Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus : Missa

When Anton Theodor of Colloredo was ordained as Archbishop of Olm¸tz in 1778, the prince archbishop left the selection of music to Kapellmeister Leopold Mozart. The work he chose was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartís ìMissa in C majorî K. 259 composed in 1775/76. On account of the soloistic organ part in the ìBenedictusî, the work is also known as the ìOrgan Solo Massî. As the Kapellmeister deemed the ìKyrieî too short and not solemn enough for the occasion, he replaced it with the ìKyrieî from the ìSpaur Massî K. 258. He also possibly altered the orchestration of the work, adding two oboes.

The copyist of the parts did not use the autograph, but rather a copy, in which an unknown person ñ perhaps Mozart himself ñ had already made cuts to the ìBenedictusî. Copies of the original as well as the shortened ìBenedictusî have been preserved, meaning that both versions of the work were copied ñ first the original, and later the version containing the altered ìBenedictusî.

In his edition, editor Walter Senn accounts for the different versions of the work with regard to its sources and genesis: The cuts in the ìBenedictusî are marked with ìvi ñ deî, and the oboe parts have been added to the main text.