Six Missae breves by Romanus Pinzger O.S.B. (1714-1755) were published as part of his Opus II collection, Laus Dei Jucunda et Sonora, in Augsburg in 1750. This thesis discusses the genesis and the realization of a performing edition of Missae breves I, II and VI. The thesis is in two parts. Part A provides the context for Pinzger’s Missae breves. Part B contains the performing editions of Pinzger’s Missae breves I, II and VI, together with editorial and critical commentaries.

Chapter I explores the historical background to the composition of sacred music in Munich, in Salzburg and in Austro-Bavarian monasteries in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Chapter II offers a brief history of music that was composed for performance during the celebration of the Roman Catholic Mass, and investigates the prevalence of instrumentally-accompanied Masses in Bavaria in the eighteenth century. Italian influences on Bavarian composition are explored, and the dissemination and preservation of music from Pinzger’s time are considered. Chapter III examines the history of the Monastery of St. Lambert at Seeon and discusses the cultural activities at the Monastery, from its foundation in 994 to its dissolution in 1803. An Inventory made in 1803 of the music housed in the Monastery library is analysed in some detail. A short account is included of the nearby Benedictine convent on the Fraueninsel in the Chiemsee, whose abbess in 1750 was the dedicatee of Pinzger’s Opus II collection. Chapter IV considers the life and works of Romanus Pinzger, drawing on contemporary sources. Chapter V investigates in some detail the sources and the part-books of Pinzger’s Opus II collection. In Chapter VI performance practice issues from the eighteenth century are addressed. The particular requirements and challenges in performing Pinzger’s Missae breves I, II and VI are then examined. The editorial commentary in Chapter VII discusses the layout of the score and accounts for decisions that were made regarding the content of the part-books.