Missa brevis

The concise approach is found in the mostly syllabic settings of the 16th century, and in the custom of "telescoping" (or simultaneous singing by different voices) in 18th-century Masses.

For composers of the classical period such as Mozart, missa brevis meant "short in duration" – as opposed to missa longa (long Mass), a term that Leopold Mozart used for his son's K. 262[2] – rendering the complete words of the liturgy.

As the words were well known some composers had different voice parts recite simultaneously different sections of long texts.

From the early 17th century, many Kurzmessen consist only of Kyrie and Gloria sections, e.g. those by Bartholomäus Gesius (eight out of ten Masses included in his 1611 Missae ad imitationem cantionum Orlandi).

[5] Gottfried Vopelius included a Kyrie–Gloria Mass in Gregorian chant on pages 421 to 423 of his Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (1682), introducing its Gloria as "... what the old church has done furthermore in praise of the Holy Trinity".

Start of Gaspar van Weerbeke 's Missa brevis in Choirbook, D-Ju MS 21
Start of the Kyrie of Johann Sebastian Bach 's Mass in B minor , originally composed as the start of a Kyrie–Gloria Mass in B minor dedicated to Frederick Augustus II, Elector of Saxony , when he came to power in 1733. The original Kyrie–Gloria mass was composed in 12 movements for SSATB soloists and choir, and an extensive baroque orchestra. It was probably because of its long duration that the score was archived in the Royal Library upon arrival in Dresden, instead of being added to the repertoire of the Catholic Hofkirche. [ 4 ]