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K. 49/47d

Missa brevis in G

Very little is known about the composition of this Mass, except that it seems to have taken place in Vienna. Alfred Einstein writes: "As early as the G major Mass Mozart had perceived the principal problem in the composition of the Gloria and the Credo: the unification of these long movements full of contrast; and especially in the Gloria he had provided an astounding example of such unification: not by the external means of employing a reiterated violin-figure, but by the relationship of all the melodic motives." Stanley Sadie notes that the Mass is "a brisk setting of the kind preferred for everyday liturgical use; it has only one, brief fugue, and its most interesting feature is the 'Et incarnatus' chorus with a light, ethereal texture and a chromatic treatment of 'passus et sepultus est'."

Recommended recordings:

• Mozart: Masses K. 49, 65, 140, 220 & Church Sonatas, EMI CDC 7 54100 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.