Missa Brevis (Britten)

Missa Brevis
by Benjamin Britten
Westminster Cathedral, where the Missa was first performed
Key	D major
Catalogue	Op. 63
Form	Missa brevis
Performed	22 July 1959 (1959-07-22): Westminster Cathedral, London
Scoring	three-part treble choir and organ

The Missa Brevis in D, Op. 63 is a setting of the Mass completed by Benjamin Britten on Trinity Sunday, 1959. It was first performed at London's Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral on 22 July of the same year. The piece is set for three-part treble choir and organ.

Britten composed the Missa Brevis for George Malcolm's retirement as organist and choirmaster at Westminster: the printed dedication reads "For George Malcolm and the boys of Westminster Cathedral Choir". It was Britten's first published setting of the Mass. Malcolm's live recording of the piece, from a service at the cathedral, lasts ten minutes.

Britten's Missa Brevis contains only four movements, omitting the Credo, notable since the sung Masses of the Westminster Cathedral Choir would have usually included this movement, central to the Catholic faith. The piece rather seems predisposed towards the liturgy of the Church of England or the Protestant Episcopal Church of America, which often omit the sung Credo. In the Sanctus, Britten writes an optional transition between the first Hosanna and the Benedictus. This serves two functions: 1) it allows the sections to be elided seamlessly if the work is performed non-liturgically, and 2) it allows the section to be easily cut altogether for certain liturgical purposes, e.g. in the United States, the Benedictus was not officially approved by canon law and many Episcopal churches omitted it.

The Kyrie immediately presents the D major / F-sharp major relationship that is a unifying element of the work, occurring also in the Gloria and the Sanctus. F-sharp is the key center despite the key signature. The movement is in ternary form, with the central "Christe" inverting the melody of the Kyrie.