Mozart Great Mass in C Minor

Mozart Regina coeli, K. 108
Mozart Symphony No. 36 in C major, K. 425, ‘Linz’
Mozart Great Mass in C minor, K. 427

Lucy Cox soprano
Sophie Bevan soprano
Alessandro Fisher tenor
Gareth Brynmor John baritone

Sir John Rutter conductor
Oxford Philharmonic Choir

In the summer of 1782, just before marrying, Mozart began work on his Great but incomplete Mass in C minor. Having encountered the masterpieces of Bach and Handel, Mozart began to reappraise his values as a composer. The result was the dark and otherworldly music Mozart completed as the torso of his score—a setting of the Ordinary of the Mass more profound in substance and grand in scale than any he had written before. Sir John Rutter conducts Mozart's monumental Great Mass in C minor, the culmination of a programme that includes the composer’s playful symphony composed during a brief stay in Linz and the Regina coeli, which comprises some of the most sublime music Mozart wrote for the church.

Pre-concert talk by Sir Nicholas Kenyon at 6.30pm:
Mozart and the mystery of his unfinished Mass in C minor
After his marriage to Constanze, Mozart undertook to write a Mass in celebration of the event. But for reasons we don’t fully understand, the work —which includes some of his most glorious music — remained unfinished, and we don’t know why it was abandoned. Nicholas Kenyon explores the background to a musical puzzle. 

Supported by The James & Shirley Sherwood Foundation

The Sheldonian Theatre is a unique space to experience live music. To see an interactive map of the theatre click here.