Sardi, 1960

Problems playing these files? See media help.

Ferenc Fricsay, Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, Chor der St. Hedwigs-Kathedrale Berlin, Maria Stader,
Hertha Töpper, Ernst Haefliger, Ivan Sardi. Label: Deutsche Grammophon, 1960

Mozart: Great Choral Works – Helen Donath, Heather Harper, Ryland Davies, Stafford Dean, London
Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Sir Colin Davis (Conductor). Label: Philips Classics Records, recorded
February 1971.[9]
Raymond Leppard, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Ileana Cotrubaș, Kiri Te Kanawa, Werner Krenn, Hans
Sotin, John Alldis Choir (John Alldis, chorus master). Label: EMI, 1974

Herbert von Karajan, Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Singverein, Barbara Hendricks, Janet Perry, Peter
Schreier, Benjamin Luxon, Label: Deutsche Grammophon, 1982

Mozart: Mass in C minor – Edith Wiens, Delores Ziegler, John Aler, William Stone, Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra and Chorus, Robert Shaw (conductor). Label: Telarc, 1988.[10]

Mozart: Mass in C minor, K. 427 (417a) "Great" – Barbara Schlick, Monika Frimmer, Christoph
Prégardien, Klaus Mertens, Collegium Cartusianum Orchestra, Cologne Chamber Choir, Peter
Neumann [de] (conductor). Label: Virgin Classics, 1988/1990/2008.

John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Monteverdi Choir, Sylvia McNair, Diana Montague,
Anthony Rolfe Johnson, Cornelius Hauptmann, Label: Deutsche Grammophon, 1988

Leonard Bernstein, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Arleen Auger, Frederica von Stade, Frank
Lopardo, Cornelius Hauptmann, Label: Deutsche Grammophon 431 791-2, 1991[11]

James Levine, Kathleen Battle, Martin Haselböck, Wiener Philharmoniker, Label: Deutsche
Grammophon, 1998

Version of Richard Maunder: Christopher Hogwood, Academy of Ancient Music, Westminster College
Quiristers, Winchester Cathedral Choir, Arleen Auger, Lynne Dawson, John-Mark Ainsley, David Thomas,
Label: L'Oiseau-Lyre/Decca, recorded 1990, published 1993[12]

Masaaki Suzuki, Christian Immler, Makoto Sakurada, Carolyn Sampson, Olivia Vermeulen, Bach
Collegium Japan, Label: BIS Records, 2016

See also[edit]

Order of Mass

References[edit]

Notes

^ https://www.wqxr.org/story/pope-reveals-his-tastes-classical-music/

^ Einstein, Alfred (1953). "Kirchenmusik". Mozart. Sein Charakter, sein Werk (in German). Zurich,
Stuttgart. pp. 362–403.

^ Jump up to: a b Mozart, W. A. (2006). Mass in C minor (Urtext). Holl, Monika (preface), Thalmann,
Gabriele (transl.). Kassel: Bärenreiter-Verlag. pp. VII–X. ISMN M-0006-20223-2

^ Jump up to: a b Deutsch 1965, 219

^ Solomon 1995

^ "Robert Xavier Rodríguez: Agnus Dei (completion of Mozart's Mass in C minor), G. Schirmer Inc.

^ http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/pope-reveals-his-tastes-classical-music/
^ "Prom 46: Mahler's Ruckert-Lieder and Mozart's Mass in C minor, 2016, BBC Proms". bbc.co.uk. 20
August 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2016.

^ NUC MED TECH (27 July 2014). "Mozart: Great Choral Works, Mozart's greatest Masses, plus the
Divine Requiem".

^ "Beethoven Missa Solemnis. Mozart Mass in C minor". Gramophone.

^ "Mozart: Great Mass in C minor K.427". Deutsche Grammophon. 1991.

^ "Mass in C minor K427". Christopher Hogwood.

Sources

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[edit]

Great Mass in C minor, K. 427: Score and critical report (in German) in the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe

Great Mass in C minor: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)

h2g2 "Mozart's Mass in C Minor"

Mozart, Great Mass in C minor, preface (German/English) of the completion by Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs
(2010)

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Masses and other sacred music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

G major, K. 49/47d

Waisenhausmesse C minor, K. 139/47a

Masses and D minor, K. 65/61a

Requiem Dominicusmesse C major, K. 66

Pastoral Mass G major, K. 140/235d/Anh. C1.12

Missa in honorem Sanctissimae Trinitatis C major, K. 167

 Kleine Credo Messe F major, K. 192/186f

D major, K. 194/186h

Sparrow Mass C major, K. 220/196b

Missa longa C major, K. 262/246a

Credo Mass C major, K. 257

Piccolomini Mass or Spaur Mass C major, K. 258

Orgelsolomesse C major, K. 259

B-flat major, K. 275/272b

Coronation Mass C major, K. 317

Missa Solemnis C major, K. 337

Great Mass C minor, K. 427/417a

Requiem, K. 626

Kyrie in F major, K. 33 "Paris"

Other Gradual Sancta Maria, mater Dei, K. 273
Mass-
related Kyrie in D minor, K. 341/368a

Epistle sonatas

Twelfth Mass (attributed to W. Müller)

Spurious
Così fan tutte pasticcio Coronation Mass

God is our Refuge, K. 20

Veni Sancte Spiritus, K. 47

Motets
Exsultate, jubilate, K. 165

Ave verum corpus, K. 618

Vesperae solennes de Dominica, K. 321

Vespers
Vesperae solennes de confessore, K. 339

geistliches Singspiel Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots, K. 35

Singspiel •
Oratorio • oratorio Betulia liberata, K. 118/74c
Cantata
cantata Davide penitente, K. 469
 Acis und Galatea, K. 566

Handel Der Messias, K. 572

adaptations Das Alexander-Fest, K. 591

Ode auf St. Caecilia, K. 592

Masonic
ceremonial Maurerische Trauermusik, K. 477/479a
music

List of masses by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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control VIAF: 182664767

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