Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) - Missa Solemnis in B flat minor

Anton Bruckner, a devout Catholic, played a great role in the history of sacred music in the 19th century, a genre whose revival he tried to assure by founding his religious works on a traditional basis and taking his inspiration notable from the Viennese classical composers, particularly Haydn and Schubert.

He went so far as to quote entire themes by these composers in his Missa Solemnis in B flat minor, completed in August 1854, which shows an evident taste for fugal writing and the dramatic use of chromaticism.

Bruckner set several psalm-texts to music of a profound and moving spirituality. Psalm 112, written in 1863, was rediscovered only at the beginning of the 20th century, whilst the Psalm 150, his last piece of religious music, was composed 1892, four years before his death. It is a dynamic, jubilant piece with strong contrasts, based on themes deriving from plainchant, showing Bruckner's interest in early polyphony and Gregorian chant.

The 2 CD set was released by Virgin Classics, 1991, (DDD). Virgin Classics 724356150126.

Soprano: Christian Oelze
Alto: Claudia Schubert
Tenor: Jörg Dürmüller
Bass: Reinhart Hagen

Chor der Bamberger Symphoniker, Bamberger Symphoniker, Conductor: Anton Rickenbacher

Track List CD 2:

1. Kyrie (2'54")
2. Gloria in excelsis Deo (2'29")
3. Qui tollis peccata (1'57")
4. Quoniam tu solus (3'00")
5. Credo in unum Deo (1'42")
6. Et incarnatus est (3'50")
7. Et resurrexit (2'08")
8. Et vitam venturi seaculi (1'38")
9. Sanctus (1'38")
10. Benedictus (3'23")
11. Agnus Dei (1'52")
12. Dona nobis pacem (1'52")
13. Psalm 112 in B flat major (9'10")
14. Psalm 150 in C major (8'26")
    

Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) - Mass in A minor, Credo, Te Deum

The Mass in A minor is for solo voices, four part chorus and orchestra. Scholars believe that it is almost certainly the Messa di Gloria composed in 1821 whilst Bellini was studying at the San Sebastinano under the guidance of Giovanni Furno and Giacomo Tritto. The manuscript is held in Catania in the library of the Civic Bellini Museum.

The Mass, according to Anonymous, was reserved for a solemn occasion: the name day of Emperor Francis I, whose troops were in Sicily. The first performance in fact was held on 4th October 1821 in Catania at the church of San Francesco d'Assisi, the big church set on the square of its own name opposite Palazzo Gravina Cruyllas, the very house were Vincenzo Bellini had been born on the night of 2nd-3rd November 1801.

The score belongs to his "juvenile" compositions yet there is nothing scholastic about it, for the Sicilian musician had wholly absorbed both his grandgather's precious lessons and the counterpoint teaching of Giacomo Tritto's strict school. The composer demonstrates that he is fully cognisant of all the secrets of the art of composition and applies them to his extraordinary musical and artistic talent. Though apparently simple, the harmonic and instrumental weave constantly offers us tokens of the musician's genius.

The Mass alternates solo and choral vocal pieces in which monophonic plainsong alternates with polyphonic, contrapuntal form in clear, calm scoring.

The CD was released by Nuova Era, 2002, (DDD). Nuova Era 7375.

Soprano: Monica Tarone
Mezzo-Soprano: Galina Tchernova
Tenor: Hyun-Jae Park
Bass: Alessandro Bianchini

Coro e Orchestra dell'Accademia Stefano Tempia, Conductor: Massimo Peiretti

Track List:

1. Kyrie (9'27")
2. Gloria (6'26")
3. Laudamus (8'14")
4. Domine Deus (9'38")
5. Qui Tollis (5'06")
6. Qui Sedes (8'22)
7. Cum Sancto Spiritu (6'13")
8. Credo (a quattro voci) (6'13"9
9. Te Deum Laudamus (7'40")
   

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) - Missa Coronationalis (Hungarian Coronation Mass) R 487

To a listener today the Missa Coronationalis seems to be the most concise and concentrated of all the composer's masterpieces.

The Mass was first performed on June 8, 1867 at the coronation ceremony in the Matthias Church by Buda Castle in a six-section form. After the first performance the Offertory was added, and two years later the Gradual.

On April 23, 1867, Liszt wrote to his friend and fellow composer Mihály Mosonyi in Pest, whom he regarded as highly as Richard Wagner did, about the music he had written for the mass:

"First of all I must apologize from a musical point of view for the unusual simplicity of the mass; it was impossible for me to evade my prior instructions to keep it as short as possible and so abandoned a larger scale work. Despite that, I hope the work's two main characteristics - its ecclesiastical and its Hungarian national aspect - can plainly be seen. You will, by the way, see how careful I have been to make sure that the performance should under all circumstances be exceptionally light and smooth. The vocal parts are kept within their most comfortable registers and the instruments accompanying them also play in their most comfortable positions. I have renounced enharmonice so as to prevent all dissonance, I have restricted myself to the customary devices and forsworn all offensive instruments, various percussion effects, bass clarinets or other innovations; I was not able even to include a single harp. In short, the mass is built up in such a way that it can be well sung and performed at sight ..."

