Die Lichter, die zu Tausenden

Mozart occasionally composed oratorios and cantatas. Only few of them have a direct connection to Salzburg. The tradition of school dramas with music at the Benedictine University (Mozart’s Die Schuldigkeit des ersten und fürnehmsten Gebotes, KV 35 is an example), and cantatas for the Holy Sepulcher (e.g., Mozart’s Grabmusik, KV 42) declined during the 1760s and especially after the reforms of Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo in the 1770s. In Vienna, oratorios were mainly fostered by the Tonkünstler- und Waisen-Societät and by activities of the so-called Associated Cavaliers, among which Baron Gottfried van Swieten played a central role. In addition, a number of cantatas were written for special occasions at the Masonic Lodges in Vienna (see work group 31).