; plural: Missae breves) usually refers to a Mass composition that is short because part of the text of the Mass ordinary that is usually set to music in a full

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

is left out, or because its execution time is relatively short.

Full mass with a relatively short execution time

The concise approach is found in the mostly syllabic settings of the

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

, and in the custom of "telescoping" (or simultaneous singing by different

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound produ ...

s) in 18th-century Masses. After the period when all church music was performed

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

, a short execution time usually also implied modest forces for performance, that is: apart from Masses in the "brevis et solemnis" genre.

Polyphony

* Orlande de Lassus: ('Hunters' Mass') * Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina:

Missa Brevis ; plural: Missae breves) usually refers to a mass (music), Mass composition that is short because part of the text of the Mass ordinary that is usually set to music in a full Mass (liturgy), Mass is left out, or because its execution time is rel ...

Andrea Gabrieli Andrea Gabrieli (1532/1533Bryant, Grove online – August 30, 1585) was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance music, Renaissance. The uncle of the somewhat more famous Giovanni Gabrieli, he was the first internationally renowned ...

: Missa brevis quatuor vocum * Gaspar van Weerbeke:

Missa brevis ; plural: Missae breves) usually refers to a mass (music), Mass composition that is short because part of the text of the Mass ordinary that is usually set to music in a full Mass (liturgy), Mass is left out, or because its execution time is rel ...

Classical period

For composers of the classical period such as Mozart, meant "short in duration" – as opposed to (long Mass), a term that

Leopold Mozart Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (November 14, 1719 – May 28, 1787) was a German composer, violinist, and music theorist. He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook ''Versuch einer grün ...

used for his son's K. 262 – rendering the complete words of the liturgy. As the words were well known some composers had different voice parts recite simultaneously different sections of long texts. This is especially characteristic of Austrian Masses in the Gloria and the Credo. * Johann Georg Albrechtsberger: Mass in D major (A.I.11, 1783), ''Missa Sancti Augustini'' (A.I.17, 1784) * Carl Heinrich Biber: '' Missa brevis sanctorum septem dolorum B.V.M.'' (1731) * František Brixi: '' Missa aulica'', '' Missa brevis in C'' *

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

: '' Missa brevis in F'' (1749) and ''Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo'' (''Little Organ Mass'') (1775), among others *

Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 1737 – 10 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohra ...

: provided alternative "brevis" settings for the Gloria and the Credo in his *

, including some Missae breves formerly attributed to his son Wolfgang Amadeus *

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

– Brevis: K. 49, K. 65, K. 140, K. 192, K. 194, K. 275; Brevis et solemnis: K. 220, K. 257, K. 258, K. 259; Alternatively indicated as brevis or longa: K. 317

19th century

* Alexandre Guilmant: Messe brève, Op.9 (1856) * Johann Gustav Eduard Stehle: ''Kurze und leichte Messe'', Op.50 (''Short and Easy Mass in Honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary'', 1883)

Kyrie–Gloria Masses

Partial settings are seen in both the Roman and Lutheran traditions, where many works consist of the

Kyrie ', a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of ('' Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, , "Lord, have mercy" derives from a Biblical phrase. Greek , ...

and Gloria. These masses came to be called ''Missae breves'' because they are shorter in words, the opposite being '' Missae totae'' (complete Masses).

Baroque period

Protestant liturgies did not have a mandated set of Mass ordinary sections to be included in a Mass composition. Thus, in addition to settings of all five sections (e.g. Hieronymus Praetorius, Christoph Demantius), there are many (short masses) that include settings of only the Kyrie, Gloria, and Sanctus (e.g. Stephan Otto, Andreas Hammerschmidt). From the early 17th century, many consist only of Kyrie and Gloria sections, e.g. those by Bartholomäus Gesius (eight out of ten Masses included in his 1611 ''Missae ad imitationem cantionum Orlandi''). In the second half of the 17th century the Kyrie–Gloria ''Kurzmesse'' was the prevalent type in Lutheranism, with composers like Sebastian Knüpfer,

Christoph Bernhard Christoph Bernhard (1 January 1628 – 14 November 1692) was born in Kolberg, Pomerania, and died in Dresden. He was a German Baroque composer and musician. He studied with former Sweelinck-pupil Paul Siefert in Danzig (now Gdańsk) and in W ...

