List of masses by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

• Masses for regular Sundays or smaller feasts belonged to the missa brevis type. In the context of Mozart's masses brevis applies primarily to the duration, i.e. the whole mass ceremony took no longer than three quarters of an hour. Instrumentation for such a missa brevis would usually be limited to violins, continuo, and trombones doubling the choral parts of alto, tenor and bass.
• The generic name for longer masses was missa longa, for more solemn and festive occasions. Additional instruments include oboes, trumpets, timpani, and for some of them also French horns. Instead of treating each part of the mass liturgy in a continuous rendition of the text, there are repeats, fugues, and subdivisions in several movements with separate orchestral introductions.
• Missa longa is usually synonymous with missa solemnis, however in Mozart's Salzburg, a hybrid brevis et solemnis seems to have existed, short in duration, but nonetheless for the more festive occasions, for example including a more elaborate orchestration than the usual missa brevis.

Masses and separate parts of the Mass Ordinary