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 ...

's Mass in G major, K. 49/47d), is his first 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 ...

. It is a

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 ...

scored for

SATB In music, SATB is a scoring of compositions for choirs or consorts of instruments consisting of four voice types: soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Choral music Four-part harmony using soprano, alto, tenor and bass is a common scoring in classic ...

soloists and choir, violin I and II, viola, and

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

. Mozart wrote the Mass in

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

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 ' (complete title in historical spelling: '; The Obligation of the First and Foremost Commandment), Köchel-Verzeichnis, K. 35, is a sacred musical play (''geistliches Singspiel'') composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1767 when he was 11 years o ...

'' had been premiered in the previous year.

History

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

Religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for Religion, religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as a ri ...

at the time was increasingly influenced by opera and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

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.

Movements

The six movements of the mass follow the traditional

Order of Mass Order of Mass is an outline of a Mass celebration, describing how and in what order liturgical texts and rituals are employed to constitute a Mass. The expression Order of Mass is particularly tied to the Roman Rite where the sections under that ...

: : Kyrie ''Adagio'', G major, :: "Kyrie eleison" ''Andante'', G major, : Gloria ''Allegro'', G major, : Credo ''Allegro'', G major, :: "Et incarnatus est" ''Poco adagio'', C major, :: "Et resurrexit" ''Allegro'' – ''Adagio'' – ''Allegro'', G major, :: "Et in Spiritum Sanctum" ''Andante'', C major, ;

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

solo :: "Et in unam sanctam" ''Allegro'' – ''Adagio'' – ''Allegro'' – ''Adagio'', G major, and :: "Et vitam venturi" ''Allegro'', G major, : Sanctus ''Andante'', G major, ::"Pleni sunt coeli et terra" ''Allegro'', G major, :: "Hosanna in excelsis" ''Allegro'', G major, : Benedictus ''Andante'', C major, ; soloist

quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

:: "Hosanna in excelsis" ''Allegro'', G major, : Agnus Dei ''Adagio'', E minor, :: "Dona nobis pacem" ''Allegro'', G major,

Recordings

1988:

Edith Mathis Edith Mathis (; 11 February 19389 February 2025) was a Swiss soprano known for her roles in List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart's operas. Early in her career, Cherubino in ''Le nozze di Figaro'' was her signature role that she perf ...

(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 ''The Complete Mozart Edition '' is a 180-CD collection released in 1990–91 featuring all works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (known at the set's publication) assembled by Philips Classics Records to commemorate the bicentenary of the death of Moz ...

'', Volume 19 "Missae and Requiem").

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mass in G major, K. 049 Masses by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 1768 compositions Compositions in G major