Schubert commenced composition of the mass in November 1819, completing it three years later in 1822.[2] Various projects had competed for the composer's attention in the meantime, including his brother Ferdinand's request for a mass (which produced the Mass sketch in A minor, D 755 ).[3] Schubert wrote out the organ part in October or November 1822, and although plans were made for a performance in 1823,[4] records of a performance in Schubert's lifetime do not exist.[5]
This setting and the later Mass in E-flat major are regarded as Schubert's "late masses".[6] These are distinguished from his four early masses by their "musically interpretive stance to the words";[7] Schubert began to take advantage of an overall maturation in his technical capabilities and knowledge of harmony, coupled with his experience in composing both sacred and secular music, to add further meaning to the standard text. Already known for consistently omitting certain passages from the text, Schubert took even greater freedoms in the late masses, adding and removing text in a bid to "deepen expression or enhance a particular aspect of meaning".[8]
Schubert revised his original setting in 1826, producing a shorter, simplified fugue for the Cum Sancto Spiritu section of the Gloria, and changing the Osanna.[9] In 1827, Schubert used this revision as an audition for the position of deputy kapellmeister in the Imperial Court Chapel, an ultimately unsuccessful venture.[5] The Hofkapellmeister Joseph Eybler denied Schubert's request for a court performance of the mass, on the grounds that it was not in the Kaiser's preferred style; Eybler may have invented this excuse as he favoured the court composer Joseph Weigl, and did not wish to pay Schubert the honorarium the performance would incur.[10]
The Schubert scholar Brian Newbould considered the late masses to be the composer's "two finest and most substantial settings",[11] and that Schubert himself must have regarded the Mass in A-flat very highly,[12] judging by his "extended labours" and numerous returns to the setting.[13] In a December 1822 letter to his friend Joseph von Spaun, Schubert contemplated dedicating the mass to the Emperor or Empress, "for it has turned out well".[9]
Mass No. 5, as well as the unfinished setting of the oratorioLazarus (D 689), are seen as products of Schubert's reflections on life and death.[14]
Howie, Crawford (2008). "Small is beautiful: Schubert's smaller sacred works". In Reul, Barbara M.; Bodley, Lorraine Byrne (eds.). The Unknown Schubert. Ashgate Publishing Ltd. ISBN978-0-7546-6192-4.
The Symphony No. 9 in C major, D 944, known as The Great, is the final symphony completed by Franz Schubert. It was first published by Breitkopf & Härtel in 1849 as "Symphonie / C Dur / für großes Orchester" and listed as Symphony No. 8 in the New Schubert Edition. Originally called The Great C major to distinguish it from his Symphony No. 6, the Little C major, the subtitle is now usually taken as a reference to the symphony's majesty. Unusually long for a symphony of its time, a typical performance of The Great lasts around one hour when all repeats indicated in the score are taken. The symphony was not professionally performed until a decade after Schubert's death in 1828.
Mass No. 2 in G major, D 167, by Franz Schubert was composed in less than a week in early March 1815 and remains the best known of his three short settings, or missae breves, dating between his more elaborate No. 1 and No. 5. Apart from some passages for soprano, its solistic interventions are modest; Schubert, characteristically, inclines toward a devotional mood. The First Mass had been successfully performed in the composer's parish the year before.
Symphony No. 7 is the name given to a four-movement symphony in E major drafted by Franz Schubert in August 1821. Although the work is structurally complete, Schubert only orchestrated the slow introduction and the first 110 bars of the first movement. The rest of the work is continued on 14-stave score pages as a melodic line with occasional basses or counterpoints, giving clues as to changes in orchestral texture.
The Missa Sancti Bernardi von Offida is a mass in B-flat major by Joseph Haydn, Hob. XXII:10, Novello 1, was written the same year as the Missa in tempore belli (1796), 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 Haydn's ninth setting of the mass, though its Hoboken number is XXII:10. This mass was written in honor of St. Bernard of Offida, a Capuchin who devoted himself to helping the poor; a century after the friar's death, he was beatified by Pope Pius VI.
The Harmoniemesse in B-flat major by Joseph Haydn, Hob. XXII:14, Novello 6, was written in 1802. It was Haydn's last major work. It is because of the prominence of the winds in this mass and "the German terminology for a kind of wind ensemble, Harmonie," that this mass setting is called "Harmoniemesse" or "Wind Band Mass". Besides flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in B-flat, 2 trumpets in B-flat, the mass also calls for choir, timpani, strings, and organ, the latter supplying figured bass for most of the duration.
