Church Sonatas (Mozart)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote seventeen Church Sonatas (sonata da chiesa), also known as Epistle Sonatas, between 1772 and 1780. These are short single-movement pieces intended to be played during a celebration of the Mass between the Epistle and the Gospel.[1] Three of the sonatas include more orchestral scoring including oboes, horns, trumpets and timpani and the rest are scored for organ and strings (with no violas). In eight of the sonatas, the organ has an obbligato solo part and in the other nine the organ accompanies along with the figured bass.

Most of these pieces would be inserted into any mass setting of the appropriate key. Those requiring more instruments than the standard "Salzburg Church Quartet" are meant to go with specific mass settings that have that instrumentation.

Shortly after Mozart left Salzburg, the Archbishop mandated that an appropriate choral motet or congregational hymn be sung at that point in the liturgy, and the "Epistle Sonata" fell into disuse.

No. Köchel No.[2] Date composed Key Scoring NMA Tempo
1[3] K.67/41h 1772 E-flat major 2 violins, basso continuo (Score/Crit. report) Andantino
2 K.68/41i 1772 B-flat major 2 violins, basso continuo (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
3 K.69/41k 1772 D major 2 violins, basso continuo (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
4 K.144/124a 1774 D major 2 violins, basso continuo (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
5 K.145/124b 1774 F major 2 violins, basso continuo (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
6 K.212 1775, July B-flat major 2 violins, basso continuo (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
7 K.224/241a 1780 F major 2 violins, basso continuo, organ obbligato (Score/Crit. report) Allegro con spirito
8 K.225/241b 1776 A major 2 violins, basso continuo, organ obbligato (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
9 K.244 1776, April F major 2 violins, basso continuo, organ obbligato (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
10 K.245 1776, April D major 2 violins, basso continuo, organ obbligato (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
11 K.274/271d 1777 G major 2 violins, basso continuo (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
12 K.278/271e 1777, April C major 2 oboes, 2 trumpets, timpani, 2 violins, basso continuo (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
13 K.328/317c 1779 C major 2 violins, basso continuo, organ obbligato (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
14 K.329/317a 1779, March C major 2 oboes, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, 2 violins, basso continuo, organ obbligato (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
15 K.336/336d 1780 C major 2 violins, basso continuo, organ obbligato (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
K.241 1776, January G major 2 violins, basso continuo (Score/Crit. report) Allegro
K.263 1776, December C major 2 trumpets, 2 violins, basso continuo, organ obbligato (Score/Crit. report) Allegro

Notes

  1. Zaslaw, Neal, with Cowdery, William eds., The Compleat Mozart: A Guide to the Musical Works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, p. 109-112, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1990, ISBN 0-393-02886-0
  2. Köchel numbers refer to the Köchel Catalogue of Mozart's work, prepared by Ludwig von Köchel and first published in 1862. The catalogue has been revised several times, most recently in 1964.
  3. On July 24, 2011, during the analog shutdown in Japan, HBC Hokkaido, a television station in Hokkaido, played Church Sonata 1 on its analog signal continuously between noon and midnight. Japanese television stations were required to broadcast an analog shutdown notice during that time frame.
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