The Missa brevis[1] in
G major,
K. 140, K3 Anh. 235d, K6 Anh. C 1.12, was probably composed by
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart shortly after returning to
Salzburg, in March 1773, from his third trip to Italy.[2]
Walter Senn, who published the Mass in 1968 for the
Neue Mozart-Ausgabe, notes that this Mass is the only one Mozart composed along the lines of the Pastoral Mass type.[2]
The work was accepted as genuine by Walter Senn: he published the Mass as No. 5 in the
Neue Mozart-Ausgabe in 1968.[2] The earliest surviving score and parts, found in a cloister in
Augsburg,
Germany, were prepared by a
copyist, with completions and corrections in Mozart's hand.[3] Senn assumes the Mass was composed in 1773, after Mozart had returned from Italy in March.[2]
Movements and orchestration
The mass is scored for soloists, choir, strings and organ, the latter playing from
figured bass. The setting is divided into six movements:
^David Humphreys. "Sacred Music" in The Mozart Compendium: A Guide to Mozart's Life and Music, H. C. Robbins Landon (ed.). New York: Schirmer; London: Thames and Hudson. 1990. pp. 312–314.
(in German) Walter Senn (1968).
Neue Mozart-Ausgabe. Series I (Sacred vocal music), Workgroup 1 (Masses and Requiem), Part 1:
Masses, Volume 1. Bärenreiter.