khiemtran | The Church Sonatas

The Mozart Church Sonatas are one of the hidden gems that make the Brilliant Classics Mozart Edition really worth the money. Many of the more famous pieces can be found far better performed on budget recordings elsewhere, but it's the little secret treasures like these that make the complete edition worthwhile.

The Church Sonatas were written while Mozart was in the service of the Archbishop of Salzburg. They were basically intended to be short, harmless pieces, to fill the gap between the reading of the Epistles and the Gospel during Mass. Archbishop Colloredo, Mozart's long-suffering employer had specified that the entire mass had to take place in under forty-five minutes, much to Mozart's displeasure.

You can probably guess what happened next.

The first sonatas are indeed short and pleasant, but at the same time irresistably toe-tapping and joyful. As they progress along, they get more and exuberant, not to mention longer and longer. At first they are mostly string pieces, but then the organ accompaniment gains more and more freedom (you can guess who the organist was at the Salzburg cathedral by then), until the final pieces are not much short of full keyboard concertos. It's easy to imagine the non-plussed Archbishop scowling away in the background.