| Missa brevis in D minor | |
|---|---|
| Mass by W. A. Mozart | |
| Key | D minor |
| Catalogue | K. 65/61a |
| Composed | 14 January 1769: Salzburg |
| Movements | 6 |
| Vocal | SATB choir and soloists |
| Instrumental |
|
The Missa brevis in D minor, K. 65/61a, is a mass composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (12 years old at the time) and completed on 14 January 1769. [1] It is scored for SATB soloists and choir, violin I and II, 3 trombones colla parte , and basso continuo.
The long held belief, based on Sigismund Keller's assertion in 1873, [2] that this mass was first performed on 5 February 1769, the pre-Lenten Sunday of Quinquagesima, in the University of Salzburg's Kollegienkirche to open a forty-hour vigil, [3] [4] [5] has later been shown as untenable. [6] As a Lenten mass, the Gloria could not have been performed. [3]
This is Mozart's shortest setting of the Order of Mass, and his only missa brevis set in a minor key. [4]
The mass is divided into six movements.