MASS IN D MAJOR, K194
INTRODUCTION
Following closely on “K192” is this mass, Mozart’s only one in D major, first performed on August 8, 1774, in the cathedral. It is scored identically for violins, bass, organ continuo, and three trombones doubling the alto, tenor, and bass voices, but is about five and one-half minutes shorter than its companion. There is not a trumpet in sight, either originally or later. I can imagine the archbishop taking young Mozart aside after its performance and saying, “Listen, you little twerp, I don’t want F; I don’t want D; I want my masses in C and I want trumpets and timpani”, as seven of the remaining eight Salzburg masses fulfill all three criteria.
KYRIE
The Kyrie, for chorus, is joyful and confident—a sort of processional march, and, like the same movement in “K192″, in straightforward three-part structure. It is so streamlined that the same theme is used for all three parts, though harmonically varied. The first “Kyrie eleison” begins with Type I block harmony. “Christe eleison” is decidedly Type II, and the second “Kyrie eleison” even more so—and considerably longer. The last statements of “Kyrie eleison” return to the block chords of the beginning.
GLORIA
Gloria, in duple time, presents, without a break in the brisk tempo, five efficient sections with few repeated words or phrases—like beads on a string. Much simpler in structure than the Gloria of “K192”, the sections begin at “Et In terra pax” (chorus, with separate fragments for “Laudamus te” and “Gratias”), “Domine Deus” (soprano, alto, tenor), “Qui tollis” (chorus), “Quoniam” (bass), and “Cum Sancto Spiritu” (chorus).
Mozart appears to bow to his patron’s distaste for Type II treatment of “Cum Sancto Spiritu”, as it is here declaimed quickly and gives him a chance to repeat the opening music of “Et in terra pax” and “Laudamus te”. But then he thumbs his nose just a bit by going on to a brief Type II treatment of just the word “Amen“, recovering with just a bit of the “Gratias” music before the archbishop can even look up from his Holy Water.
CREDO
Credo is in six sections: “Patrem omnipotentem”, “Et incarnatus est”, “Et resurrexit”, “Et in Spiritum Sanctum”, “Et unam sanctam”, and “Et vitam venturi”. The singing is almost all choral and almost all Type I, with very few words repeated. All sections are in triple time except the duple “Et incarnatus est”.
Recurring themes are back as a unifying feature. Theme A makes four appearances, Theme B three, Themes C and D two each.
Theme A is first heard at “Patrem omnipotentem“. Theme B appears at “Factorem caeli et terrae“. Theme A returns at “Deum de Deum“. The almost descending Theme C appears at “Descendit“. There is a full stop.
“Et incarnatus est” features a brief dialogue between soprano and bass, which we would like to hear developed into a song, but the chorus interrupts and it’s on to “Crucifixus” without pause. There is another full stop.
“Et resurrexit” serves up Type II Theme D. “Et ascendit” stubbornly refuses to rise. Theme A returns at “Et iterum venturus est“. Theme B follows boldly at “Cum Gloria” and softly at “Vivos et mortuos”, with just a couple of “Nons” in “Non erit finis”.
The next section deserves special mention. The heart of the Credo in a Mozart mass is usually “Et incarnatus est”. Here, however, it is “Et in Spiritum Sanctum“, partly because it is the only time the four soloists sing together and partly because of the unusual orchestral accompaniment. The heavy bass beat and the mincing treble trills give the music an “odd” sound, which might have come off like a dance of elephants and canaries were it not for the exquisite part writing for the soloists.
The theme at “Et unam sanctam” sounds as if we have heard it before, but we haven’t. Theme B, however, returns at “Et exspecto“. “Mortuorum” is slow and respectful.
As in “Cum Sancto Spiritu” of the Gloria, “Et vitam venturi saeculi” is given uncharacteristic Type I treatment with the return of Theme A. But then the crafty Theme D, the only Type II music in the movement, begins at “Amen“. Theme C returns at the end of “Amen“.
SANCTUS
The chorus try very hard to sing a solemn hymnlike Type II “Sanctus” tune in duple time, but the orchestra are in a much more impish mood. The basses keep up a steady, heavy “oom-pah” beat while the violins dance around in an off-beat syncopation with no predictable pattern. The orchestra stop clowning around, the chorus lighten up, and everybody switches to triple time for the Type I “Pleni sunt caeli“. Everybody plays nice for the joyful Type II “Hosanna“.
BENEDICTUS
The brief “Benedictus qui venit” starts with the solo soprano, then quietly adds the other soloists, finally weaving them together as currents in a gently flowing river. “Hosanna” repeats seamlessly.
AGNUS DEI
In “Agnus Dei”, the soloists sing a haunting folklike melody in triple time, interspersed with impassioned cries of “Miserere” from the chorus. The soprano and alto sing separately and the tenor and bass sing together. The chorus sings one more repetition of the soloists’ melody and the rhythm turns duple.
DONA NOBIS PACEM
If the Kyrie was a processional march, the spirited “Dona nobis pacem” is the recessional. Mozart allocates about as much time to these three simple words as to all eighty-four words of the Gloria. Antiphonal structure continues with a series of merry interchanges between soloists and chorus as they dance their way out of church. They toss around three different tunes and decide they like them all. How can we argue?
