Mass in G major, K. 49

The Mass in G major (K. 49/47d) is the first full mass composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is a missa brevis scored for SATB soloists, SATB choir, violin I and II, viola, and basso 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:

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

References

  1. ↑ Einstein, Alfred (1945). Mozart: His Character, His Work. p. 326.
  2. ↑ Eisen, Cliff; Keefe, Simon, eds. (2006). The Cambridge Mozart Encyclopedia. p. 272.
  3. ↑ Melograni, Piero (2007). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: A Biography. p. 27.
  4. ↑ Maragh-Ablinger, Renate. Wolfgang Amade Mozart. p. 51.

External links

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