Here, as also in his earlier “Litte Credo Mass” KV 192, Mozart made use of a church music device which can be traced back in south-German and Austrian church music to the beginning of the 18th century: frequent repetition of the opening words of the Credo. This presupposes that the setting of the words of the intonation “Credo in unum Deum” as part of an ensemble composition, which for centuries had been intoned in plainsong by the priest, had become liturgically acceptable. It was only a small and syntactically logical step for the word Credo to be repeated before the individual articles of belief, thus strengthening the declaration of faith.
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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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Vocal score arranger
Mathias Siedel
| 1929-1991
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Preface writer
Christine Martin