With a total duration of about 30 minutes, Schubert’s Mass in B flat major (D 324), written in 1815, is considerably longer than Mozart’s and Haydn’s classical "Brevis" masses, and its large instrumental ensemble with strings, woodwinds, brass and timpani even gives it a clearly solemn character. Overall, Schubert was inspired by the late Haydn style of the "symphonic mass" (e.g., the division into six large movements, the omission of arias for the vocal soloists who are instead juxtaposed with the choir, singing short passages either singly or as a group) without, of course, achieving its temporal expansion. This is a representative, musically appealing work that excels with its multi-layered, detailed text treatment. It is, therefore, suitable for special occasions and the high feasts of the church year and can be mastered well by experienced church choirs.
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Composer
Franz Schubert
| 1797-1828Throughout most of his life Franz Schubert was concerned with church music. When he was eleven he was chosen as treble soloist at his local church in the Vienna suburb of Lichtenthal and soon afterwards he was admitted to the choir of the Imperial Court Chapel, directed by Antonio Salieri. Soon he also began to compose; his earliest surviving sacred pieces date from 1812. During his lifetime his church music achieved a comparatively wide degree of acceptance but after his death, most notably, his smaller works were unjustly forgotten. The Carus programme encompasses Schubert’s complete sacred compositions and it is intended to emphasize the wide range of his works in this area. Many of the smaller liturgical compositions are published here for the first time in separate editions. What is to be discovered is a fascinating œuvre, rooted in the ‘stile antico’ of Antonio Salieri and in the compositions of the Viennese classical masters, but whose exquisite lyricism and harmonic subtlety reveal a typically Schubertian world of expression: works with great power of conviction and exceptional musical beauty. Personal details