Der Messias, K. 572, is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 1789 German-language version of Messiah, George Frideric Handel's 1741 oratorio.

Mozart re-orchestrated about three-fifths of Handel's composition, primarily providing additional parts for an extended section of wind instruments, which was called Harmonie at the time.

Handel set his music to a libretto that Charles Jennens had compiled from the King James translation of the Bible (mostly the Old Testament).

Mozart set his arrangement to a German translation that Klopstock and Ebeling had written for Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach's version in Hamburg.

He often stresses a word by extended coloraturas, especially in several movements that are parodies of music composed earlier on Italian texts.

Even polyphonic movements typically end on a dramatic long musical rest, followed by a broad homophonic conclusion.

[9] Mozart used the symphonic orchestra of his time, and used wind instruments (Harmonie), often to add a specific color to a movement.

[5] In choral movements, he assigned a wind instrument to play colla parte with the soprano, and a choir of three trombones to reinforce alto, tenor, and bass.

The trumpet became an instrument among others, and no longer a symbol of secular or divine authority,[5] possibly because the art of playing it had deteriorated.

[1] In 1884, Robert Franz published a mixed German-and-English version of Messiah, based on Handel's original, Mozart's arrangement, and his own amendments.