Mozart composed the K 317 mass in 1779 at the age of 23 in Salzburg. The name ‘Coronation’ was only later added and to this day it cannot be clearly proved whether or not the work was performed at the coronation of an emperor or a king. Even the parts of the mass with the longest text – the Gloria and the Credo – are composed in one movement rather than divided into smaller ones. However, the division of the music naturally follows the meaning of the text; certain parts of the text are highlighted by a change of tempo and character, the alternation of chorus and the four soloists, or the introduction of new musical material. At the same time, the construction of each part is determined not by the structure of the text, but rather, musical aspects. Accordingly, Mozart composed Gloria in sonata form. Credo (I believe in one God) is divided into three major parts, where ‘Et incarnatus est’ (And was incarnate) constitutes the middle part, and in ‘Et resurrexit’ (And on the third day He rose again) the joyous, swift music of the initial ‘Credo’ makes a return. The best-known part of the mass is Agnus Dei, which is a forerunner to the Countess’s second aria (‘Dove sono’) in The Marriage of Figaro. The middle section of Kyrie returns in a faster form in the ‘Dona nobis pacem’ closing the Agnus Dei and solemnly rounding off the mass.