The Missa Cellensis in honorem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae in C major by Joseph Haydn, Hob. XXII:5, Novello 3, was originally written in 1766, after Haydn was promoted to Kapellmeister at Eszterháza following the death of Gregor Joseph Werner. The original title as it appears on the only surviving fragment of Haydn's autograph score, that has been discovered around 1970 in Budapest, clearly assigns the mass to the pilgrimage cult of Mariazell, Styria. Until that discovery, the work was known as Missa Sanctae Caeciliae, or in German Cäcilienmesse, a title probably attributed to the mass in the 19th century. Whether the alternative title refers to a performance of the piece by the St. Cecilia's Congregation, a Viennese musician's fraternity, on some St. Cecilia's day, as has been suggested, remains speculation.
The Missa brevis No. 9 in B-flat major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K. 275/272b, was probably written before September 1777 for Salzburg. The mass is scored for SATB soloists, SATB choir, violin I, violin II, 3 trombones, string bass, and organ.
The Missa brevis in G major, K. 140, K3 Anh. 235d, K6 Anh. C 1.12, was probably composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart shortly after returning to Salzburg, in March 1773, from his third trip to Italy.
Austrian composer, Michael Haydn's Missa Hispanica or Missa a due cori, Klafsky I:17, MH 422, was presumably written for Spain, but there is no evidence of its ever having been performed there during Haydn's lifetime. The mass is scored for 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in low C, F and G, 2 trumpets in C, timpani, strings, basso continuo, SATB soloists, and two mixed choirs.
Michael Haydn completed the Missa in honorem Sanctae Ursulae, Klafsky 1:18, MH 546, on August 5, 1793, probably for use at the ceremony in which Ursula Oswald, the daughter of a friend, professed her religious vows at the Benedictine Abbey of Frauenwörth Chiemsee. Because of that fact, the Mass is sometimes known as the Chiemsee Mass.
The Missa brevis No. 8 in C major, K. 259, is a mass composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1776. It is scored for SATB soloists, SATB choir, violin I and II, 2 oboes, 2 clarini, 3 trombones colla parte, timpani and basso continuo.
The Credo Mass in C major, K. 257, is a mass composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1776. It is scored for SATB soloists, SATB choir, violin I and II, 2 oboes, 2 clarini, 3 trombones colla parte and basso continuo.
Stabat Mater in F minor, D 383, is a musical setting of the Stabat Mater sequence, composed by Franz Schubert in 1816. It is scored for soprano, tenor and bass soloists, SATB choir, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 2 french horns, 3 trombones, violin I and II, viola, cello and double bass.
The Magnificat in C major, D 486, is a musical setting of the Magnificat hymn composed by Franz Schubert in 1816. It is scored for SATB soloists, mixed choir, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, violin I and II, viola, timpani and basso continuo.
The Deutsche Messe, D 872, is a hymn-cycle by Franz Schubert written in 1827. Neither a Mass nor strictly speaking German, it was published in Vienna as what it is: Gesänge zur Feier des heiligen Opfers der Messe. It sets a sequence of eight non-liturgical German poems by Johann Philipp Neumann, who commissioned Schubert's music, one or more of which could be used separately during Mass. A ninth hymn, given as an appendix, treats the Lord's Prayer, bringing the length to about 35 minutes when the music is performed, as it often now is, as one big concert work.
Mass No. 1 in F major, D 105, is a Mass composed by Franz Schubert in 1814. It is scored for two soprano soloists, two tenor soloists, alto and bass soloists, SATB choir, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 2 horns, violin I and II, viola, and basso continuo. It was the first of Schubert's Masses to be performed, and is of the missa solemnis type.
The Mass No. 3 in B-flat major, D 324, is a mass composed by Franz Schubert in 1815. It is written for four soloists, a four-part choir and orchestra. While by length it could be a missa brevis, its large orchestral force with trumpets, timpani and woodwinds has also led to its classification as a missa solemnis.
Mass No. 4 in C major, D 452, is a mass composed by Franz Schubert in 1816. It was originally scored for soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists, SATB choir, violin I and II, and basso continuo. It is classified as a missa solemnis.
Mass No. 6 in E-flat major, D 950, is a mass composed by Franz Schubert, a few months before his death. It is scored for two tenor soloists, soprano, alto and bass soloists, SATB choir with divisi, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, violin I and II, viola, cello, and double bass. It was Schubert's final setting of the order of Mass, and is classified as a missa solemnis.
Sonatas, duos and fantasies by Franz Schubert include all works for solo piano by Franz Schubert, except separate dances. They also include a number of works for two players: piano four hands, or piano and a string instrument.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
