''Great Mass in C minor'' (german: Große Messe in c-Moll, links=no),
K. 427/417a, is the common name of the musical setting of the
mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...
, which is considered one of his greatest works. He composed it in Vienna in 1782 and 1783, after his marriage, when he moved to Vienna from
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
. The large-scale work, a
missa solemnis
{{Audio, De-Missa solemnis.ogg, Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass, and is a genre of musical settings of the Mass Ordinary, which are festively scored and render the Latin text extensively, opposed to the more modest Missa brevis. In French ...
, is scored for two
soprano soloists, a
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...
and a
bass, double chorus and large orchestra. It remained unfinished, missing large portions of the Credo and the complete Agnus Dei.
Composition and first performance
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.
The first performance took place in
Salzburg
Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872.
The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...
on Sunday 26 October 1783 (the twentieth Sunday after Pentecost).
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
Maria Anna Walburga Ignatia Mozart (30 July 1751 – 29 October 1829), called "Marianne" and nicknamed Nannerl, was a musician, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) and daughter of Leopold (1719–1787) and Anna Maria Moz ...
).
The performance consisted of just the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Benedictus, as surviving parts and a score copy from ca. 1800 show. It took place in the Church of
St. Peter's Abbey in the context of a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
. Mozart's sister's diary mentions that the performers were the entire , that is the musicians employed at the court of Salzburg's ruler,
Prince-Archbishop Count Hieronymus von Colloredo
Hieronymus Joseph Franz de Paula Graf Colloredo von Wallsee und Melz (Jérôme Joseph Franz de Paula, Count of Colloredo-Wallsee and Mels; ) was Prince-Bishop of Gurk from 1761 to 1772 and Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg from 1772 until 1803, whe ...
and thus Mozart's former colleagues.
There was a rehearsal in the nearby Kapellhaus on 23 October 1783.
Fragmentary status
The work is incomplete, missing the Credo movements following the aria Et incarnatus est (the orchestration of the only two surviving ''Credo'' movements being incomplete) and all of the Agnus Dei. The Sanctus and the Benedictus are partially lost and require editorial reconstructions. There is a good deal of speculation concerning why the work was left unfinished. For purposes of modern performances, the editions and completions available are those by Alois Schmitt (1901,
Breitkopf & Härtel
Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf.
The catalogue currently contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on ...
),
H. C. Robbins Landon (1956,
Eulenburg), Helmut Eder (1985,
Bärenreiter), Franz Beyer (1989, Amadeus/
Edition Peters
Edition Peters is a classical music publisher founded in Leipzig, Germany in 1800.
History
The company came into being on 1 December 1800 when the Viennese composer Franz Anton Hoffmeister (1754–1812) and the local organist Ambrosius Kühnel ...
), Richard Maunder (1990,
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
/
Carus Verlag
Carus-Verlag is a German music publisher founded in 1972 and based in Stuttgart.
Carus was founded by choral conductor Günter Graulich and his wife Waltraud with an emphasis on choral repertoire. The catalogue currently includes more than 26,0 ...
), Philip Wilby (2004,
Novello),
Robert Levin (2005,
Carus-Verlag
Carus-Verlag is a German music publisher founded in 1972 and based in Stuttgart.
Carus was founded by choral conductor Günter Graulich and his wife Waltraud with an emphasis on choral repertoire. The catalogue currently includes more than 26,00 ...
), Clemens Kemme (2018,
Breitkopf & Härtel
Breitkopf & Härtel is the world's oldest music publishing house. The firm was founded in 1719 in Leipzig by Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf.
The catalogue currently contains over 1,000 composers, 8,000 works and 15,000 music editions or books on ...
), and
Ulrich Leisinger
Ulrich Leisinger (born 1964 in Baden-Baden) is a German musicologist and director of the research department of the Mozarteum University Salzburg in Salzburg.
Life
Leisinger received his doctorate from the University of Heidelberg in 1992. The s ...
(2019, Bärenreiter).
The editions by Landon, Eder, Beyer, Maunder and Kemme aim to simply fill out the missing orchestrations and choral parts in the Credo and Sanctus, whereas the editions by Schmitt, Wilby and Levin aim to complete the work by either using movements from other masses or composing new music for the Credo and Agnus Dei through the use of parody or elaboration of period sketches by Mozart.
Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs (
Musikproduktion Höflich) just offers a complete Credo and an Agnus Dei. For the Credo this means a completions of the 'Credo in unum Deum' and the 'Et incarnatus est' and additional music for the rest of the Credo. This edition, therefore, is intended to be used in combination with any other version of the Mass.
