Maurerische Trauermusik
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The Maurerische Trauermusik (or Masonic Funeral Music) in C minor, K. 477 (K. 479a), for orchestra, was a piece composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1785 in his capacity as a member of the Freemasons. The piece was composed for a Masonic service held on November 17, 1785 in memory of Mozart's Masonic brethren, Duke Georg August of Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Count Franz Esterházy von Galántha, members of the Viennese aristocracy. The instrumental version of the Maurerische Trauermusik received its premiere later, in a concert on December 9, 1785.
The Maurerische Trauermusik illustrates the "quasi-religious underpinnings of the masonic movement expressed through the music’s majestic solemnity."[1] The Maurerische Trauermusik is unusual in other respects, including its use of the Gregorian chant, Tonus peregrinus, and its inclusion of the basset horn.