, Johann Theile, Friedrich Zachow and Johann Philipp Krieger. Gottfried Vopelius included a Kyrie–Gloria Mass in

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

on pages 421 to 423 of his ''Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch'' (1682), introducing its Gloria as "... what the old church has done furthermore in praise of the Holy Trinity". In the first half of the 18th century Kyrie–Gloria Masses could also be seen as a Catholic/Lutheran crossover, for example for

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

: not only did he transform one of Palestrina's a cappella missae totae in such a Kyrie–Gloria Mass for use in Lutheran practice, he also composed one in this format for the Catholic court in Dresden. * Dietrich Buxtehude: Missa brevis, BuxWV 114 * Johann Theile:

* Johann Kuhnau's Mass in F major (Mügeln Mass), the only extant Mass composition of this composer, is a ''Kurzmesse''. * Friedrich Wilhelm Zachow: '' Missa super Christ lag in Todesbanden'' *

Antonio Caldara Antonio Caldara ( – 28 December 1736) was an Italian Baroque composer. Life Caldara was born in Venice (exact date unknown), the son of a violinist. He became a chorister at St Mark's in Venice, where he learned several instruments, probab ...

: '' Missa Providentiae'' * Jan Dismas Zelenka wrote and acquired many Kyrie–Gloria Masses for the

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

court, all of them later expanded into a Missa tota or into a Missa senza credo. For example, around 1728 Zelenka expanded Caldara's ''Missa Providentiae'' into a Missa tota, basing a Sanctus and Agnus Dei on Caldara's composition, and adding a newly composed . *

Johann Ludwig Bach Johann Ludwig Bach ( – 1 May 1731) was a German composer and violinist. He was born in Thal (Ruhla) near Eisenach. At the age of 22 he moved to Meiningen eventually being appointed cantor there, and later Kapellmeister. He wrote a large amoun ...

: Missa super cantilena "Allein Gott in der Höh' sei Ehr", JLB 38 (1716), for some time attributed to Johann Nikolaus Bach. The Gloria section of this Mass intersperses the Latin text with all four stanzas of " Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr" as cantus firmus. The first measures of that section were amended by J. S. Bach in his Leipzig copy of the work (1729, BWV Anh. 166). Klaus Hofmann (editor)
''Johann Nikolaus Bach: Missa brevis Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr''.
Carus Verlag, 1976 (²1993)Maria Zadori, Lena Susanne Norin, Guy de Mey, Klaus Mertens, Veronika Winter, Gundula Anders, Hans Jörg Mammel, Hans-Joachim Weber, Annette Schneider, Rheinische Kantorei, Das Kleine Konzert and Hermann Max (conductor)
''Johann Ludwig Bach: Trauermusik (für Soli, Doppelchor, 2 Orchester)''.
Capriccio, 2011
at * Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: for five voices and orchestra (1732) *

wrote five Kyrie–Gloria masses: in 1733 he wrote the Mass for the Dresden court (quarter of a century later expanded into the Mass in B minor), and around 1738 he wrote four so-called ''Lutherische Messen'', BWV 233–236. Kyrie–Gloria Masses Bach copied from other composers include and 167.Kirsten Beißwenger (ed.
''Werke zweifelhafter Echtheit, Bearbeitungen fremder Kompositionen''
(Volume 9 of Series II: Masses, Passions, Oratorios from the New Bach Edition).

Bärenreiter Bärenreiter (Bärenreiter-Verlag) is a German classical music publishing house based in Kassel. The firm was founded by Karl Vötterle (1903–1975) in Augsburg in 1923, and moved to Kassel in 1927, where it still has its headquarters; it ...

, 2000. *

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is one of the most prolific composers in history, at least in terms of surviving works. Telemann was considered by his contemporaries to b ...