Robert Xavier Rodriguez has also completed the Agnus Dei.
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
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
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...
and
Handel, whose music Mozart was studying at this time (see
Gottfried van Swieten
Gottfried Freiherr van Swieten (29 October 1733 – 29 March 1803) was a Dutch-born Austrian diplomat, librarian, and government official who served the Holy Roman Empire during the 18th century. He was an enthusiastic amateur musician and is be ...
).
[ ISMN M-0006-20223-2]
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
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
series, by the
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation ( BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional r ...
and
BBC Symphony Chorus, with
Ilan Volkov conducting and featuring
Louise Alder,
Carolyn Sampson, Benjamin Hulett and
Matthew Rose.
Discography
Here is a selection or recordings:
*
Ferenc Fricsay
Ferenc Fricsay (; 9 August 1914 – 20 February 1963) was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen.
Biography
Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, E ...
,
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin'') is a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. In Berlin, the orchestra gives concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin and at the Berliner Philharmonie. The orchestra has also ...
, Chor der
St.-Hedwigs-Kathedrale Berlin,
Maria Stader,
Hertha Töpper,
Ernst Haefliger
Ernst Haefliger (6 July 191917 March 2007) was a Swiss tenor.
Biography
Haefliger was born in Davos, Switzerland, on 6 July 1919 and studied at the Wettinger Seminary and the Zürich Conservatory. Later he became a pupil of Fernando Carpi in G ...
, Ivan Sardi. Label:
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
, 1959
*
Sir Colin Davis
Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom h ...
,
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...
,
London Symphony Chorus,
Helen Donath,
Heather Harper,
Ryland Davies,
Stafford Dean
Stafford Dean (born 20 June 1937) is a British bass opera singer.
Stafford Dean was born in Kingswood, Surrey, England. He studied under Howell Glynne and others.
Of particular note was his performance as Pooh-Bah in the BBC production of ''Mi ...
. Label:
Philips Classics
Philips Classics Records was started in the 1980s as the new classics record label for Philips Records. It was successful with artists including Alfred Brendel, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fie ...
, February 1971
*
Raymond Leppard
Raymond John Leppard (11 August 1927 – 22 October 2019) was a British-American conductor, harpsichordist, composer and editor. In the 1960s, he played a prime role in the rebirth of interest in Baroque music; in particular, he was one of the ...
, New
Philharmonia Orchestra,
John Alldis Choir,
Ileana Cotrubaș
Ileana Cotrubaș (; born 9 June 1939) is a Romanian operatic soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages.
Life and career
Cotrub ...
,
Kiri Te Kanawa,
Werner Krenn,
Hans Sotin. Label: EMI, 1974
*
Herbert von Karajan
Herbert von Karajan (; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, wit ...
,
Berliner Philharmoniker
The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world.
History
The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...
,
Wiener Singverein
The Vienna Singverein (Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien) is the concert choir of the Vienna Musikverein with around 230 members. It is regularly requested by top orchestras and conductors for large and varied projects.
Histo ...
,
Barbara Hendricks
Barbara Hendricks (born November 20, 1948) is an American operatic soprano and concert singer. Hendricks has lived in Europe since 1977, and in Switzerland in Basel since 1985. She is a citizen of Sweden following her marriage to a Swedish c ...
,
Janet Perry,
Peter Schreier,
Benjamin Luxon
Benjamin Matthew Luxon (born 24 March 1937, Redruth, Cornwall) is a retired British baritone.
Biography
He studied with Walther Gruner at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (while working part-time as a PE teacher in the East End) and est ...
. Label: Deutsche Grammophon, 1981
*
John Eliot Gardiner
Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Life and career
Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Ga ...
,
English Baroque Soloists
The English Baroque Soloists is a chamber orchestra playing on period instruments, formed in 1978 by English conductor Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Its repertoire comprises music from the early Baroque to the Classical period.
History
The English B ...
,
Monteverdi Choir
The Monteverdi Choir was founded in 1964 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner for a performance of the ''Vespro della Beata Vergine'' in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. A specialist Baroque ensemble, the Choir has become famous for its stylistic convic ...
,
Sylvia McNair,
Diana Montague,
Anthony Rolfe Johnson
Anthony Rolfe Johnson (5 November 1940 – 21 July 2010) was an English operatic tenor.
Early life
Anthony Rolfe Johnson was born in Tackley in Oxfordshire. As a boy, he demonstrated musical ability and sang as a boy soprano, making a record ...
