Mozart: Missa Brevis in D major K194

During his years in Salzburg, Mozart wrote a series of shorter mass settings, for which he drew on the models of his senior colleague Michael Haydn. Regina coeli reveals his supreme skill at writing for the solo voice. The Missa brevis in D, K. 194 is a work of great solemnity, employing a remarkable range of expressive contrasts, whilst the Missa brevis in B flat, K. 275 is notable for its sublime lyricism and grace. The Allegro and Andante in F minor, K. 608 is regarded as Mozart’s finest work for the organ and has become one of the cornerstones of the organ repertory.

The church music Mozart wrote in Salzburg is both ingenious and expressive, and has wide appeal. Our disc expands the choral focus.

The choir is assisted by first-class soloists and professional musicians, many of whom come from Vienna’s great orchestras and have been accompanying the choir for years.

Various CD releases and radio and TV broadcasts have meant that the choir is known internationally.

The Grosvenor Chapel is a wonderful jewel of an early eighteenth-century building in Mayfair in central London. Its unique and original design influenced the architecture of many churches built in the US.

From its opening in 1731 the Grosvenor Chapel has enjoyed professional choral music of an enviable standard and this recording features a selection of choral music drawn from the wide range of repertoire sung by the renowned Grosvenor Chapel Choir in the Sunday morning service each week.

Over four hundred years of English music is represented, with works from Thomas Tallis to contemporary British composer, Jonathan Dove, together with an orchestral Mass by Mozart, and features the first recording of ‘Come, Thou Holy Paraclete’ by Francis Jackson, written for the Grosvenor Chapel Choir.

Mozart may have written masses of masses as a professional obligation, but that doesn't mean they are are merely workaday music. They tend towards a bright and joyful C major, amenable as the key is to the instrumentation of trumpet and drums that will make a joyful noise in a vast acoustic like that of the Stephansdom in Vienna, but they also include many tender arias, none perhaps more memorable than the soprano's solo in the Benedictus of the 'Coronation' Mass, though everyone will have their favourites, and indeed be able to discover many more in this comprehensive set.

Not just the Requiem and 'Great' C minor Mass, then, whose original purposes still remain shrouded in confusion, but short, simple devotionals such as the Benedictus sit Deus; all offer a pleasing call upon our attention, especially in these stylish modern performances.

11 CD + CD ROM