Gloria (in 7 movements)
Movement 1 (Gloria in excelsis Deo, et in terra pax hominibus, bonae voluntatis):

• The Gloria begins with a chant incipit cued in the score. It is surprising, therefore, Mozart begins this movement with a repeat of the words "Gloria in excelsis Deo," rather than leaping to "et in terra pax," as was more commonly done.
• This movement immediately contrasts the preceding movement; it is set in C major, a quick allegro vivace, and accompanied by full orchestra, opening with a fanfare in all parts but the trombones and bass of the orchestra. Rapid melismas give additional glory to God, while the many triadic figures reflect the angels’ herald trumpets. God’s glory is truly reflected here.
• The bombast announcing "Gloria" is followed by a new fugue on "in excelsis." The joy and flourish of this fugal passage contrasts immediately with the subdued "et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis" (and on earth peace goodwill to mankind). The quiet dynamics might be viewed as peace, the lower range as earth (compared to heaven), the chromatic twists reflect mankind’s sins (which are not explicitly mentioned here), and the move to F major–the subdominant/plagal area–makes this passage more prayerful, as plagal movements sound like "Amen."

• The bombast returns, followed by an exact repeat of the music and text of "et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis."

Movement 2 (laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te):

• The entire text of this movement is "laudamus te, benedicimus te, adoramus te, glorificamus te" (we praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you)–all statements offering glory to God. It might surprise the listener or reader to discover that this "we" text is presented entirely by a solo soprano.
• The many runs, ornaments, trills and melismas in the soprano–many echoed or supported by the orchestra–create a strong sense of glorification. There is no sense that the text of this movement cannot be appropriately conveyed without the many voices of the choir.
• Even more than the soprano solo in the Kyrie, this solo requires great agility on the part of the soloist. It features flowing melodic passages (especially at the opening), syncopated triadic leaps (some covering an octave and a half in all), active melismatic runs, scale passages, trills, and large leaps (most notably, a series near the end of the solo, shown below). The passage below shows the final seven measures of the soprano solo, and includes the most dramatic of the leaping passages, a scale runs, triadic leaps, a trill, syncopations, and a wide range–the entire movement in microcosm!

Movement 3 (gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam)

• A dramatic contrast to Movt. 2 is set up immediately: full choir (actually SSATB), instead of soloist; minor mode instead of major; dissonance instead of consonance
• This movement causes some recollection of "Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs" from Handel’s Messiah. There are numerous parallels: a minor movement which followed one in a major key; the moderately slow tempo; the constant dotted figures in the accompaniment, over which a mostly homophonic choir is heard; the dissonant chords.
• This movement provides numerous examples of chromatic harmonies–in fact, an unusual concentration of augmented sixth chords and diminished seventh chords–harmonies just waiting for young students of music theory to harvest and study. Consider the following harmonic reduction (chord symbols only):

(m. 1) I6 — viiº7/iv | (m.2) vii64 - V/vii - Germ+6/I | (m.3) viiº7 (A bass) — I — viiº43/V |

(m. 4) viiº7/vii (G bass) — vii — viiº43/iv | (m. 5) iiº7/V — Ital+6/V | (m. 6) V — viiº7 |

(m. 7) i64 — viiº7 (E bass) | (m. 8) V — viiº43 | (m. 9) III+7 — i6 — V7/vii — V43 |

(m. 10) I — iiº6 — i64 — V7 | (m. 11) i | (m. 12) i

I regret that I can’t put the entire chord progression here, but even the non-musicians reading this can see how complicated it clearly is. I’ve marked the fully-diminished seventh chords with red, the augmented sixths chords with blue, and chords with a strong dissonance in the bass (one which doesn’t fit the chord) in bold. The augmented chord (so rarely used in 17^th and 18^th century music) built on the third scale degree (and made even more pungent with the inclusion of the seventh) is marked in orange. All of the chord symbols which contain a slash (/) hint towards another key area other than the A minor in which this movement is essentially centered and ends. You can see this is a "colorful" progression, and clearly a complicated one. I wonder what Mozart was thinking, to put so much tension in a movement which speaks "we give you thanks for your great glory"….

Movement 4 (Domine Deus, rex coelestis, Deus pater omnipotens):

• Despite the minor mode for this movement, the overall feeling is a restrained joy. The numerous vocal ornaments and dance-like feel contribute significantly to this feeling.
• Set in a moderate triple meter, this movement feels very much like a dance; could it be a minuet? That courtly dance was occasionally adapted by Bach in his cantatas and other sacred works, and Mozart certainly knew well the minuet form and gestures.
• The use of two soloists here, soprano and mezzo soprano; represent the two thirds of the Trinity mentioned in this movement: God the Father, and God the Son.
• The soprano solo enters first, singing a melody which complements the string tune from the opening; together, the strings and soprano weave a polyphonic tapestry.
• When the mezzo soprano joins in m. 27, the texture becomes fuller still. The mezzo’s song is derived more obviously from the string tune.
• Together, soprano and mezzo sing complementary lines, criss-cross, and cadence together, showing their separate but connected existence.
• Some examples of word-painting in this movement:
• The rise in the soprano part (m. 16-17) on "rex coelestis" (king of heaven)
• The singing in thirds (or tenths, which is a third plus an octave) on "Agnus Dei" (Lamb of God), the thirds demonstrating the love which God felt to sacrifice his only Son, the sweet bitterness of His passion, and their perpetual tie to each other.
• I love, in m. 82-85, how the two lines are integrated so tightly as to make it difficult to tell who is on top and who underneath:

