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Mozart began work on a much more ambitious setting of the Mass text in the summer of 1782, after he had left the Archbishop's employ and no longer needed to write Mass settings. It remains unclear why he chose to start this setting; most of Mozart's compositional output was created in response to a specific need, whether that need was a commission, an upcoming concert, or an opportunity for publication. In the 1780's, Emperor Joseph II curtailed performances of complicated concerted church music to the court chapel and St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, so there would have been little opportunity to perform this work in Vienna. In addition, there is no evidence to suggest that he received a commission to perform this mass elsewhere. The mass is only mentioned once in Mozart's surviving correspondence: in a letter to his father, Mozart promised a Mass if he could bring his wife Constanze home to Salzburg. Constanze herself recalled that he promised to write a Mass after her safe recovery from the birth of their first child. It has been suggested that this Mass may have been intended as a peace offering to his estranged father, who objected to his marriage, and as a hymn of praise for his wife, who ultimately sang one of the soprano solos at the work's premiere, in the fall of 1783, at St. Peter's Abbey in Salzburg. (Mozart got around the Archbishop's restrictions on elaborate concert mass settings by performing the Kyrie, Gloria, and Sanctus of this work at a monastery outside of the Archbishop's jurisdiction, with an orchestra and chorus augmented from the Archbishop's ensemble.)

It is also unclear why Mozart chose to create a "cantata-style" mass. This style of composition developed originally in Naples in the late 17th century, and involved dividing the texts of the Mass movements into smaller chunks. Each chunk was treated as a movement which stood on its own, as opposed to the "through-composed" style where the entire text is sung from start to finish, without a break. Movements would often alternate between elaborate contrapuntal choral settings and operatic arias for one or more soloists. The cantata style was popular in southern Germany in the early 18th century, but by the 1780's, it was not possible to perform such large, elaborate settings in reform-minded Austria (among Haydn's many settings, for example, only the Cecilia Mass is set in the cantata style). Mozart loved opera and the theater, and this cantata style certainly had a natural appeal to him.

There may have been another source of inspiration for this work. Shortly after Mozart's arrival in Vienna in 1781, he made the acquaintance of the Baron Gottfried van Swieten. van Swieten was one of the first patrons to promote the music of past masters such as Handel and J.S. Bach, a novelty at a time when most concert music consisted of compositions by the performers themselves. van Swieten owned a copy of the complete score of Bach's extraordinary Mass in b S232, probably obtained after meeting Bach's son Carl Philip Emmanuel in Berlin. C.P.E. Bach actively promoted the Credo from his father's score, and from an early period connosieurs recognized the extraordinary effectiveness of Bach's Crucifixus section, where a vocal lament-like passage is heard over a figure repeated thirteen times in which the orchestral bass slowly descends, half step by half step, over the distance of a fourth.

It has been suggested that Mozart may have been moved to create this Mass in reaction to his first exposure to Bach and Handel. Mozart imitates Handel's dotted rhythms (the signal in Baroque France of the arrival of the King) in texts addressing the King of Kings. Mozart's Mass in c and Bach's Mass in b both have a rather impractical mix of choral deployments, with five-part choir with a second soprano part for modern-style choral writing, four-part choir for fugal movements, and double choir for the Osanna (though Mozart also adds double choir for the Qui tollis). The orchestral layout is a similarly idiosyncratic mix-and-match patchwork, with various members sitting out on various movements and a solo instrument in both works that has to wait through an hour of performance before accompanying a single aria. Mozart's setting has a number of movements where the bass section descends, half step by half step, over the distance of a fourth. And the choral fugues are among Mozart's first efforts to create counterpoint with Bach's complexity and subtlety. Thus, this may have been his first reaction and imitation of the Baroque style, much as he had imitated the locally popular styles when he toured Europe as a teenager.

One additional mystery surrounding the Mass is why Mozart abandoned work on it with only half of the text set. The score that Mozart left behind includes a complete setting of the Gloria movements. The manuscript of the Credo leaves off before the crucifixion sequence, and a Sanctus was set for chorus and a Benedictus was written for an ensemble of soloists. The ambitious Osanna was scored for double choir, but the manuscript does not include the second choir part; Alois Schmitt reconstructed these parts from the existing manuscripts around 1901. No evidence of work on an Agnus Dei setting survives from this period, apart from a few preliminary sketches.

