Of a third Litany for four voices without accompaniment, LITANY TO THE HOLY SACRAMENT, 1772. the opening bars of the Kyrie (340 K.) and Sancta Maria in C major (325 K.), and of the Salus infirmorum in C minor (324 K.) are unhappily all that is preserved.
The Litany to the Holy Sacrament, (Litaniæ de venerabili altaris sacramento), has a more serious character than the Litany to the Virgin. But appeals to the holy sacrament being of necessity abstract and dogmatic, are less suggestive of a musical rendering than those addressed to the Virgin Mary. On this account an operatic style is more avowedly employed; but it is combined with solemn dignity and thoughtfulness, and the two Litanies of this kind by Mozart are largely conceived and carefully executed compositions.[ 37 ]
The first in B flat major (125 K.), composed in March, 1772, after the Italian tour, strikes throughout the tone of the heroic opera, elevated by deep and earnest feeling. The Kyrie is introduced by an instrumental passage, announcing the principal subject, which, after a short, solemn Adagio, is taken up by the chorus in Allegro molto. The plan of the whole movement, containing a second subject placed as contrast to the oft-repeated principal one, and a running orchestral accompaniment, follows the operatic mode of construction.
The first movement of the Litany proper, "Panis vivus," is a soprano solo which might have been transferred bodily from an opera seria; the chief passages are given to the word "miserere." The solemn chorus which follows, "Verbum caro factum," interesting from its delicate modulations, and a characteristic passage for the violins, serves as an introduction to the agitated "Hostia sancta." Four solo voices give the chief motif in succession, with different modifications, and unite at last to rise to an appropriate climax; the chorus twice interposes with a short but weighty rhythmical passage, CHURCH MUSIC. giving cohesion and dignity to the whole movement. A new climax occurs in the Adagio, where the chorus repeats the word "Tremendum" with an expression of solemn awe. The short, lively passage given to the next words, "ac vivificum sacramentum," is only to serve as a contrast to the "Tremendum." The movement which follows "Panis omnipotentia verbi caro factus," is again nothing but an operatic tenor song, full of passages and pleasing expression. The grave harmonies of a short Adagio in B minor, "Viaticum in domino morientium," prepare the way for something new.[ 38 ] It was the custom to write a movement in elaborate counterpoint on the words of "Pignus futuræ gloriæ," and Mozart was not one to shrink from such a task. The bass theme, answered by the wind instruments in a passage afterwards much employed, is announced with the force and decision of joyful confidence, and is then exhaustively worked out into a long fugue.[ 39 ] The one theme, hardly ever abridged or altered, runs through the whole, but it is developed with an amount of variety, especially in the modulation and in the orchestral climax, and with so much fresh tunefulness, that this work alone would prove the youth of fifteen years old to be possessed of the genius of maturity.
The Agnus Dei is a soprano solo, ornamented with many passages, all alike truly and simply conceived and full of grace.[ 40 ] The chorus takes up the Agnus Dei at the third repetition, and brings the movement to a calm conclusion, making use of the solo motif altered and simplified. The "Finis, I.O.D.G.," inscribed by Mozart, contrary to his custom, at the end of his score, show that he set considerable store by this truly admirable work.
The second Litany in E flat major (243 K.), composed in LITANY IN E FLAT MAJOR, 1776. March, 1776, also a carefully worked-out piece of music, displays the same arrangement. The operatic treatment of some of the parts is more conspicuous, because its tinsel glitter is in more marked contrast to the mature earnestness of the work as a whole. The Kyrie, expressive of mild calm, relieved by the agitation of the accompaniment, is simple in plan and execution. Solo and chorus alternate; the principal motif recurs at the end, after a middle part of smaller motifs grouped together. The Miserere is delicately shaded and finely expressed. After such harmonious renderings of a calm and collected mood, we are surprised by the words "Panis vivus" as an elaborate tenor song, altogether in the style of opera seria. In the succeeding movements, where the text seldom lends itself readily to musical adaptation, the hand of the master is visible in the admirable grouping of the larger sections and of the separate subjects, not less than in the true and beautiful expression of sentiment, and in the finely graduated and shaded unity of tone. The words "Verbum caro factum" are used as a solemn introduction; the Miserere has-a fine effect, commencing without an accompaniment, as if moaned forth from an overburdened breast, then increasing in intensity to a cry of anguish, and gradually sinking back into itself. The next succeeding Hostia sancta stands out against this dark background, its general tone as mild and consolatory as that of the Kyrie. Solemn grandeur predominates again in the Tremendum ac vivificum sacramentum, where the words "Tremendum" and "vivificum" are not separated, but are compacted into a connected, symmetrical movement with the words "Panis omnipotentia verbi caro factus, incruentum sacrificium, cibus et conviva." The disposition of the harmonies is in strongly marked but cleverly arranged opposition, intensified by the orchestra; the stringed instruments elaborate a forcible passage, opposed by the united oboes, horns, bassoons, and trombones. This noble and deeply impressive movement stands alone, both as to form and intention. The next following, "Dulcissimum convivium," a soprano solo resembling a cavatina, is soft and tender in expression, and pre-eminently operatic; the charm CHURCH MUSIC. of style, displayed also in the careful accompaniment, does not compensate for fundamental weakness.
The "Viaticum in Domino morientium" is full of earnestness, and very original in treatment. The soprano voices give out as subject the chorale of the hymn to the Holy Sacrament, "Pange lingua gloriosi," as a Gregorian plain-chant, accompanied by the wind instruments (oboes, horns, bassoons, and trombones), and two muted violas, while the violins are occupied with a quaver passage in pizzicato, generally in divided chords. The effect of the whole is surprisingly serious and dignified. The Pignus futuræ gloriæ follows. It is in counterpoint, and of complicated workmanship. The chief subject of six bars comprises the words "Pignus futuræ gloriæ, miserere nobis," but in the third bar, at the words "miserere nobis," the three remaining parts are added—[See Page Image]
and the subject given to them is differently elaborated along with the continuation of the chief theme. After the first working-out a second independent theme occurs—[See Page Image] UNFINISHED VESPER, 1774. and is thoroughly worked out, together with the first. We see more of the actual workmanship in this than in others of Mozart's works in counterpoint, and the voices are treated less as such and more as abstract vehicles for contrapuntal development. The Agnus Dei is a soprano solo; the passages for the voices, and the concerted treatment of the accompanying instruments, give a uniform impression of grace and elegance. This movement has a certain resemblance to many passages of Mozart's later operas. At the close the chorus (as sometimes with Haydn) takes up again the principal subject of the Kyrie, and works it into a simple and appropriate ending to the Litany.
Mozart seems never to have composed an entire Vesper during this period, but the two final movements of one, Dixit and Magnificat in C major (193 K.), written in July, 1774, are preserved, and are serious works in clever counterpoint. The Dixit is quite in the style of a short mass, the different sections in counterpoint full of force and animation. The Gloria Patri is an independent movement, with a slow introduction to a short fugal movement on the words "et in sæcula saeculorum," with a charming organ point. [See Page Image]
The Magnificat is grander in design and execution. The Virgin's song of praise forms a grand movement (Allegro moderato), the theme of which from the third plain-song tone of the Magnificat— CHURCH MUSIC. is introduced by the tenor, the bass immediately interposing a counter-subject:—[See Page Image]
