Orphanage fair

The orphanage church where twelve year old Mozart conducted his composition in 1768

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Mass in C minor KV 139 (KV ³ 114a / KV ⁶ 47a) is called the orphanage mass , on the assumption that it was composed for the inauguration of the orphanage church in Vienna on December 7, 1768 . The period of origin could be narrowed down to 1768/69 through investigations on the autograph (watermark and format).

First performance

Mozart's composition was performed at a solemn mass (the first to be read in the new church) and, from the musical point of view, due to the orchestra and composition of the composition, it can be described as a Missa solemnis .

Plant the composition

Mozart used the form of the cantata mass . Arias , duets and choirs are the external characteristics here. The sections Cum sancto spiritu of Gloria and Et vitam venturi saeculi of Credo are each composed as a fugue .

The slow parts of the mass are almost all composed in a minor key: The opening of the Kyrie ( Adagio ) which Qui tollis of Gloria (f minor), the pastoral Et incarnatus est , the Crucifixus and finally the start of the Agnus Dei be their central liturgical significance is additionally emphasized by slow tempos.

Other parts of Mozart's orphanage fair are very close to the expressive means of expression used in contemporary opera.

Associated offertory

For the cycle of the Ordinarium Missae , Mozart set a part of the Proprium Missae to music, in keeping with the solemn occasion : the Offertorium “Benedictus sit Deus” KV 117 (KV ³ / KV ⁶ 66a = 47b). Two movements for choir and orchestra frame a movement for solo soprano and orchestra. The instrumentation corresponds to the setting of the Ordinarium. Another example of the expressive “operatic style” within the composition is the last movement of the offertory, and there especially the closing bars over the words “Jubilate”.

See also

• orphan
• Orphanage

Web links

• Missa in c KV 139 : Score and critical report in the New Mozart Edition
• “Benedictus sit Deus” Offertory KV 117 : Score and critical report in the New Mozart Edition

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Waisenhauskirche (3) in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna