MASS IN C MAJOR, K220

INTRODUCTION

This was one of Mozart’s most popular masses during his lifetime, with several dozen autograph copies having been found in churches and monasteries.  It is believed from watermark analysis to date from mid-to-late 1775 and after “K262“.

Again, no first performance is known, but its brevity (about sixteen minutes), complete avoidance of Type II writing, and prominent use of trumpets and timpani suggest it was tailor-made for Colloredo in the cathedral.  Mozart is thus on his best behavior—well, almost.  There is occasional brusque intentional overlap of text between solo voices, ostensibly in the interests of maintaining brevity, which takes the form of the entry of one voice “treading” on the last word of another voice.  However, there are also a couple of instances of true long-forbidden polytextuality, cleverly camouflaged so that perhaps the archbishop would not notice the insubordination.

The scoring is for two trumpets in C, timpani, violins, bass, organ continuo, and three trombones doubling the alto, tenor, and bass vocal parts.

KYRIE

The Kyrie is a processional march for chorus, with one tune for “Kyrie eleison” and another for “Christe eleison“.  It is in five sections: “Kyrie”—”Christe”—”Kyrie”—”Christe”—”Kyrie”.  The singing is straightforward and dignified.  One would think that the timpani and trumpets would produce a grand sound, as the Archbishop no doubt expected.  However, here the effect is more like a children’s orchestra with the trumpets being relegated to a sort of “tootle-toot” sound and the timpani sounding rather like a bass drum, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, sometimes on the beat and sometimes not.  

My favorite moment is during the first “Christe eleison”, where the music becomes syncopated as if the chorus has lost its place.  Suddenly the “bass drum” sounds all by itself and the chorus immediately falls back into place.  As long as he had his trumpets, I wonder if the archbishop noticed any of this.

GLORIA

The singers waltz their way through the triple-time Gloria with hardly a repeated word, but the moderate triple time tempo makes it sound as if they have all the time in the world.  

Melody after melody unfolds as chorus and soloists alternate sections:  “Et in terra pax“, chorus; “Laudamus te“, soloists; “Gratias agimus“, chorus; “Domine Deus“, soloists; “Qui tollis“, chorus; “Quoniam“, soloists, similar to the organization of the  short Glorias of “K49″, “K65″, and “K194″.

“Cum Sancto Spiritu”, chorus, reprises the melody of “Et in terra pax”.  “Amen” reprises a compressed form of “Quoniam”.

The soloists trade lines efficiently for the most part, with just a little “air” between phrases in “Laudamus te” and “Quoniam”.  Only in “Domine Deus” do the soloists crowd each other, stepping on each others’ lines four times:  the tenor on the soprano, the alto on the tenor, the bass on the alto, and the soprano on the bass.  There’s absolutely no musical reason for this.  It’s just Mozart being pissy to save perhaps two seconds out of three minutes.

CREDO

There are several organizational schemes in the duple-time Credo.  The broadest is a three-part structure with a fast section beginning at “Patrem omnipotentem”, a slow section at “Et incarnatus est”, and a fast section at “Et resurrexit”.

As in the Gloria, there are alternating bits for chorus and soloists: “Patrem omnipotentem”, chorus: “Et in unum Dominum”, soloists; Deum de Deo”, chorus; “Genitum, non factum”, soloists; “Qui propter nos homines”, chorus; “Et incarnatus est”, soloists; “Crucifixus”, chorus; “Et resurrexit”, chorus; “Et in Spiritum Sanctum”, soloists; “Et unum sanctam”, chorus; “Et vitam venturi”, chorus.

Finally, there are recurring themes, though they unfold at a more leisurely pace than we have seen recently.  The basic unit is two short phrases, Theme A and Theme B, and their variants, Theme C and Theme E, which repeat together six times, but with enough variability to keep the sound from being boring.  Clever combinations of melodic line, harmonic progression, and rhythm make each recognizable to the ear.  The pairings, in order, are AB, CB, AE, AB, CB, and AE.

“Patrem omnipotentem” introduces Theme A.  Theme B follows closely at “Visibilium omnium“.

“Et in unum Dominum” has nonrecurring music.

Theme C at “Deum de Deo” is really a minor mode variant of Theme A, but has a character different enough to warrant separate note.  Theme B follows at “Deum verum de Deo vero” with five falling notes instead of six, but who’s counting?

A new Theme D begins at “Genitum, non factum“.

“Qui propter nos homines” is Theme A, altered here because it begins in a different key.  It is followed by Theme E at “Descendit de caelis“.  This is really a variant of Theme B that comes down, goes back up, and comes back down, but again has its own character.

“Et incarnatus est” and “Crucifixus” have separate, nonrecurring music.

Theme A recurs at “Et resurrexit“, followed by Theme B at “Et ascendit in caelum“.

“Vivos et mortuos” is a version of Theme C and “Cujus regni non erit finis“, of Theme B with four falling notes.

Theme D reappears at “Et in spiritum sanctum“.

“Et unam sanctam” has nonrecurring music.

“Et vitam venturi saeculi” is again Theme A, followed by Theme E at “Amen“.

The orchestra set an unrelenting, almost frenetic pace with a repeating violin figure which permeates most of the fast sections.  However, the words sung by the chorus unfold as they do in the Gloria at a measured pace such that they do not sound rushed.  The soloists’ phrases, however (except for the reverential “Et incarnatus est”), do sound rushed, like highly animated conversations.  If it sounds as if each person is trying to talk at the same time, it is because that is exactly what is going on in the form of polytextuality disguised as imitative voicing.

Wait, wait, don’t glaze over!  I am not getting “scholarly” here.  Imitative writing is just the simplest form of Type II writing (frowned upon but not forbidden), in which one voice closely follows another on the same vocal phrase.  

Mozart here in “Et in unum Dominum” and “Et in spiritum sanctum” uses the same tune and rhythm for the second voice, but starts a new line of text before the first one is finished, which is a no-no.  In addition, even when two voices are singing the same phrase, he offsets the words slightly so one voice is “chasing” the other, but being sure to “catch up” at the end so as not to arouse unnecessary suspicion.

Text in order:

Mozart’s text order:

Text in order:

Mozart’s text order:

Again, as in the Gloria, almost no time is actually saved over a more natural unfolding of the solo parts.  I suspect Mozart is merely chafing over “the rules” and seeing what he can get away with.  The subsections are over in a few seconds, presumably before the mutiny might be noticed by someone enjoying the pretty trumpets.

SANCTUS

“Sanctus“, for chorus, begins in triple time with reverence and dignity.  At “Pleni sunt caeli” the tempo picks up, the rhythm becomes duple, and the mood becomes playful, leading directly into “Hosanna”.  A large part of the fun is due to a chirping violin figure, which was likened by Mozart’s contemporaries to birdsong.  As a result, the mass has often been called “The Sparrow”.  Such apparently was the state of the art of music criticism in the eighteenth century.

BENEDICTUS

Suddenly the music relaxes, the chorus take a break, and a “Benedictus” of great beauty for soloists unfolds in duple time.  Mozart takes his time, such that the six words take as long to sing as the eighty-four words of the Gloria.  He has almost invented Gospel music here, with the soprano singing melody and the others often acting as a sort of “backup group”.  The chorus and the “sparrows” return with “Hosanna” to take the movement back to the nest.

AGNUS DEI

The chorus begin the “Agnus Dei” with a slow, folklike hymn in triple time.  The solo quartet sing only two repetitions of the word “Miserere” on two separate occasions, but the soaring sound of the soprano above the others gives us one more taste of the “Gospel” sound.

DONA NOBIS PACEM

As usual, “Dona nobis pacem” is its own set piece.  It is an upbeat choral finale in duple time with prominent trumpets and timpani.  What makes it especially a crowd-pleaser is the unexpected reprise of the “children’s march” music from the Kyrie.  First is the phrase associated with the words “Christe eleison“, although by now the chorus are in such good voice that there is no hint of “losing their place”, which they demonstrate by repeating the figure emphatically several times.  The concluding music is that associated with the words “Kyrie eleison“.

–06/19/2014