• This movement has, for me, a "retro" sound, reminding me of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (incidentally, the most frequently published work of the 18^th century), with the strong bass line, the intertwining-yet-interconnected soprano and mezzo solos, and the driving rhythm which carries the movement towards the final cadence.

Movement 5 (Qui tollis peccati mundi, miserere nobis. Suscipe deprecationem nostrum, qui sedes ad dexteram patris, miserere nobis):

• This movement is another dotted rhythm movement. Here, the tempo is distinctly slower, and the motion more labored, with a double-dotted effect (rests, rather than dots, are written in Mozart’s score), and a double choir scoring. While we are distracted by the ponderous dotted rhythms, we may ignore the bass line, which bears examination by itself:

• It should look familiar — the octave leap to start the movement, the descending bass line, moving by half steps down 6 times, then turning back upward to the dominant note, ending with a leap to the tonic. Perhaps you’re deceived by the g minor key signature (instead of e minor)…perhaps it’s the quadruple meter, instead of triple, which causes confusion….still don’t get it? It’s the same lamenting bassline we see in the "Crucifixus" of Bach’s B Minor Mass (which actually owes its roots to "Dido’s Lament" from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, where it does appear in g minor). Mozart does not use this bassline as a foundation for a passacaglia/ground bass movement, as do the predecessors mentioned above. Instead, he altered the pitches and supporting harmonies as needed throughout, though the rhythm (constant double-dotted effect) is never disrupted. He does, as he wishes, alter the length of the phrases.
• Mozart’s harmonies are again very colorful, inflecting a number of related tonal areas. As we saw earlier, the diminished seventh chord is a favorite of Mozart’s in this movement.
• The ponderous feel and insistence of the bassline reflect mankind’s begging for mercy from the Lord, and from He who sits at the right hand of the Father.

Movement 6 (Quoniam tu solus sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus):

• Although set in a minor key (e minor), this is another movement which displays restrained joy in addressing the Trinity.
• Here, a solo trio sings "tu solus" (you alone) numerous times.
• While two singers seemed appropriate to represent two thirds of the Trinity, we cannot make the same analogy with three singers–that is, we do not reference all three members of the Trinity in this movement, using three singers. Instead, we can make a different analogy: the three separate but equal and complementary soloists reflect the three characteristics of the Lord mentioned here: 1) you alone are the holy one; 2) you alone are the Lord; and 3) you alone are the most high.

Movement 7 (Jesu Christe: cum sancto spiritu in gloria Dei patris, amen)

• Here, two distinct ideas are tied together by Mozart. First, the choir, in a chorale setting worthy of Bach himself, states four times the words "Jesu Christe," which in the text of the Gloria, are the words which complete the statement from movement 6 (you alone are the holy one, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the most high, Jesus Christ). But instead of bringing closure to movement 6, Mozart uses this passage to lead to "Cum sancto spiritu"–with the Holy Spirit–thus tying the final member of the Trinity to the others.
• This is a fugue of which Mozart’s wife Constanze (at the very least, if not Bach) should have been very proud. Fugues were her favorite form, and since Mozart initially composed the piece as a thank you to his father for allowing their marriage, we should expect forms to please his new bride.
• This fugue is a dandy–and not by any means simple. It is far more instrumental than vocal in character, with numerous twisting melismas that are far easier for any flautist or violinist than they are for a singer.
• The fugue subject begins with a simple sequential pattern, starting with the bass voice, doubled by organ, cello, string bass, and bassoon:

• The tenors enter next, a fifth higher while the basses continue with new material, considerably more challenging to sing:

• There are 7 complete statements in the basses (plus 1 in inversion), 6 in the tenors (plus 1 in inversion), 6 in the altos (plus 1 in inversion), and 5 in the sopranos (plus 1 in inversion). Mozart does have other experience with inverted fugal subjects, most notably in the "Laudate pueri" movement in his Vesperae solenne di confessore.
• It’s also important to note that this final movement is in C major, the same key in which the Gloria began; anything else would have been atypical of Viennese Classical style, where multi-movement pieces (or sections movements) would begin and end in the same key, no matter how far afield the other movement seemed to travel tonally.
• This is a fitting ending to this lengthy Gloria, triumphant, jubilant, and truly glorious.