The CD was released by Hungaroton Classic, 1994, (DDD). Hungaroton Classic HCD 12148.

Soprano: Veronika Kincses
Contralto: Klára Takács
Tenor: Dénes Gulyás
Bass: Lászlo Polgár

Hungarian Radio and Television Chorus, Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Conductor: György Lehel

Track List:

1. Kyrie (5'21")
2. Gloria (7'23")
3. Gradual (5'23")
4. Credo (7'10")
5. Offertorium (5'12")
6. Sanctus (3'35")
7. Benedictus (7'21")
8. Agnus Dei (6'52")
   

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1836) - Mass in E flat op. 80

The Mass in E flat was most likely composed for the 1804 Marienfest in Eisenstadt, an annual event celebrated with great pomp and splendor to honor the Fürstin Maria's name day, usually on the weekend following the Mariä Geburt observance (September 8). For the Marienfest, the Fürst usually hosted a banquet, a ball, and a concert, in addition to a military parade and fireworks. He also commissioned a new Mass each year (the late masses of Haydn and the Mass in C of Beethoven owe their existence to the Marienfest). The recently-appointed Hummel would have been a logical choice for such a commission in 1804, the Marienfest providing a perfect opportunity to showcase his abilities as a composer.

A review of the Mass in E flat in an 1820 issue of the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, Leipzig, lauded the work as "exquisite" and "composed in the spirit and manner of J. Haydn, yet without sacrificing originality".

Hummel's Mass was widely performed in the composer's days; the work was published twice in Vienna (c.1819 and c. 1830), in Paris (1830) and late, in London (c. 1845 and c. 1874).

Unfortunately the mass had fallen into disuse by the end of the century (maybe forgotten ?), and it was not until 1993 that the first modern edition, published by Doblinger Verlag, Vienna, was used for this recording.

Two outstanding examples of Hummel's smaller symphonic sacred works composed for the Esterhazys are the Graduale Quod, quod in orbe and the Offertorium Alma Virgo, both dating from 1805.

Like the Mass in E flat, both works were published in Vienna and in London and both were widely performed until the turn of the century. The first modern editions of these two pieces, after more than 100 years, were published in 1995 by Cantate Music Press (USA).

The CD was released by Koch Schwann, 1996, (DDD). Koch Schwann 3-1779-2.

Soprano: Amanda Halgrimson
Alto: Susan McAdoo
Tenor: Helmut Wildhaber
Bass: Petr Mikulàs

Tschechischer Philharmonischer Chor Brünn, Orchester der Wiener Akademie, Conductor: Martin Haselböck

Track List:

1. Kyrie (5'22"9
2. Gloria (9'47")
3. Credo (13'43")
4. Sanctus (2'04")
5. Benedictus (6'51")
6. Agnus Dei (7'36")
7. Quod, quod in orbe (4'10")
8. Alma Virgo (6'45")
   

Gloria Bruni - Requiem a Roma

Gloria Bruni writes about her Requiem a Roma:

"I had laid before Monsignore Pablo Colino, the Director of Music at St. Peter's, Rome, a few already completed sections of the Requiem a Roma. As a result he gave me his placet, although with the provisio that the Requiem a Roma must not exceed an hour's duration.

Subsequently, each section of the Requiem was checked by Monsignore Colino and also by Monsignore Valentino Miserachs, president of the Papal Conservatoire. I was therefore quite amazed that ideas like, for example, the accompaniment of the last verse of the Liber scriptus by congregational singing should be welcomed by the Vatican.

My Requiem presents death as a transition to an existence freed from care. The music must be gripping, but not mournful; it must give hope of the beyond, and thus reflect my present conception of death.

New in this Requiem is the fact that it begins, not with low voices, but with an innocent child soprano. New also is that it end with an inward prayer by the boys' choir and a boy soloist. Altogether a Circulus vitiosus, for it end as it began - with the innocent voice of a child."

The first performance took place on 5 November 2000 as a benefit concert in aid of the Salesian Order for the "Street Children of the World", at St. Ignazio's church in Rome.

On the previous evening, the Kyrie and Sanctus were given a prior performance before Pope John Paull II in the great audience chamber of the Vatican, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the singing of the European Convention on Hman Rights. The Holy Father said that he was "deeply moved" by the music.

As well as the Pope, parliamentarians and statesmen from all over Europe heard this performance of excerpts - among them Michail Gorbachev.

The CD was released by Arte Nova, 2001, (DDD). Arte Nova 74321870662.

