Hot Picks Mozart Missa C minor K. 139 (47a) “Waisenhaus Mass”

Editor: Senn, Walter

Orchestral scoring : SSolo/ASolo/TSolo/BSolo/Mixed choir-SATB/2Ob/2Trp/2Trp/3trombone/timpani/2V/2Va/Bassi(Vc/double bass/bassoon)/Org

Product format: score, Urtext edition

Binding: Paperback

Pages / Format: 32,5 x 25,5 cm

Mozart had barely turned twelve when he composed and conducted his Missa solemnis in C minor, K.139, to inaugurate a new orphanage on Vienna’s Rennweg in 1768.

This astonishing early work adheres to the form of a Neapolitan cantata mass, in which the separate movements (“Gloria”, “Credo” etc.) are themselves made up of self-contained choruses, ariosos and ensembles.

This frequently heard Mass is characterized by a sharp contrast between its cheerful underlying C major mood and gloomy dramatic passages in the minor mode.