Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

(27 January 1756, Salzburg, Austria – 5 December 1791, Vienna)

   Renowned chiefly for his consummate mastery of every kind of secular music of the late 18th century, Mozart’s contribution to the sacred repertory, while clearly secondary, is hardly insignificant: his eight masses, nine missae breves, two Kyrie movements, four litanies, two vespers, two oratorios, six cantatas, 17 "Epistle sonatas," four litanies and about 24 motets represent over a tenth of the Köchel catalog listing his works. Most of these were composed as a youth in the service of the archbishops of Salzburg, whom he served with his father from 1769 until his dismissal on 9 June 1781. The better known late works were usually composed for individual commissions, with the notable exception of the C minor mass K. 427 (January 1783, incomplete), written for personal reasons that remain obscure.

   Mozart composed his sacred music in an unabashed secular idiom of the late 18th century with full orchestrations and operatic vocal writing. Choral movements present an occasional fugue as a signal of their original liturgical purpose. Today this music is mostly heard in the concert hall. The best known works include an early threemovement motet Exultate, jubilate K. 165 (1773), the "Coronation" Mass K. 317 (1779), the C minor mass, the motet Ave Verum Corpus K. 618 (1791), and the Requiem mass K. 626 (1791).

   See also Messiah.