Mass in G major, K. 49

Mozart's Mass in G major, K. 49/47d), is his first full mass. It is a missa brevis scored for SATB soloists and choir, violin I and II, viola, and basso continuo.

Missa brevis in G major
Mass by W. A. Mozart
The composer in 1770
KeyG major
CatalogueK. 49/47d
Composed1768 (1768): Salzburg
Movements6
VocalSATB choir and soloists
Instrumental
  • two violins
  • viola
  • continuo

Mozart wrote the Mass in G major at the age of 12. It was however neither his first setting of a part of the mass ordinary – two years earlier he had already composed a Kyrie (K. 33) —, nor was it his largest composition with a religious theme up to date: his sacred musical play Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots had been premiered in the previous year.

History

Composed in Vienna in the autumn of 1768,[1] this mass is Mozart's only missa brevis to feature a viola part.[2] It is not clear what occasion it was composed for, and it has been confused with the Waisenhausmesse, composed in the same year.[3]

Religious music at the time was increasingly influenced by opera and Baroque embellishments in instrumentation; Mozart's early masses, such as K. 49/47d, have been seen as a return to the more austere settings of the pre-Baroque era.[4]

Movements

The six movements of the mass follow the traditional Order of Mass:

Kyrie Adagio, G major, common time
"Kyrie eleison" Andante, G major, 3
4
Gloria Allegro, G major, common time
Credo Allegro, G major, 3
4
"Et incarnatus est" Poco adagio, C major, cut time
"Et resurrexit" Allegro – Adagio – Allegro, G major, cut time
"Et in Spiritum Sanctum" Andante, C major, 3
4; bass solo
"Et in unam sanctam" Allegro – Adagio – Allegro – Adagio, G major, cut time and 3
4
"Et vitam venturi" Allegro, G major, cut time
Sanctus Andante, G major, 3
4
"Pleni sunt coeli et terra" Allegro, G major, 3
4
"Hosanna in excelsis" Allegro, G major, 4
2
Benedictus Andante, C major, 3
4; soloist quartet
"Hosanna in excelsis" Allegro, G major, 4
2
Agnus Dei Adagio, E minor, cut time
"Dona nobis pacem" Allegro, G major, 3
8

Recordings

1988: Edith Mathis (soprano), Rosemarie Lang (contralto), Uwe Heilmann (tenor), Jan-Hendrik Rootering (bass) — Rundfunkchor Leipzig, Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Herbert Kegel — Philips Classics Records (later reissued in 1991 as part of The Complete Mozart Edition, Volume 19 "Missae and Requiem").

References
  1. Einstein, Alfred (1945). Mozart: His Character, His Work. p. 326. ISBN 978-0-19-500732-9. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017.
  2. Eisen, Cliff; Keefe, Simon, eds. (2006). The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia. p. 272. ISBN 978-1-139-44878-9. Archived from the original on 18 August 2020.
  3. Melograni, Piero (2007). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: A Biography. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-226-51956-2. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018.
  4. Maragh-Ablinger, Renate. Wolfgang Amade Mozart. p. 51. Archived from the original on 24 July 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
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