Missa Solemnis (Bruckner)
Encyclopedia
The Missa Solemnis WAB
29 by Anton Bruckner
is a setting of the mass
ordinary
for vocal soloists, chorus
, orchestra
and organ
.
Following the death of Michael Arneth, Friedrich Mayr was appointed abbot of St. Florian
. The Missa Solemnis was premiered on September 14, 1854, the day of Mayr's elevation.
Robert Führer
saw the score and suggested to Bruckner he study with Simon Sechter
. Bruckner showed Sechter the mass and Sechter accepted him as a pupil. The Missa solemnis was the last major work Bruckner wrote before concluding his studies with Sechter, who did not allow his students free composition while studying with him.
The quartet of vocal soloists consists of a soprano
, an alto
, a tenor
, and a bass
, while the choir consists of sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses. The orchestra consists of 2 oboe
s, 2 bassoon
s, 2 horn
s in E-flat, 2 trumpet
s in B-flat, alto, tenor and bass trombone
s, timpani
, and strings.
The setting is divided into twelve parts.
The Quoniam quotes
from Joseph Haydn
's Missa sancti Bernardi von Offida
. As in Bruckner's later great masses, the setting of the words "Et resurrexit" is preceded by the "old-fashioned rhetorical gesture" of a "rising chromatic figure in stile agitato representing the trembling of the earth." This rising chromatic figure is repeated before the "Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum".
Robert Simpson
finds "nothing mediocre or tentative about this strong and clear work ... the music is often of excellent quality ... the work, though not perfect, is admirable." Several passages of the Missa solemnis, that one could call "Mass No. 0", particularly the Qui tollis of the Gloria and the central part of the Credo, are prefiguring the next Mass No. 1 in D minor
. Both the Gloria and the Credo are ending by a fugue
.
The edition by Robert Haas
for the Gesamtausgabe was based on the copy given to Mayr, but Leopold Nowak
took advantage of phrasing marks in some violin parts which were not available to Haas.
Werkverzeichnis Anton Bruckner
The Werkverzeichnis Anton Bruckners is a thematic catalogue of the music of Anton Bruckner compiled by Renata Grasberger. Grasberger did not include any unfinished compositions nor lost works. Lost works, sketches, etc. were added afterwards...
29 by Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
is a setting of the mass
Mass (music)
The Mass, a form of sacred musical composition, is a choral composition that sets the invariable portions of the Eucharistic liturgy to music...
ordinary
Ordinary of the Mass
The ordinary, in Roman Catholic and other Western Christian liturgies, refers to the part of the Eucharist or of the canonical hours that is reasonably constant without regard to the date on which the service is performed...
for vocal soloists, chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
and organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
.
Following the death of Michael Arneth, Friedrich Mayr was appointed abbot of St. Florian
St. Florian's Priory
St. Florian's Priory is a monastery in the town of Sankt Florian, Upper Austria, Austria.-History:The monastery, named after Saint Florian, was founded in the Carolingian period. From 1071 it has housed a community of Augustinian Canons, and is thus is one of the oldest operational monasteries in...
. The Missa Solemnis was premiered on September 14, 1854, the day of Mayr's elevation.
Robert Führer
Robert Führer
Robert Führer , born Robert Jan Nepomuk Führer, was a Czech composer.- Biography :He was born in Prague. He became the Director of Music at the St. Vitus Cathedral in 1839 at the age of 32. He was deemed to be very talented, but he lived beyond his means...
saw the score and suggested to Bruckner he study with Simon Sechter
Simon Sechter
Simon Sechter was an Austrian music theorist, teacher, organist, conductor and composer.Sechter was born in Friedberg , Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire, and moved to Vienna in 1804, succeeding Jan Václav Voříšek as court organist there in 1824. In 1810 he began teaching piano and voice...
. Bruckner showed Sechter the mass and Sechter accepted him as a pupil. The Missa solemnis was the last major work Bruckner wrote before concluding his studies with Sechter, who did not allow his students free composition while studying with him.
The quartet of vocal soloists consists of a soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
, an alto
Alto
Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...
, a tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
, and a bass
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
, while the choir consists of sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses. The orchestra consists of 2 oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, 2 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s, 2 horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
s in E-flat, 2 trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s in B-flat, alto, tenor and bass trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
s, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, and strings.
The setting is divided into twelve parts.
- "KyrieKyrieKyrie, a transliteration of Greek κύριε , vocative case of κύριος , meaning "Lord", is the common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, which is also called the Kýrie, eléison ....
eleison..." Andante, B-flat minor, 3/8 - "Gloria in excelsis DeoGloria in Excelsis Deo"Gloria in excelsis Deo" is the title and beginning of a hymn known also as the Greater Doxology and the Angelic Hymn. The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria.It is an example of the psalmi idiotici "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest")...
