Vesperae solennes de confessore in C Major

Mozart’s employment at Salzburg Cathedral had become gradually less satisfying to the ambitious composer as the 1770s wore on. By the end of the decade relations with the autocratic and unsympathetic Archbishop Colloredo had become unbearable to the point that in 1781 Mozart was dismissed from his post in disgrace, with, as he reported, “a kick up the backside” from Colloredo’s steward. It is remarkable, then, that during his last couple of years in Salzburg, Mozart wrote some of his most attractive church music: a pair of Masses including the Coronation Mass, and a pair of Vespers settings, the finest of which is the Vesperae solennes de confessore of 1780. Vespers is the evening service celebrated before the following day’s high Mass and consists of five psalms and a “Magnificat”; “confessore” implies dedication to a saint, although it’s not possible now to identify a likely canonised candidate. Mozart pours a panoply of rich and individual musical ideas into the Solemn Vespers, while at the same time maintaining the Salzburg preference for brevity. Though the “Dixit Dominus”, “Confitebor”, “Beatus vir” and concluding “Magnificat” display the brass-topped bustle characteristic of Salzburg cathedral music of the time, the “Laudate pueri” is contrastingly set in an austere, archaic contrapuntal style. The highlight of the work, however, is the placidly beautiful “Laudate Dominum”—often excerpted as a soprano showpiece and one of the most appealing of Mozart’s Salzburg sacred creations.