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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)
General Info
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Born in Salzburg Austria in 1756
Son of Leopold and Maria Anna Mozart
Mozart was educated by his father
Started playing music at age 4
First composition at age 5
Performed for royalty at ages 5 and 6
Played before Louis XV at age 9
Church Music
• Began composing church music at age 12
• In late teens/early twenties he worked for
Archbishop Hieronymous Colloredo of
Salzburg
• His masses were written for use in
worship, not for performance
• Archbishop insisted that mass not be
prolonged by music and stay with 3
quarters of an hour
Some Sacred Compositions Include:
• 2 litanies—one in honor of the Blessed
Sacrament, one in honor of the Blessed
Virgin
• 17 single movement works written for
performance between the Epistle and the
Gospel
• 2 settings of the five Psalms and the
Magnificat required for celebrating solemn
Vespers
• Many masses written for use in worship
Mozart Missa
C Minor
KV 427
1783
Credo in unum Deum
Poietical Analysis
• Created by the composer for his wife as a
wedding gift
• Because it was never finished, only parts
of it were performed
• First performance was october 26 at St.
Peter’s
• Marriage to Constanze
• Death of firstborn
• Great success in Austria including several
performances, even one in front of the
emperor
• Several new pieces created during this
time
• Mass never being finished suggests that
it’s a minor work
• Written during anxious period in his life
Eisthesic analysis
• Considered both a major and a minor work
because of its incompletion
• Was meant to be used at mass; however,
could not be due to time restrictions by the
archbishop. Thus mostly sung in
performance setting.
• Some believe that it was unfinished
because of Haydn and Bach, suggesting
that he was trying to keep up with them
Bibliography
Dyer, Joseph: ‘Roman Catholic Church Music, §IV,
4: The 18th Century: Salzburg & the church
music of Mozart’, Grove Music Online (Accessed
9 April 2006) <www.grovemusic.com>
Eisen, Cliff: ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, §1:
Ancestry and early childhood’, Grove Music
Online (accessed 9 April 2006)
<www.grovemusic.com>
Eisen, Cliff: ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, §2:
Travels, 1763-73’, Grove Music Online
(accessed 9 April 2006) <www.grovemusic.com>