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K. 337

Missa solemnis in C

When you consider the productivity of the preceding years, Mozart's musical output for 1780 seems strangely meager. The major works written this year include only one symphony, the Vesperae solennes de confessore in C (K. 339) and this Mass.

Of course, appearances can be deceiving. In the fall, Mozart began work on a major opera commission given to him by the Munich court: Idomeneo, rè di Creta (K. 366). Mozart, no doubt, was concentrating all of his musical energies on it, and not only because he was being given an opportunity to work in his favorite genre. Idomeneo also represented a very real opportunity to escape Salzburg and its much-despised "arch-booby" Count Hieronymus Colloredo.

Mozart would never return to live in his hometown after departing for the premiere of his opera in Munich. Therefore the Missa solemnis in C is his last Salzburg, "archiepiscopal," Mass; his final Mass except for two that he did not complete: the Missa in C minor (K. 427) and the Requiem in D minor (K. 626).

In this Mass, Mozart followed the archbishop's rule to the letter. It is as brief as possible. But "Mozart, by writing the first three movements in forms that would please the Archbishop, wished to lull him into a false sense of security," writes Alfred Einstein. "For the Benedictus is the most striking and revolutionary movement in all of Mozart's Masses -- an extended piece in the harsh key of A minor, in the strictest contrapuntal style ... in a certain sense a very 'churchly' piece indeed, and yet a blasphemous one. ... It is quite in line with the rebellious character of Mozart in 1780 that he combined the art of annoying Colloredo with the art of pursuing his own ideals, for this Mass, too, is full of intimate and surprising strokes, such as the symbolism at the Deum de Deo in the Credo, and the soft close of the Dona, which is anything but festive."

Recommended recordings:

• Mozart: Missa Solemnis K. 337/Litaniae K. 125, Teldec 4509-90494-2
• Mozart: Masses K. 317 & 337, etc., EMI CDC 7 49374 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.