..." Allegro, common timeCommon Time"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
, G minorG minorG minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to F. Its relative major is B-flat major, and its parallel major is G major....
veering to B-flat major - "Qui tollis peccata mundi..." Andante, G minor, 9/8
- "Quoniam tu solus sanctus..." Allegro, B-flat major, common time
- "CredoCredoA credo |Latin]] for "I Believe") is a statement of belief, commonly used for religious belief, such as the Apostles' Creed. The term especially refers to the use of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in the Mass, either as text, Gregorian chant, or other musical settings of the...
in unum Deum..." Allegro moderato, common time, B-flat major - "Et incarnatus est..." Adagio, F majorF majorF major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...
, common time - "Crucifixus..." F minorF minorF minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. The harmonic minor raises the E to E. Its key signature has four flats .... - "Et ressurrexit tertia die..." Allegro, moderato, B-flat major, 3/4 - "Mortuos" Langsamer - "cujus regni" Tempo primo - "Et in spiritum Sanctum..." Sehr nachgebend
- "Et vitam venturi saeculi..." Allegro moderato, B-flat major, common time
- "SanctusSanctusThe Sanctus is a hymn from Christian liturgy, forming part of the Order of Mass. In Western Christianity, the Sanctus is sung as the final words of the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer, the prayer of consecration of the bread and wine...
Dominus Deus Sabbaoth..." Moderato, B-flat major, 12/8 - "Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini..." Moderato, E-flat major, 6/8
- "Agnus Dei..." Adagio, B-flat major, 3/4
- "Dona nobis pacem..." Allegro, B-flat major, 2/4
The Quoniam quotes
Musical quotation
Musical quotation is the practice of directly quoting another work in a new composition. The quotation may be from the same composer's work , or from a different composer's work ....
from Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
's Missa sancti Bernardi von Offida
Missa sancti Bernardi von Offida
The Missa sancti Bernardi von Offida in B-flat major by Joseph Haydn, Hob. XXII:10, Novello 1, was written the same year as the Missa in tempore belli, and it "may have been the first Mass Haydn wrote after his return from England." Yet it may also have been the second. It is usually given as...
. As in Bruckner's later great masses, the setting of the words "Et resurrexit" is preceded by the "old-fashioned rhetorical gesture" of a "rising chromatic figure in stile agitato representing the trembling of the earth." This rising chromatic figure is repeated before the "Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum".
Robert Simpson
Robert Simpson (composer)
Robert Simpson was an English composer and long-serving BBC producer and broadcaster.He is best known for his orchestral and chamber music , and for his writings on the music of Beethoven, Bruckner, Nielsen and Sibelius. He studied composition under Herbert Howells...
finds "nothing mediocre or tentative about this strong and clear work ... the music is often of excellent quality ... the work, though not perfect, is admirable." Several passages of the Missa solemnis, that one could call "Mass No. 0", particularly the Qui tollis of the Gloria and the central part of the Credo, are prefiguring the next Mass No. 1 in D minor
Mass No. 1 (Bruckner)
Mass No. 1 in D minor, WAB 26 by Anton Bruckner, is a setting of the Mass ordinary for soloists, mixed choir, orchestra and organ.Bruckner composed it in 1864, and revised it in 1876 and 1881/82...
. Both the Gloria and the Credo are ending by a fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
.
The edition by Robert Haas
Robert Haas
Robert Haas may refer to:*Robert Haas , Austrian musicologist*Robert Haas , American calligrapher, typographer, photographer and book designer*Robert Haas , German clergyman and ecumenist...
for the Gesamtausgabe was based on the copy given to Mayr, but Leopold Nowak
Leopold Nowak
Leopold Nowak was a musicologist chiefly known for editing the works by Anton Bruckner for the International Bruckner Society. He reconstructed the original form of some of those works, most of which had been revised and edited many times.Nowak was born in Vienna, Austria. He studied piano and...
took advantage of phrasing marks in some violin parts which were not available to Haas.
Discography
- Bruckner - Missa Solemnis, Psalm 112 & Psalm 150, Karl Anton RickenbacherKarl Anton RickenbacherKarl Anton Rickenbacher is a Swiss conductor.Rickenbacher studied at the Berlin Conservatory with Herbert von Karajan. He took part in master classes with Pierre Boulez. He was an assistant conductor at the Zürich Opera from 1966 to 1969. He served as first Kapellmeister of the Stadt Buhnen...
with the Chor der Bamberger Symphoniker & the Bamberger Symphoniker: Virgin Classics VC 7 91481, 1990 - The LP-recording of 1984 of the Monteverdi ChoirMonteverdi ChoirThe Monteverdi Choir was founded in 1964 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner for a performance of the Monteverdi Vespers in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. A specialist Baroque ensemble, the Choir has become famous for its stylistic conviction and extensive repertoire, encompassing music from the early...
with the Israel Chamber OrchestraIsrael Chamber OrchestraThe Israel Chamber Orchestra is an Israeli orchestra based in Tel Aviv-Jaffa. Primary funding comes from the Israel Ministry of Education and the Tel Aviv Jaffa Municipality....
, conducted by Jürgen Jürgens has recently been transferred to CD:
CD - Music of the St. Florian Period (1845-1855), BSVD-0109, 2011