Mass in C minor (K.427/417a)

Mozart’s incomplete Mass in C minor has been the subject of much debate since its composition in 1782–3. It was planned as a wedding present and tribute to the composer’s wife Constanze—Mozart wrote to his father on 4 January 1783 to say that he had vowed to write the work in her honour. The premiere, and the only liturgical performance involving the Mozarts, took place in Salzburg Cathedral on 26 October 1783, with Constanze singing the solo soprano part. By then, Mozart had completed the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Osanna, and Benedictus. On his return to Vienna, he went further, sketching out part of the Credo (up to the end of the ‘Et incarnatus’) and the Agnus Dei, but, without a powerful incentive, he soon laid the work aside. Most scholars have assumed that it was lack of time that prevented Mozart from composing all six movements of the standard Missa solemnis. But the editor of the recent Novello edition, Philip Wilby and his colleague, the liturgist Fr. Peter Allan CR, disagree. As they write in their preface, ‘[this incomplete score] may be explained by the liturgical practice in Mozart’s day. It was not usual to sing the Agnus Dei at a choral mass with orchestra, nor the Credo, except on Sundays and certain major festivals . . . We may assume then that Mozart had provided all the material required at the mass’s first performance.’

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