Masses with Organ Accompaniment

With its traditional structures, melodies influenced by folk songs and harmonic richness, the Mass in D major belongs firmly in the sort of liturgical worship which is characterized by lyrical meditation rather than dramatic immediacy. Both the organ and orchestral versions were written by the composer himself; Joachim Linckelmann has also arranged the orchestral accompaniment for a smaller ensemble (Carus 40.653/50).

The only known sacred work by Léo Delibes, the Messe brève for two treble (children’s) voices and organ, is imbued with depth of feeling and intimacy. It was conceived without a Credo and Benedictus, but in the French tradition it contains an O salutaris hostia which can be sung as the Eucharistic blessing or for the distribution of communion. An additional arrangement for SATB mixed choir (Carus 27.027/06) is also available.

According to the composer, the Missa sacra is “suitable for both church services and concerts” and “is not difficult to perform”. This highly romantic work is one of the great masterpieces of 19th-century sacred music. For this edition Zsigmond Szathmáry has made a new arrangement of the orchestral accompaniment for organ.

The Messe solennelle op. 16 for choir and two organs was composed in 1899 and is a highlight of late romantic organ masses. Performances with two organs are not often possible, so this edition offers an arrangement for choir and one organ, in addition to the original edition.

The great E minor mass for eight-part choir and wind instruments is truly impressive, with its expressive combination of archaic monophony, strict polyphony and romantic harmonic wind accompaniment. This edition not only enables the mass to be performed in a setting adapted for choir and organ, but it also allows for creative arrangement of the sound depending on the organ disposition.

As an alternative to the original version of Saint-Saëns’ early work Messe à quatre voix with a large orchestra and grand organ (Grand Orgue), Léon Roques’ version for soloists, choir and either one or two organs is also available. It contains the original part for the grand organ as well as an organ reduction of the orchestra parts in score notation, but also allows for the possibility of performing the work with just one instrument.

Franck’s great orchestral mass of 1861 is one of the works that he wrote for liturgical use at St. Clotilde in Paris. Probably at the urging of his publisher, Franck subsequently reworked the mass for a much smaller ensemble consisting only of organ, harp, cello and double bass, rather than the full orchestra. 

Jean Langlais composed the Missa Misericordiae Domini at the request of Father Schmidt, the director of a boys' choir in the village of Boystown, Nebraska (USA). The choir was founded as a safe space to take in abused children. The work is written for three voices (soprano, tenor and bass) with organ, but it can also be sung by a medium-sized mixed choir.

With its charming song-like melodies alongside the more concertante passages, Schubert’s Mass in G is one of the most popular mass settings. In the reduced version, all the instrumental highlights are played by the organ, enabling a smaller yet equally sonorous performance. 

Haydn’s most popular and most frequently performed mass, the “Little Organ Solo Mass”, is published in our “Chor & Orgel” series in addition to the Urtext edition, thus offering a wide range of performance options.

The Missa brevis in C major for four voices and organ was long thought to be a study by the young Mozart in the Italian church style. However because the C major fragment (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo and Sanctus, although this breaks off in the 9th bar) was incorporated in Leopold Mozart’s Missa solemnis, the composer is now considered to be Mozart Senior.

Scarlatti’s Messa breve, also known as “La Stella”, is characterized by its clear concise structure. Scarlatti combines various different stylistic features in this work, not so much in his general compositional technique, but more directly in  his development of the solo-tutti structure. 

The setting of Buxtehude’s mass is in the tradition of Protestant missa brevis works. It is in the so-called stile antico which is based on 16th-century compositional models and is also known as the “Palestrina style”. The mass includes both the Kyrie and Gloria of the ordinary.

The first Messe aux orphéonistes was written for the Paris Orphéon, a male workers’ choir that Gounod had directed since 1852. The a cappella piece for three male voice parts can be expanded to include two sopranos and organ ad libitum.