The work was apparently halfway complete when Mozart performed it in Salzburg with his wife (what music, if any, Mozart used for the rest of that Mass service is unknown). Wolfgang and Constanze left Salzburg the day after the premiere, and Mozart never returned to his birthplace again. He also did not do any further work on the score after returning from Salzburg, though he did recycle this music to create a sacred cantata, Davidde penitente. It is possible that Leopold spurned his son's peace offering, and Mozart felt no compulsion to complete a setting that could not be performed in public. It is also possible that by the fall of 1783, Mozart had passed the creative crisis that he experienced after encountering Bach and Handel, and felt no need to further this compositional experiment.

Experiment or no, we can still be grateful for the music that did survive. The movements that have been handed down are not a mere slavish imitation of the Baroque compositional style; the arias in particular have a distinctly Mozartian operatic flavor. And Mozart would eventually incorporate the Baroque style into his own personal style in most dramatic fashion in his final Requiem.

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KYRIE
Kyrie: Chorus SATB; Solo Soprano; 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Strings, Continuo
Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.	Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us.
back to the top   GLORIA Gloria: Chorus SATB; 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Strings, Continuo
Gloria / in / excelsis / Deo. Glory / in / highest / to God. Et / in / terra / pax / hominibus / bonae / voluntatis. and / on / earth / peace / to men / of good / will.	Glory to God in the highest. and on earth peace to all those of good will.
Laudamus te: Solo Soprano; 2 Oboes, 2 Horns, Strings, Continuo
Laudamus te. Benedicimus te. Adoramus te. Glorificamus te.	We praise you, We bless you, We adore you, We glorify you.
Gratias: Chorus SSATB; 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, Strings, Continuo
Gratias / agimus / tibi / propter / magnam / gloriam / tuam. Thanks / we give / to you, / for / the great / glory / Yours.	We give thanks to You, according to Your great glory.
Domine Deus: Duet (Soprano 1 & 2); Strings, Continuo
Domine / Deus, / Rex / coelestis, / Deus / Pater / omnipotens. Lord / God / King / of heaven / God / Father / almighty Domine / Fili / unigenite, / Jesu / Christe. Lord / son / only-begotten / Jesus / Christ Domine / Deus, / Agnus / Dei, / Filius / Patris. Lord / God / lamb / of God / son / of father	Lord God, king of heaven, God the almighty Father. Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son. Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father.
Qui tollis: Double Chorus SATB/SATB; 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 3 Trombones, Strings, Continuo
Qui / tollis / peccata / mundi, / miserere / nobis. Who / remove / the sins / of the world, / have mercy / on us. Qui tollis peccata mundi, / suscipe / deprecationem / nostram. Who remove the sins of the world, / receive / entreaty / ours. Qui / sedes / ad / dexteram / Patris, / miserere nobis. Who / sits / at / the right hand / of the Father, / have mercy on us.	You who remove the sins of the world, have mercy on us. You who remove the sins of the world, receive our prayer. You who sits at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
Quoniam: Trio (Soprano 1 & 2, Tenor); 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, Strings, Continuo NB: The final sentence in this segment finishes with the text Jesu Christe. Mozart elected to cut off the phrase here, and reserve the completion of the sentence for the choir in the next movement.
Quoniam / tu / solus / Sanctus. because / you / alone / holy Tu / solus / Dominus. you / alone / Lord Tu / solus / Altissimus ... you / alone / highest	Because you alone are holy. You alone are the Lord. You alone are the highest, ...
Cum Sancto Spiritu: Chorus SATB; 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Strings, Continuo
... Jesu Christe. Cum sancto Spiritu in gloria Dei Patris, Amen.	... Jesus Christ. With the Holy Ghost in the glory of God the Father, Amen.
back to the top   CREDO Credo: Chorus SSATB; 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, Strings, Continuo NB: Mozart inserts the word Credo before the words et in unum Dominum and qui propter nos homines. These appear to mark structural divisions within the movement, rather than logical divisions in the liturgical text.
