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K. 258

Missa brevis in C, "Spaur"

	Kyrie
	Missa brevis in C, "Spaur"
	© 1985 Phonogram International B.V.
	412 232-2

The complete title of this Mass is "Missa brevis et solemnis": "That is to say," writes German musicologist Wolf Kunold, "concise in the form of the movements and short in duration, but with a more extensive orchestration."

Kunold goes on to write that "in the Gloria Mozart manages to do without every traditional insertion, contrapuntal detail, and repetition of text; the 'Et incarnatus' is included in the Credo as merely a trio. The expressively lyrical Adagio with its opening tenor solo, nevertheless, certainly ranks among the finest moments in Mozart's liturgical compositions of the Salzburg period."

Though the manuscript indicates that this was written in late 1776 as part of a group of three Masses, including the Missa in C, "Credo" (K. 257) and the Missa brevis in C, "Organ Solo" (K. 259), recent research shows that the dates have been tampered with. The dates used here, from Neal Zaslaw's book, are based on watermark analysis.

The revised date makes the Mass' traditional nickname meaningless: It was once thought to have been written for the December, 1776, consecration of Friedrich Franz Joseph Count von Spaur, later a dean of the cathedral of Salzburg. It also is known by the nickname "Piccolomini," the meaning of which is obscure. It may be a corruption of piccolo (little), in reference to the work's brevity.

Recommended recordings:

• Mozart: Masses K. 257-259/Church Sonatas K. 244, 263, EMI CDC 7 54037 2

References:

• Einstein, Alfred. Mozart, His Character, His Work. New York, 1962.
• Giegling, Weinmann and Sievers, eds. Chronologisch-thematisches Verzeichnis samtlicher Tonwerke Wolfgang Amadé Mozarts, 6th edition. Wiesbaden, 1964.
• Sadie, Stanley. The New Grove Mozart. New York, 1983.
• Zaslaw, Neal, and Cowdery, William, eds. The Compleat Mozart. New York, 1990.