Classical Music Discoveries

Mozart’s “Great Mass in C minor” is the common name of the last musical setting of a Mass by Mozart, not counting the unfinished Requiem Mass. The “Great Mass” was composed in Vienna in 1782 and 1783 when Amadeus was no longer a church musician of the Salzburg Cathedral. This large-scale work is scored for 2 soprano soloists, a tenor and a bass, a double chorus and large orchestra. The Mass was not completed since portions of the Credo were missing and the entire Agnus Dei. It remains unclear as to why the work remained uncompleted. Possibly because the Mass had fulfilled its underlying purpose for Mozart. In a letter to Mozart’s father, Leopold, dated January 4, 1783, Amadeus writes he had made a vow to write a Mass in order to influence his then fiancée, Constanze to come to Salzburg and sing as one of the two soprano soloists. Since she did come to him, married him and sang her solo at the premiere, perhaps Amadeus saw no need to finished the remaining uncompleted parts of the Mass. So, it appears that the entire reason for this famous masterpiece was actually a ploy to tempt his fiancée to marry Amadeus in Salzburg. Once his mission was completed, there was no real need to finish the Mass. A work of unheralded genius, composed out of pure love for Constanze, we are pleased to present to you the “Great Mass in C minor” conducted by Sir Neville Marriner and performed by the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. We also want to remind you that this performance is available on Amazon and Itunes. https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/album/mass-in-c-minor-k.427-grosse/id4568403?i=4568350&mt=1&app=music&at=1l3vtgU