Credo / in / unum / Deum, I believe / in / one / God, Patrem / omnipotentem, Father / Almighty, factorem / coeli / et / terrae, maker / of heaven / and / earth, visibilium / omnium, / et / invisibilium. visible things / all / and / invisible things. Et / in / unum / Dominum / Jesum / Christum, And / in / one / Lord / Jesus / Christ Filium / Dei / unigenitum, Son / of God / only-begotten et / ex / Patre / natum / ante / omnia / saecula. and / from / Father / born / before / all / ages Deum / de / Deo, / lumen / de / lumine, God / from / God / light / from / light Deum / verum / de / Deo / vero. God / true / of / God / true Genitum, / non / factum, / consubstantialem / Patri: Begotten / not / made / of one substance / with the Father per / quem / omnia / facta / sunt. by / whom / all things / made / were Qui / propter / nos / homines, Who / for / us / men et / propter / nostram / salutem and / for / our / salvation descendit / de / caelis. descended / from / heavens	I believe in one God, the Almighty Father, maker of heaven and earth, and all things visible and invisible. And (I believe) in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, and born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God. Begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father: by whom all things were made. Who, for us and for our salvation descended from the heavens.
Et incarnatus est: Solo Soprano; Flute, Oboe, Bassoon, Strings, Continuo NB: Mozart abandoned work on the Credo movement after this section. In the liturgical Mass, the next section would be the Crucifixus.
Et / incarnatus / est / de / Spiritu / Sancto and / made flesh / was / by / Ghost / Holy ex / Maria / Virgine. / Et / homo / factus / est. from / Mary / Virgin / and / man / made / was	And was made flesh by the Holy Ghost from the Virgin Mary, and was made human.
back to the top   SANCTUS Sanctus: Double Chorus SATB/SATB; 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Timpani, Strings, Continuo
Sanctus, / Sanctus, / Sanctus, Holy / Holy / Holy Domine Deus Sabaoth, Lord / God / of Hosts pleni / sunt / caeli / et / terra / gloria / tua. filled / are / heavens / and / earth / glory / your Osanna in excelsis! Hosanna / in / highest	Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts, the heavens and earth are filled with your glory. Hosanna in the highest!
Benedictus Quartet (Soprano 1 & 2, Tenor, Bass); Double Chorus SATB/SATB; 2 Oboes, 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Timpani, Strings, Continuo NB: The Benedictus features the quartet of vocal soloists for the first verse. There is then an orchestral transition passage which leads to a repeat of the last fifteen bars of the Osanna from the preceding movement.
Benedictus / qui / venit / in / nomine / Domini. blessed / who / comes / in / name / of Lord Osanna in excelsis! Hosanna / in / highest	Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!
back to the top   A note on performing editions For many years after Mozart's death, the Mass in c was thought to be a lost fragment, surviving only in the cantata adaptation, Davidde penitente, K.469. The first published edition of the Mass did not come out until 1840, after editor Johann Anton André located the fragmentary autograph score along with incomplete performance parts discovered in a monastery in Bavaria. This edition included the Kyrie and Gloria, the two incompletely orchestrated movements of the Credo, and a single-choir, five-part setting of the Sanctus and Benedictus. The next significant step was the publication of a new edition in 1901. The Dresden Kapellmeister Alois Schmitt edited a complete mass, recycling movements from other Mozart masses (which were much simpler settings and did not fit well with the elaborate music of K.417a) to fill out the missing parts of the Credo, and created an Agnus Dei from scratch, modeled on the Kyrie. These reconstructions have since been discredited, but Schmitt also made the important realization that the orchestral parts to the Sanctus and Osanna implied a setting for double four-part chorus, instead of the single five-part choir in the André edition. Schmitt reconstructed the double choir setting from the extant instrumental parts, since the instruments mostly serve to double the choir in these movements. I know of two commercially available modern editions of the Mass score. The one in widest use was edited by H.C. Robbins Landon for Eulenberg, and published in 1956 as catalog number 983. Landon excised the Schmitt reconstruction of the Credo and Agnus movements, reducing the former to the two extant Mozart fragments, and left Schmitt's Sanctus reconstruction largely intact. This edition is available in the United States from Peters. The other edition, from Bärenreiter, includes a speculative reconstruction by the German composer Helmut Eder of the two Credo movements, the Sanctus, Osanna, and Benedictus movements.   back to the top

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