Michael Haydn, Ave Maria MH 72

The Roman Catholic liturgy required a large number of musical settings beyond the mass. While the mass has a standardized text, the texts of the lesser church works were chosen according to the readings for the respective Sundays or feast days. Some of these texts were biblical or at least traditional sacred poetry, mostly in Latin, while others were newly created for these occasions. With few exceptions, Mozart’s lesser church works were written in Salzburg. These works belong to diverse traditions and consequently display great variety. Marian antiphons, for example, are vocal works addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary and assigned to different occasions in the church year. In Salzburg, Marian antiphons were probably performed in special prayers during the Liturgy of the Hours rather than in vespers services.