Wikipedia

Mass No. 1 (Bruckner)

TheMass No. 1inD minor,WAB 26 byAnton Bruckner,is asetting of the Massordinaryfor soloists, mixed choir and orchestra, and organ.

Mass No. 1
byAnton Bruckner
The composer,c. 1860
KeyD minor
CatalogueWAB26
FormMass
Performed20 November 1864(1864-11-20):old Linz Cathedral
Published1892(1892):Innsbruck
Movements6
VocalSATBchoir and soloists
Instrumentalorchestra and organ

History

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After he had ended his eight-year study period withSechterandKitzlerand he had composed a few smaller works, such as theFestive Cantata(1862) andPsalm 112(1863), Bruckner composed his first grand Mass, the Mass in D minor. He completed the work on 29 September 1864.

The premiere of the Mass in theold Linz Cathedralon 20 November 1864 was successful. A laudatory review in theLinzer Zeitungdescribed Bruckner's potential as a symphonic composer and ranked the D minor Mass in the highest echelon of church music.
Four weeks later, the Mass was performed again during a "Concert spirituel" in theLinzer Redoutensaal.Because there was no organ available in theRedoutensaal,Bruckner composed an alternative with woodwinds (clarinetsandbassoons) for the short organintermezzoin the mid-section of theCredo(manuscript Mus.Hs. 3170). Bruckner's manuscript (Mus.Hs. 19423) and the organ score are archived in theÖsterreichische Nationalbibliothek.[1]

Bruckner revised the work in 1876 and again in 1881–1882. The (small) differences between the versions concern mainly annotations aboutarticulationanddynamics.

Versions and editions

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First version 1864, slightly revised in 1876 and 1881–82.

Setting

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The work is set forSATBchoir and soloists, and orchestra (2flutes,2oboes,2clarinetsin B♭,2bassoons,2hornsin F, 2trumpetsin F, alto, tenor and basstrombones,timpani,and strings), and organ.

According to the Catholic practice – as also in Bruckner's previousMesse für den GründonnerstagandMissa solemnis,and the followingMass No. 2– the first verse of theGloriaand theCredois not composed and has to be intoned by the priest inGregorian modebefore the choir goes on.

The work is divided into six parts:

  1. Kyrie– Alla breve (mehr langsam),D minor
  2. Gloria– Allegro,D major
  3. Credo– Moderato, D major
  4. Sanctus– Maestoso, D major
  5. Benedictus– Moderato,G major
  6. Agnus Dei- Andante quasi Allegretto,G minorveering to D major

Total duration: about 50 minutes[2]

When compared to the previousMissa solemnisthe work is more mature in conception withcrescendos,which are so characteristic of Bruckner's later symphonies.

Wagner's influence is evident as the orchestra plays a major role setting the stage, developing material and intensifying the drama.... [A] passage by way of illustrating [it]... might be the death and resurrection section of theCredo... The plaintivea cappellasetting of 'passus et sepultus est'... is reflected inpianissimowoodwind (or organ) andbrasschoralesbefore the strings propel a tremendouscrescendoto a triumphant re-entry of the chorus at 'Et resurrexit'.[3]

However, there is a continuity with previous works. Several passages, such as theQui tollisof theGloria,the central part of theCredo,and the devoutness of the word "Jesu Christe", the solemness of "cum gloria" and the dread of the wordmortuorum,were already prefigured in theMissa solemnis.Moreover, the stringpianissimoin the opening bars of theKyriewas also foreshadowed in the opening bars ofPsalm 146.TheQui cum Patre et Filioin theCredois quoting the foregoingAfferentur regi.

The repeat structure already stubbed inPsalm 112– a product of Kitzler's tutelage – is clearly present in the work: repeat of the starting theme of theCredoin "Et in spiritum", and that of "Deum de Deo" in "Et expecto"; repeat of the "Osanna" of theSanctusat the end of theBenedictus;and that of the ascending scale of theKyrie,of "Et vitam venturi" and of the fugue subject of theGloriain theDona nobis.

Bruckner used also this ascending scale (a reminiscence of the "Qua resurget ex favilla homo reus" fromMozart's Requiem), as astairway to heavenini.a.theAdagioof several symphonies and hisTe Deum.[4]Itsinversion,which Bruckner had used already in the first part of hisPsalm 146,will be later used in theAndanteof theFourth Symphonyand is also prefiguring the "Farewell to Life" of theAdagioof theNinth Symphony.