,
Cornelius Hauptmann. Label:
Archiv
Archiv Produktion is a classical music record label of German origin. It originated in 1949 as a classical label for the Deutsche Grammophon, Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG), and in 1958 Archiv was established as a subsidiary of DGG, spec ...
, November 1986
*
Robert Shaw,
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is an American orchestra based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. The ASO's main concert venue is Atlanta Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center.
History
Though earlier organizations bearing the same name date b ...
& Chorus,
Edith Wiens
Edith Wiens OC (born 9 June 1950) is a Canadian opera, recital and concert singer with a soprano voice.
Early life and education
Wiens, daughter of a Mennonite pastor, grew up in Vancouver where she finished high school at the age of 16. She ...
,
Delores Ziegler,
John Aler
John Aler (October 4, 1949 – December 10, 2022) was an American lyric tenor who performed in concerts, recitals, and operas. He was particularly known for his interpretations of the works of Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, and Handel.
B ...
,
William Stone. Label:
Telarc
Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner (recording engineer), Jack Renner and Robert Woods (producer), Robert Woods. ...
, 1988
* , Collegium Cartusianum Orchestra, Cologne Chamber Choir,
Barbara Schlick,
Monika Frimmer
Monika Frimmer (born 1955) is a German soprano in opera and concert.
Career
Monika Frimmer studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover in Hannover. She studied further in master-classes and worked with Birgit Nilsson, Elisabeth S ...
,
Christoph Prégardien,
Klaus Mertens. Label: EMI Electrola, November 19–22, 1989
*
Leonard Bernstein,
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (german: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, BRSO) is a German radio orchestra. Based in Munich, Germany, it is one of the city's four orchestras. The BRSO is one of two full-size symphony orchestr ...
and Choir,
Arleen Augér,
Frederica von Stade
Frederica von Stade OAL (born June 1, 1945) is a semi-retired American opera singer. Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970, she has performed in operas, musicals, concerts and recitals in venues throughout the world, including La Scala, th ...
,
Frank Lopardo
Frank Lopardo (born 12/23/57) is an American operatic tenor who was born in Brentwood, New York. Early in his career he specialized in the repertoire of Mozart and Rossini and later transitioned to the works of Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti and Be ...
, Cornelius Hauptmann. Label: Deutsche Grammophon 431 791–2, 1991
* Version of :
Christopher Hogwood,
Academy of Ancient Music, Westminster College Quiristers,
Winchester Cathedral Choir, Arleen Augér,
Lynne Dawson
Lynne Dawson (born 3 June 1953) is an English soprano. She came to great prominence through her performance as a soloist in ''Libera me'' from Verdi's Requiem with the BBC Singers at Princess Diana's funeral in September 1997. Lynne Dawson has r ...
, John-Mark Ainsley,
David Thomas. Label:
L'Oiseau-Lyre, 1990
*
James Levine
James Lawrence Levine (; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March 1 ...
,
Wiener Philharmoniker, chorus,
Kathleen Battle
Kathleen Deanna Battle (born August 13, 1948) is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performance ...
,
Martin Haselböck, others. Label: Deutsche Grammophon, 1998
*
Masaaki Suzuki
is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and music director of the Bach Collegium Japan. With this ensemble he is recording the complete choral works of Johann Sebastian Bach for the Swedish label BIS Records, for wh ...
,
Bach Collegium Japan
Bach Collegium Japan (BCJ) is composed of an orchestra and a chorus specializing in Baroque music, playing on period instruments. It was founded in 1990 by Masaaki Suzuki with the purpose of introducing Japanese audiences to European Baroque music ...
instrumental and vocal ensembles,
Christian Immler,
Makoto Sakurada,
Carolyn Sampson, . Label:
BIS Records, 2016
Videography
*
Leonard Bernstein, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Arleen Auger, Frederica von Stade, Frank Lopardo, Cornelius Hauptmann. Label: Deutsche Grammophon, 2006
References
Notes
Sources
*
Further reading
* Black, David (2007) "Mozart and the Practice of Sacred Music, 1781–91". PhD diss., Harvard University, 84–126.
*
Solomon, Maynard (1995) ''Mozart: A Life''.
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...
.
External links
*
*
*
h2g2
The h2g2 website is a British-based collaborative online encyclopedia project. It describes itself as "an unconventional guide to life, the universe, and everything", in the spirit of the fictional publication '' The Hitchhiker's Guide to ...
br>
"Mozart's Mass in C Minor"Mozart, Great Mass in C minor preface (German/English) of the completion by Benjamin-Gunnar Cohrs (2010)
{{authority control
1783 compositions
Masses by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Unfinished musical compositions
Musical compositions completed by others
Compositions in C minor