: several Kyrie–Gloria Masses, including Missa sopra 'Ach Gott im Himmel sieh darein', TWV 9:1, Missa sopra 'Durch Adams Fall ist ganz', TWV 9:4, Missa sopra 'Ein Kindelein so löbelich', TWV 9:5, Missa sopra 'Erbarm dich mein o Herre Gott', TWV 9:6, Missa sopra 'Es wird schier der letzte Tag herkommen', TWV 9:7 and Missa sopra 'Komm heiliger Geist', TWV 9:11 * Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel wrote several Masses consisting of a Kyrie and Gloria exclusively, including a '' Deutsche Messe'' (words in German) and a ''Missa Canonica'' (all movements as

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

s – this mass exists in several versions).Stölzel, Gottfried Heinrich: 14 Geistliche Gesänge; V (X), Coro, orch, bc, 1740–1770 (1740–1770)
at SBB website

19th century

* Antonio Bencini: '' Messa in pastorale'' (1810) *

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

: '' Messa di Gloria'' (1820)

Other partial settings

Some Mass settings consisting of only three or four sections of the Mass ordinary can be indicated with a specific name, rather than with the generic Missa brevis name: * Missa (in) tempore (Adventus et) Quadragesimae: without Gloria * Missa senza credo: without Credo * Missa ferialis: without Gloria and Credo Masses written for the Anglican liturgy often have no Credo (usually recited by the congregation and rarely sung to a choral setting in

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

services) and no Agnus Dei. For American denominations, the Sanctus is usually without Benedictus. The Gloria section may be moved to the end of the composition. Some Masses in this category are rather to be seen as incomplete, while the composer did not write all the movements that were originally planned, or while some movements went lost, but the extant part of the composition found its way to liturgical or concert practice recast as a Brevis. Whatever the reason for omitting part of the text of the Mass ordinary from the musical setting, the umbrella term for such Masses became Missa brevis. Partial Mass settings that are not a Kyrie–Gloria Mass include: * Johannes Ockeghem: Missa Sine Nomine (Kyrie – Gloria – Credo) *

Antonio Lotti Antonio Lotti (5 January 1667 – 5 January 1740) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. Biography Lotti was born in Venice, although his father Matteo was ''Kapellmeister'' at Hanover at the time. Oral tradition says that in 1682, Lotti be ...

: ''Missa brevis'' in F, ''Missa brevis'' in D Minor (Kyrie – Sanctus & Benedictus – Agnus Dei settings) * The three ('' Windhaager Messe'', '' Kronstorfer Messe'' and '' Messe für den Gründonnerstag''), all partial settings which Bruckner composed between 1842 and 1844, were intended for the celebration of the mass in the villages Windhaag and Kronstorf, where he was schoolteacher's assistant. *

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

: – the composers only attempt to set the Mass, is composed of Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei only, a fourth movement, the Credo believed to have been completed five years after the other movements, is lost. * Léo Delibes: ''Messe brève'' (1875, no Credo) * Gabriel Fauré: '' Messe des pêcheurs de Villerville'' (1881, includes two movements composed by André Messager – partial setting); '' Messe basse'' (1906, based on the parts composed by Fauré of the former – Kyrie, Sanctus/Benedictus and Agnus Dei only) *

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

: '' Messe des pauvres'' (mid 1890s, Kyrie apparently incomplete, Gloria missing, several other non-Ordinary movements composed) * William Lloyd Webber: '' Missa Princeps Pacis'' for

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and organ (1962, no Credo) * Ralph Vaughan Williams, '' Cambridge Mass'' for SATB, double chorus & orchestra, 1899 (Sets only the Credo and Sanctus)

Brevis for various reasons

From the late 19th century Missa brevis (or French: "Messe brève") may refer to a Mass composition with any combination of the following characteristics: (1) short execution time, (2) limited forces for performance, (3) leaving out part of the Mass ordinary and/or (4) the composition is incomplete so that the extant complete parts are seen as a Missa brevis. A Mass being short in this sense does however not exclude that sections based on texts outside the Mass ordinary are added to the composition (like the O Salutaris Hostia in several of Gounod's Messes brèves).

19th century

As concert performance of liturgical works outside a liturgical setting increased, for some of the composers the brevis/solemnis distinction is about the breves, which not always needed professional performers, being intended for actual liturgical use, while a Missa solemnis was rather seen as a concert piece for professional performers, that could be performed outside an actual Mass celebration, similar to how an oratorio would be staged. *