Bruckner used a citation of the "Miserere nobis" from theGloriain the transition to the development of the first movement of hisThird Symphony.At the end of his life he made again a citation of it, as a kind of supplication, before the climax of theAdagioof his Ninth Symphony. As Nowak wrote

Perhaps the best indication of the high regard in which Bruckner held this mass is his use of themiserere-motif from theGloriain theAdagioof the Ninth Symphony. He could think of no more fitting music for his farewell to life itself than the humbly pleading six-four chord sequences of his days in Linz.[2]

Selected discography

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The discography of Mass No. 1 is less abundant than that of the followingMasses No. 2andNo. 3. Except for a partial recording (Gloriaonly) performed by Pius Kalt in around 1925, the first recording was taped by F. Charles Adler for his SPA label in 1954 and issued the following year. In this recording, which used Gross first edition, the "Miserere nobis"from theGloriais sung by the bass soloist instead of by the choir.[5]The intermezzo of theCredois performed by the woodwind instruments.

About twenty years later, in 1972, Eugen Jochum recorded the Mass on LP (DG 2530 314). It was reissued in an LP-box together the two other Masses,Psalm 150and several motets. The box has been later transferred to CD. According to Hans Roelofs this recording with organ intermezzo in theCredoremains the reference.[5]

Among the about fifteen other recordings, of which one third was not brought to the commercial market, Matthew Best's and Froschauer's recordings with organ intermezzo, and Gardiner's, Matt's and Ortner's recordings with woodwind intermezzo are, according to Roelofs, also good performances.
Frieberger's live performance, recorded in the rood-screen of theAlter Dom of Linzduring theBrucknerfest2008, provides the listener with a whiff of authenticity. As Roelofs writes "(translated) The ambience of the premiere is offered here.[6]... a lively and transparent interpretation. The music gets here a huge shattering power due to the historical playing style, and the difference to recordings with the 'smoothly polished' modern instruments is striking. "[5]

In the recent years, there are more performances of the Mass in D minor by, e.g., Mattias Giesen in the Basilika St. Florian (13 August 2018),[7]Gerd Schallerat theEbrach Summer Music Festival(1 September 2019),[8]Franz Welser-Möstat the anniversary concert of 950 years of the St. Florian Boys' Choir (11 June 2021),[9]and Markus Landerer onPentecostSunday in theStephansdom of Vienna(28 May 2023). InGerd Schaller’s performance, the "Miserere nobis"from the Gloria is, as by Adler, sung the bass soloist. None of these performances have been commercially issued as yet.

Records with organ intermezzo

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Records with woodwind intermezzo

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  • F. Charles Adler,Choir of the Wiener Rundfunk andWiener Symphoniker,LP: SPA 72, Lumen AMS 7, 1954 (Johann Gross edition).
    This historical recording has been remastered to CD: CRQ Editions CRQ CD 44, 2012.[10]
  • John Eliot Gardiner,live with theMonteverdi Choirand theWiener Philharmoniker.CD: DG 459 674-2, 1996.
  • Erwin Ortner,live with the Internationale Chorakademie Krems '96 and the Niederösterreichisches Kammerorchester. CD: da capo 68.24830, 1996
  • Nicol Matt, Chamber Choir of Europe and Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen. CD: Brilliant SACD 92212, 2003.

References

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  1. ^C. van Zwol, p. 686-688
  2. ^abAnton Bruckner – Critical Complete Edition: Requiem, Masses & Te Deum
  3. ^John Williamson, The Cambridge Companion to Bruckner, pp. 48–49
  4. ^Paul Gilbert Langevin,Bruckner,p. 25
  5. ^abcCritical discography of Bruckner's Mass No. 1
  6. ^Eine katholische Messe zur Brucknerzeit
  7. ^St. Florianer Brucknertage 2018
  8. ^Ebracher Musiksommer 2019
  9. ^Jubiläumskonzert der St. Florianer Sängerknaben
  10. ^A digitalisation of Adler's historical recording can also be heard on YouTube

Sources

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  • Anton Bruckner: Sämtliche Werke: Band XVI: Messe d-Moll (1864),Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Leopold Nowak (editor), Vienna, 1975
  • Max Auer,Anton Bruckner als Kirchenmusiker,Gustav Bosse Verlag[de],Regensburg, 1927, pp. 85–110
  • Dika Newlin,A Gap is Filled - Bruckner's D Minor Mass in Disc Debut,Chord and Discord,Vol. 2, No. 8, 1958, P. 117.
  • Paul-Gilbert Langevin,Bruckner,L'Âge d'Homme, Lausanne, 1977.ISBN2-8251-0880-4
  • Cornelis van Zwol,Anton Bruckner – Leven en Werken,Thot, Bussum (Netherlands), 2012.ISBN90-686-8590-2
  • John Williamson,The Cambridge Companion to Bruckner,Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004.ISBN0-521-80404-3
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