Der Messias. (Messiah) Oratory in three parts by Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759)

Mozart occasionally composed oratorios and cantatas. Only a few of these have a direct connection to Salzburg. The tradition of school dramas with music at the Benedictine University (The Obligation of the First and Foremost Commandment, K. 38) and cantatas for the Holy Sepulchre (K. 42) was already in decline by the 1760s, and especially after the reforms of Hieronymus Colloredo in the 1770s. In Vienna, oratorios were primarily supported by the Society of Musicians and Orphans and by the activities of the so-called Associated Cavaliers, among whom Baron Gottfried van Swieten played a central role. A number of cantatas were composed in Vienna for special Masonic occasions (see work group 31).