An unusual feature of this Mass is its cyclic form, a compositional principle which Mozart first introduced in his masses in this "Mass in C": in the Agnus Dei ("Dona nobis pacem") he reverted to the music of the Kyrie, thus giving the Mass overall musical unity. Another unusual feature of this work is its popular character. This is evident both in its catchy themes and in its relatively straigthforward musical structure.
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Composer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
| 1756-1791As the son of the deputy Kapellmeister to the Salzburg Prince-Archbishop, Mozart was constantly surrounded by church music in his youth. On his travels Mozart became familiar with Italian church music, and later in Vienna he studied the works of Bach and Handel. After moving to Vienna he was faced with the new challenges of composing opera and piano concertos, and significantly the “C Minor Mass” KV 427, the greatest sacred work of the first Vienna years, remained unfinished. The last period of his life again shows a change of direction to church music: Mozart successfully applied to succeed the terminally ill Leopold Hoffmann as Kapellmeister at St Stephen's Cathedral, but he was unable to take up the position as he died before Hoffmann. A gem such as the “Ave verum” KV 618 and the incomplete Requiem KV 626 give us an idea of what Mozart might have achieved as a composer of sacred music if he had taken up this important position. Personal details
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Editor
Berthold Over
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