[2] Mozart returned from his first Italian journey, begun in December 1769, to his Salzburg position as a Konzertmeister of the archbishop in March 1771.

The work requires only a small orchestra of violins and continuo, with optionally trombones playing with the voices, which suggests that it may have been intended for the chapel of Schloss Mirabell.

[2] An extended composition with virtuoso writing for soloists, it is one of the Litaniae solemnes performed at the Salzburg Cathedral.

[6] Structured in six movements, it shows that Mozart studied the style of his predecessors at the cathedral, namely a double-fugue by Michael Haydn.

[3] Mozart composed the Latin text of the litanies for soloists, choir, instruments and continuo.