Missa Brevis (Britten)
| Missa Brevis | |
|---|---|
| by Benjamin Britten | |
Westminster Cathedral, where the Missa was first performed | |
| Key | D major |
| Opus | 63 |
| Form | Missa brevis |
| Text | Mass ordinary |
| Performed | 22 July 1959: Westminster Cathedral, London |
| Scoring | three-part treble choir and organ |
The Missa Brevis in D, Op. 63, is a setting of the Latin mass completed by Benjamin Britten on Trinity Sunday, 1959. Set for three-part treble choir and organ, it was written for London's Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral and was first performed there on 22 July of the same year. Britten admired the singing of the choir under George Malcolm and he completed the work in time to mark the retirement of Malcolm as organist and choirmaster at Westminster: the printed dedication reads "For George Malcolm and the boys of Westminster Cathedral Choir". It remained Britten's only liturgical setting of the mass. Malcolm's live recording, from a service at the cathedral, lasts ten minutes.