STATEMENT TO ACCOMPANY THE RECORDINGS OF MOZART’S CREDO-FRAGMENT, K. 337
Introduction: the Chaconne-Rondo in the Late Eighteenth Century One consequence of the research for my 1979 dissertation, The Symphony in England: a Contribution to Eighteenth-Century Musical Scholarship was the discovery of some English-published symphonies with chaconne-rondo finales (Jommelli, Sacchini, possibly Guglielmi and Smethergell, and a Cannabich symphony published with a “chaconne” finale). The result was an early study: “Chaconne son goût: The Chaconne Rondo and the Two-Movement Symphony” (read in Boulder and in Tempe in 1979). In 1985, a further study, “Mozart’s Chaconnes,” was twice read in Boulder. Subsequent sabbatical and other research for a projected book, Mozart and the Late Eighteenth-Century Chaconne, has resulted in the collection of more than three-dozen chaconnes dating from 1750-1810, including further chaconnesymphonies by Barthélémon and Boccherini, and a chaconne overture by Mozart’s pupil Stephen Storace. To these were added large-scale sonata-form chaconne-rondos from stage works by Gluck, Rameau, J.C. Bach, Cannabich, Traetta, Sacchini, Jommelli, Rodolphe, Deller, Grétry, and briefer ones by T.A. Arne, Méhul, and Cherubini. Mozart’s labeled chaconnes, discussed by Hans Engel (1952), Bernd Edelmann (1991), and in passing by Alexander Silbiger (2001), include the choral ciaconna in Idomeneo K. 366 and also the large Idomeneo ballet-chaconne K. 367. The Credo-fragment for the Mass K.337 is mentioned by Engel and Edlemann as a third Mozart chaconne, but the unlabelled chaconnes for Ascanio in Alba K. 111 and Lucio Silla K. 135 must also be added to the list. Mozart’s Credo-Fragment, K. 337 Mozart’s Credo-fragment, marked “Tempo di ciaconna” and still to be found in the manuscript of the mass, and twice published (in Werke and the NMA), consists of a setting of 2/3 of the text, up to “et non erit finis” (ironically, “and shall have no end”), whereat Mozart ends with a high C in the oboe at measure 137. In April 1780, at that point in the Mass composition, Mozart turned the page and began a second, complete, and more compactly designed setting of the Credo text. It is significant that the torso of the incomplete Credo was left with the manuscript, indicating Mozart’s respect for the fragment. The question of why this extensive fragment was left incomplete, an unusual procedure for Mozart, has been answered by quoting Mozart’s complaint to Padre Martini, that Archbishop Colloredo had mandated ¾ of an hour for a complete Mass with its epistle sonata. While the completed Credo of K.337 is more compact (c. 5’45”) than the fragment (c. 4’30” up to bar 137), my completion lasts only c. 6”30”, less than the Credo length (c. 6’55”) of the more famous Mass K. 317. The argument of length is therefore probably incorrect. Daniel Heartz’ stylistic argument, that the second Credo is “more in harmony with the Gloria,” together with his admiration for the contrasting rhythmic complexities and “attractive muscularity” of the fragment, are other possible reasons for the abandonment. In working on my performing edition, I noticed one slip of the pen (“sub Pontio Pilato” is missing) that might have caused Mozart to begin anew, although the corrective for this (which I suggest in my edition) is so simple as to weaken this argument. Perhaps there was some other reason or reasons, stylistic (too much
rhythmic or thematic repetition?), procedural (too much solo quartet writing and not enough for each soloist?), or something else that will forever remain unknown. (Or is it possible that we’ve got it backwards, and the complete Credo was the first thought, the fragment a better idea that Mozart simply did not have time to finish?) The chaconne-like nature of the Gloria in K. 317 coming to full flower in the Credo-fragment of K. 337 (as well as the descending chaconne-bass in the completed K. 337 Credo) has been noted by Heartz. The modeling of the ritornello/rondo tutti theme on Gluck’s Orphée chaconne is clear. Could Mozart have worried that it would be thought too much like Gluck’s or would have been considered too secular for inclusion in a sacred work? At