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

: ** CG 63: ''Vokalmesse pour la fête de l'Annonciation'' in C minor (five voices a cappella, 1843) ** CG 64: Mass No. 1 in A major (three voice parts and organ, 1844) ** CG 65: Mass No. 2 in C major (no Credo, 1845 – publ. 1872), and later revision Messe brève No. 5 en ut majeur à trois voix d'hommes, soli et choeurs ( ''Messe Brève aux séminaires'' – 1870, rev. & publ. 1892) ** CG 66: Messe brève et salut pour 4 voix d'hommes in C minor, Op. 1 ( 1845, publ. 1846) ** CG 67: Messe à 4 voix d'hommes No. 2 in C major (without Gloria, incomplete, c. 1845) ** CG 68: Messe à 4 voix d'hommes No. 3 in A minor (without Gloria, only Kyrie extant, c. 1845) ** CG 69: Messe à 5 voix libres in E minor (incomplete, c. 1848 – Kyrie published in 1878) ** CG 70: Messe No. 1 à 3 voix d'hommes in C minor (''aux Orphéonistes'', 1853) ** CG 71: Messe brève No. 2 pour choeur d'hommes in G major ('' Messe pour les sociétés chorales'', 1862), and its later revisions: Messe No. 3 à trois voix égales (''Messe aux communautés religieuses'', c. 1882, publ. 1891) and pour solistes choeur et orgue (1890, publ. 1893) ** CG 72: Messe brève No. 4 à deux voix égales ('' Messe à la Congrégation des dames auxiliatrice de l'Immaculée-Conception'', no Credo – 1876), revision as Messe brève No. 7 ''aux chapelles'' (1890, publ. 1893) ** CG 73: ''Messe des anges gardiens'' in C major (SATB soloists and choir, 1872) ** CG 74: ''Messe à la mémoire de Jeanne d'Arc libératrice et martyre'' in F major (no Credo 1886–1887) ** CG 78 and 79: Messe brève pour les morts en fa majeur (Introit/Kyrie – Sanctus – Pie Jesu – Agnus Dei, 1871 – publ. 1873), and a later reworking (1875) ** CG 147b: Messe funèbre in F major (Kyrie – Sanctus – Pie Jesu – Agnus Dei, 1865 – publ. 1883) is a

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

by Jules Dormois of Gounod's ''Les Sept paroles de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ sur la croix''

20th century

* Richard Rodney Bennett: Missa Brevis (1990) * Lennox Berkeley: Missa Brevis, Op. 57 (1960) * Leonard Bernstein:

(1989 – without Credo) * Benjamin Britten:

(1959 – without Credo) * Lorenzo Ferrero: Missa Brevis, for five voices and two synthesizers (1975) * Vivian Fine: Missa Brevis for Four Cellos and Taped Voice (1972) * : for three-part mixed choir *

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (, ; , ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education. ...

: Missa Brevis for soloists, chorus and organ (1942, 1948) * Lowell Liebermann: Missa Brevis, Op. 15 (1985) * Frank Martin * Vytautas Miškinis: Missa Brevis "Pro pace" * Knut Nystedt:

, Op. 102 (1984) * Stephen Paulus *

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...

: Missa Brevis (1969) * William Walton: Missa brevis, for double mixed chorus and organ (1966) * Christopher Wood: Missa Brevis, for choir and organ * Philip Stopford: Keble Missa Brevis, for the choir and organ of Keble College, Oxford (1997)

21st century

* Carlotta Ferrari: Missa brevis canonica (2017), Missa brevis cantilena (2017), Missa brevis gregoriana (2017), Missa brevis per baritono e organo (2017), Missa brevis minima (2023) * Andrew Ford: Missa Brevis for SATB choir and organ (2015) * Douglas Knehans: Missa Brevis for SATB and organ (2010) *

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in p ...

: for eight cellos (Kyrie – Sanctus – Agnus Dei, 2009–2010)Arvo Pärt: Missa brevis
at Universal Edition * Krzysztof Penderecki: Missa brevis for chorus a capella (2013) * Gerhard Präsent: ''Missa minima'' (2001)

References

Sources

* {{cite book , last1=Rimbach , first1=Evangeline , date=2005 , chapter=The Sacred Vocal Music of Johann Kuhnau , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVKHZaLFUkAC&pg=PA83 , editor1-last=Messerli , editor1-first=Carlos R. , title=Thine the Amen: Essays on Lutheran Church Music in Honor of Carl Schalk , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVKHZaLFUkAC , others= Marty, Martin E. (Foreword) , publisher=Kirk House Publishers , pages=83–110 , isbn=9781932688115 Christian liturgical music