_Davidde Penitente._--This cantata originated in Mozart’s vow, made before his marriage with Constance Weber, to write a mass to celebrate her arrival at Salzburg as his wife. The ‘half-mass’ which he actually wrote for this occasion comprised only the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, and Benedictus, the rest being supplied from an earlier mass. The work was given in this form at St. Peter’s Church, August 25, 1783, his wife taking the solo part. Early in 1785 Mozart received a commission to write a cantata for a Viennese festival; being short of time, he took the Kyrie and Gloria from the above mass, expanded them into five movements, added four new ones, and fitted them all out with Italian texts selected from the Psalms of David. In this form the work was presented at the Burg Theater, March 13th, under the title _Davidde Penitente_. It contains ten numbers, consisting of choruses, soprano and tenor arias and a terzetto, the tenth number, a final chorus and fugue, being called the ‘queen of vocal fugues’ by the critics of the time. This cantata is regarded as one of the finest examples of Mozart’s church style, notwithstanding the brilliant character of the solo parts, especially the bravura aria for soprano (_Fra le oscure ombre_). The Masonic Cantatas.--Mozart became a Mason soon after he arrived in Vienna in 1784 and he entered into the activities of the fraternity with great ardor. The following year he composed a small cantata, _Die Maurerfreude_ (‘The Mason’s Joy’), for tenor and chorus, in honor of the master of his lodge, Herr Born. The second Masonic cantata,[63] _Lob der Freundschaft_ (‘Praise of Friendship’), was finished November 15th, 1791, only three weeks before his death. This work, which is on a larger scale than its predecessor, but less earnest in spirit, is pleasing and popular and consists of six numbers--two choruses, two recitatives, a tenor aria, and a duet. It was Mozart’s last completed composition. Two days after its performance at his lodge his last illness attacked him. VI