Kronstorfer Messe

Kronstorfer Messe
Mass by Anton Bruckner
The young Bruckner
Key	D minor
Catalogue	WAB 146
Form	Missa brevis
Composed	1843 (1843) –1844 (1844): Kronstorf
Performed	1 December 1974 (1974-12-01): St. Florian Monastery
Published	1984 (1984)
Recorded	1998 (1998)
Movements	4
Vocal	SATB choir

The Kronstorfer Messe, WAB 146, is a missa brevis composed by Anton Bruckner in 1843-1844.

History

Bruckner composed the Kronstorfer Messe, WAB 146, in 1843–1844, while he was a schoolteacher's assistant in Kronstorf. This Choral-Messe in D minor for mixed choir a cappella was presumably intended for the Lenten season. ^[1]

The work, the manuscript of which was archived in the St. Florian Monastery, was premiered by Augustinus Franz Kropfreiter on 1 December 1974 in the church of the monastery. ^[2] The work is put in Band XXI/41 of the Gesamtausgabe. ^[3]

Setting

The work is divided into four parts:

1. Kyrie - Adagio, D minor
2. Sanctus - Adagio, B-flat major
3. Benedictus - Andante, F major
4. Agnus Dei - Adagio, F major

Total duration: about 5 minutes.

This Missa brevis, also called Messe ohne Gloria [und Credo], exhibits relationships to Palestrina's style. ^[4] The mass survives only in a fragmentary state, without Credo. ^[5] The manuscript, with, on the front page, an autograph indication "Sine Gloria", contains two blank pages with an autograph indication that they were to contain a Credo in F major. ^{[2] [1]}

Alike the contemporaneous Asperges me in F major (WAB 4), the Agnus Dei in F major contains audacious modulations. ^[1]

Note

The Sanctus is re-used in a slightly modified setting for that of the next Messe für den Gründonnerstag . ^[1]

Discography

There are two recordings of the Mass:

• Jussi Kauranen, Pirkanpojat boys' choir, Tampere (Finland), Tuhansin Kielin– CD PPCD 02, edited by the choir, 1998 ^[6]
• Sigvards Klava, Latvian Radio Choir, Bruckner: Latin Motets – CD Ondine OD 1362, 2019

References

1. U. Harten, pp. 288-289
2. C. van Zwol, p. 710
3. Gesamtausgabe - Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke
4. J. Garrat, p. 183
5. J. Williamson, p. 43
6. Tuhansin Kielin (1998) - item 19: Anton Bruckner's Messe ohne Gloria und Credo

Sources

• Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXI: Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke, Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Hans Bauernfeind and Leopold Nowak (Editor), Vienna, 1984/2001
• Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. Residenz Verlag  [ de ], Salzburg, 1996. ISBN   3-7017-1030-9.
• James Garrat, Palestrina and the German Romantic Imagination, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004. ISBN   0-521-80737-9
• John Williamson, The Cambridge Companion to Bruckner , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004. ISBN   0-521-80404-3
• Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner – Leven en Werken, Uit. Thot, Bussum, NL, 2012. ISBN   978-90-6868-590-9

External links

• Messe ohne Gloria und Credo / Kronstorfer Messe, d-mol WAB 146 Critical discography by Hans Roelofs (in German)
• Kronstorfer Messe : Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Smaller sacred works (1835–1892) Gesamtausgabe – Volume XXI
• Live performances of the Kronstorfer Messe:
  • Michael Stenov with the Cantores Carmeli (13 April 2017): Anton Bruckner – Kronstorfer Messe WAB 146, etc.
  • Repina Siyana with the Choir Aeternitas (2022): Хор Aeternitas - Kronstorfer Messe
  • Raffaella Benori with the Ensemble vocale de' Medici (5 March 2022): A. Bruckner - Messe in D ohne Gloria und Credo – with organ colla parte
  • John James with the Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble (3 March 2024): In Praise of Palestrina, Stanford and Bruckner – Kyrie at 1:10, Sanctus, Benedictus & Agnus Dei at 21:20