K. 427/417a

Missa in C minor

Origin: Vienna, July 1782-May 1783
Scoring: S, S, T, B, SSAATTBB, flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, 3 trombones, strings, organ

The first performance of Mozart's Mass in C Minor took place in St. Peter's Abbey, Salzburg.

This fragment stands out among Mozart's compositions for several reasons, the most perplexing being that it was not produced in response to a commission. No one really knows what prompted him to begin -- then set aside -- this truly magnificent work.

It may have been inspired by guilt over the falling out with his father, his move to Vienna, and his marriage -- against Leopold's wishes -- to Constanze. It may have been inspired by a fascination with the cantata-like masses of J.S. Bach, to which Mozart might have been recently introduced.

Mozart completed the Kyrie, the Gloria, the Credo as far as the Et incarnatus, and left incomplete drafts of the Sanctus and the Benedictus. The second part of the Credo and the entire Agnus Dei are missing.


Leopold Mozart	Constanze Mozart

Mozart mentioned the work in a letter to his father in January, 1783. Leopold had reminded his son of his pledge to visit Salzburg. "I made a promise in my heart of hearts," Mozart replied, "and hope to be able to keep it." He continued: "The score of half a mass, which is still lying here waiting to be finished, is the best proof that I really made the promise." He and Constanze visited Salzburg later that year, and Mozart conducted a performance of the incomplete work at St. Peter's Abbey on October 26, probably filling in the missing parts with movements from his other masses. Tradition has it that Constanze sang one of the soprano parts.

The visit to Salzburg yielded few other positive results. There was no patching up the break between Mozart and his father, and to make matters worse both Leopold and Mozart's sister, Maria Anna, gave Mozart's bride a chilly reception.

After this visit, the composer never returned to Salzburg. And though the music of the C Minor Mass was later recycled as the cantata Davidde Penitente, the work itself was never finished and faded into obscurity, to be revived only in this century.

Recommended recordings:

Mozart: Mass in C minor, K. 427, Sony SK 46671
Mozart: Mass in C minor, K. 427/Kyrie in D minor, K. 341, EMI CDC 54099 2
Mozart: Messe en ut mineur, Harmonia Mundi HMX 2901393

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