any rate, Mozart recycles themes from K. 317’s Gloria in the Idomeneo choral ciaconna and the Credo-fragment in the great chaconne in Idomeneo’s ballet. Significantly, he seems reluctant to simply throw away the Credo torso, keeping it with the rest of K. 337, and refashionin some of the material for the Idomeneo ballet. One of the fragment’s arching cadential figures reappears in the “Haffner” Symphony first movement. The Performing Edition of the Credo-Fragment Realizing that the form of the Credo would have been some type of rondo, I drafted a completion of the fragment in 1989, reusing Mozart’s previous material, but transposing it to other closely related keys for the episodes and manipulating and orchestrating the material as I thought Mozart might have done. A final version was created in 2003, not to be heard live until the great Mozart year 2006. The weakest parts of my completion are precisely those that depart the farthest from the fragment: the transition at bar 137 and the “Amen” coda. At least the performing edition is “mostly Mozart.” I am sure some will take issue with the excessive reuse of Mozart’s material. He would have provided much more imaginative and flexible material, and probably a wonderfully different “Amen.” Mozart, of course, would have done it better. Because the fragment ends in measure 137 at a point indicating something new to come, I composed a modulating passage to D minor, for the next line of text (“et in Spiritum Sanctam”), but then transposed the previous G-major and G-minor episodic material to D minor. Moving to the subdominant F major, I reused the transposed C-major passage from “et ex Patre” for “qui cum Patre et Filio,” then continued with a modulation back to the dominant of C major to prepare for the rondo-ritornello’s return at the text “qui locutus est.” The C-major episode “et resurrexit secundum scripturas” I transposed to A minor for “confiteor unam baptisma.” To avoid a too-regular return to the main theme at the C-major recurrence, I set the “et resurrexit” fanfares to “et exspecto resurrexit” (suggested by the textual similarity) and in the same way reused the brief C-major “et mortuos” solo passage for “mortuorum,” but in C minor, the parallel minor occurring just before the C-major “et incarnatus.” The final lines of text (“et vitam venturi”) were underlaid to the tonic-major rondo theme. To create a fitting “Amen” peroration, I used ideas from the beginning of the fragment, and tried to compose a suitable coda-like ending, similar to those in Mozart’s other Credos—not too elevated, allowing the other Mass sections to follow smoothly, but strong enough that the piece could stand alone in a concert setting. [Performance note: if the Credo-Fragment is performed in a concert setting, it would be effective to have the soloists join the final tutti. If, as happened with our soloists, they are so struck with the quality and dramatic beauty of the piece, as well as the meaning of the text, that they beg to join the tutti at “passus et sepultus est,” I could not say no.]
The World Premiere and Recordings of the Credo-Fragment The world premiere of the fragment as Mozart left it, immediately followed by the premiere of my performing edition, was given as the crowning climax of our Oct. 17, 2006 “Mozart 250 Concert.” Both versions were well received by our audience, and we were fortunate to have had two different live recordings made, one the official School of Music CD, the other a DVD made by a local enthusiast. The performers were Hardin-Simmons University faculty: Dr. Loyd Hawthorne conducting; soloists Dr. Kecia Ashford, Dr. Jaynne Middleton, and Dr. Will Mouat, Prof. Hye-Jean Choi, university organist, Dr. Jeff Cottrell, alto trombonist, and clarino trumpet Dr. Leigh Anne Hunsaker, with the addition of Dr. Greg Church (tenor from Howard Payne) and Prof. Nicholas Althouse (clarino from Dallas). The choirs were the Hardin-Simmons Chorale (Dr. Clell Wright, director), and Dr. Hawthorne’s Hardin-Simmons Concert Choir. The Abilene Collegiate Orchestra (Dr. Peter Isaacson, conductor) consists of Hardin-Simmons University and Abilene Christian University students. Murl J. Sickbert, Jr.