Soprano: Gloria Bruni
Bass: Nicolò Rigano
Boys' Soprano: Rafal Sekulak

Hamburger Symphoniker, Boys' and Men's Choir of the Cathedral of Poznan, Conductor: Boguslaw Dawidow

Track List:

1. Applause (00'18")
2. Requiem (5'42")
3. Kyrie (4'36") (Gloria Bruni, Thank You For This !)
   
4. Offertorium (4'48")
5. Sanctus (6'27")
6. Agnus Dei (2'55")
7. Lux Aeterna (5'49")
8. Dies Irae (2'28")
9. Tuba Mirum (2'34")
10. Liber Scriptus (3'30")
11. Recordare (4'30")
12. Confutatis (2'26")
13. Lacrimosea (4'29")
14. Pie Jesu (5'25")
    

César Franck (1822-1890) - Mass in A Major op.12

César Franck was famous as a composer of instrumental music. In contratst to this he also composed church music, but unfortunately his work as a church musician has fallen into oblivion.

The mass, which was completed by Franck in 1860 and performed for the first time on Easter Tuesday of 1861 in Ste. Clotilde, was revised by him time and again until 1872.

In its arrangement for the choir and the soloists, the mass dispenses with the alto part, in keeping with a custom often to be observed in France. The role of the vocal solists is of absolutely secondary importance in comparison to that of the choir. Only for the Qui tollis of the Gloria is a solo tenor prescribed, whereas the Et incanatus est of the Credo and the beginning of the Agnus Dei can be performed by soloists ad libitum. And yet musically speaking there are good reasons for delegating larger portions of the composition to the soloists so as to reach a higher degree on tonal differentiation as well as to make its formal structure come out more clearly. This attempt was made here in the recording of the work.

The CD was released by AUDITE, 1993, (ADD). Audite 95.431.

Soprano: Edith Wiens
Tenor: Raimundo Mettre
Bass: Ivo Ingram

Philharmonie Schwäbisch Gmünd (Choir & Orchestra), Conductor: Hubert Beck

Recording fom 21th November 1979 in Heilig-Kreuz-Münster, Schwäbisch Gmünd.

Track List:

1. Kyrie (5'39")
2. Gloria (11'38")
3. Credo (15'31")
4. Sanctus (3'16")
5. Agnus Dei (5'16")
   

Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) - Mass in D

Ethel Smyth was born in 1858. Being a child of the Victorian age she received a strict education at home and at a boarding school against which she revolted again and again. She studied in Leipzig - strength of will and persistence were her strongest characteristics.

She composed chamber- and piano music. A serenade for orchestra was her first success in England. The Mass remained her only religious work.

In 1910 she was active in the English suffragette Movement which fought for woman's right to vote. She then composed the "March of the Woman", she took part in activities and demonstrations and was arrested. More and more often she conducted her compositions and her reputation as a composer increased.

In 1922 she was ennobled "Dame of the Empire". In spite of advancing deafness her spirit remained unbroken, writing and journalism were added to her composatory work.

Reaching the age 0f 85 she died in 1944.

In January 1893 the première was held with about 1000 performers in the enormous Albert Hall in front of an audience of 12000 people. It was reveiced with enthusiasm. The "Gloria" was performed as festive finale at the end of the Mass being the composer's utmost wish.

In spite of this great masterpiece the work vanished from sight to reappear again 30 years later.

For a re-performance in 1924 the work was revised by her. The changes refer to a small improvement in the choir- and orchestral parts and a reduction of the metronome beat most considerably in the fast movements. The changes are surely due to the remembrance of the première with its gigantic number of performers.

George Bernard Shaw's critique which had been published in "the World":

"Dear Dame Ethel, - Thank you for bullying me into going to hear that Mass. The originality and beauty of the voice parts are as striking today as they were 30 years ago, and the rest will stand up in the biggest company. Magnificent ! You are totally and diametrically wrong in imagining that you have suffered from a prejudice against feminine music. On the contrary you have been almost extinguished by the dread of masculine music. It was your music that cured me for ever of the old delusion that momen could not do men's work in art and other things. (That was years ago, when I knew nothing about you, and heard an overture - The Wreckers or something - in which you kicked a big orchestra all around the platform.) But for you I might not have been able to tackle St. Joan, who has floored in every way playwright. Your music is more masculine than Haendel's ... Your dear big brother, G. Bernard Shaw".


The CD was released by AUDITE, 1997, (DDD). Audite 97.448.

Soprano: Catriona Smith
Alto: Helene Schneiderman
Tenor: Scott Mac Allister
Bass: Andreas Macco
Organ: Hermann Trefz

Philharmonia Chor Stuttgart, Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Conductor: Helmut Wolf

Track List:

1. Kyrie (9'29")
2. Credo (16'07")
3. Sanctus (4'44")
4. Benedictus (5'41")
5. Agnus Dei (8'39")
6. Gloria (16'17")