No, I'm not Roman Catholic. No, I don't attend Mass. Yes, I absolutely love listening to Classical Masses. No, I don't understand Latin. But I love the reverence in the music.
For those who are unfamiliar with a Classical Mass, they typically have six movements (named after the first word of the movement): Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei. On albums, it's not unusual for the Gloria and Credo to be divided into different segments, sometimes upping the number of tracks on the vinyl to eleven.
One person describing Bruckner says most of his music, either choral or his instrumental, are strongly flavored with his Catholicism, listing his fourth symphony (aka the Romantic Symphony) as being more secular. That makes me smile, because 1) I am not astute enough to detect the Catholicism in his symphonies, and 2) I can sense the power of God very clearly in the first movement of that symphony.
Bruckner is known for his large, dramatic symphonies. Yet, unlike other musical radicals, Bruckner had humility concerning his compositions. For example, he composed four versions of the Romantic Symphony. One of my favorite compositions period is the third movement of the later versions of that symphony; that hunting horn scherzo was not in the first version. The finale was finalized (sorry, I couldn't resist) in the third version, and the fourth added piccolos and cymbals.
His three masses written in the 1860's were respectively in the keys of D minor, E minor, and F minor (most masses were written in major keys, though probably the best known Mass was Johann Sebastian Bach's in B minor). Wikipedia mentions he wrote four other masses previously.
The first CD of this set starts with the E minor Mass (#2), which was composed for mixed choir and a small group of wind instruments. Some say it was to appease a conservative group known as the Cecilians, who preferred aca pella church music.
Following the mass is Bruckner's Te Deum. Like the D minor and F minor masses, this was written for performance and composed for mixed choir, soloists, orchestra, and organ.
There are a few compositions that
blew me away on first listen, and the Te Deum is an example. It starts
with an energetic opening of strings and organ.
The second disc starts with the F minor Mass (#3). This mass is unique among Bruckner's masses is that the first lines of the Gloria and Credo were orchestrated for music; in the previous masses, those segments began with a tenor solo intoning those lines as a priest would.
Like most masses, the Kyrie is solemn and the Gloria is joyful, but the same excitement shows up in the Credo. I love that the section dealing with the creed - that is, the belief system - is sung with such exuberance. Are we that excited about theology and the truth of God's Word? (Okay, I'll stop preaching and return to reviewing.)
This project concludes with five motets, which were composed for soloists and organ.
Have you ever listened to a Classical Mass?
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