Mass No. 1 (Bruckner)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mass No. 1 in D minor for solos, four-part mixed choir, orchestra and organ is a musical work by the Austrian composer Anton Bruckner ( WAB 26). In his life he composed several masses, three of which are numbered: D minor (No. 1), E minor (No. 2) and F minor (No. 3) .

Emergence

Bruckner wrote the first version in 1864 under the impression of a performance of Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser . The premiere was supposed to take place on the birthday of Emperor Franz Joseph I on August 18, but due to time constraints, it did not take place until November 20 of the same year in the Old Cathedral in Linz . With this fair, Bruckner achieved the final breakthrough; the performance was an immense success with critics and contemporaries as well as the audience.

In 1876 and again in 1881/82 Bruckner revised the work. Since he often had to experience that organs were tuned too low, he transferred a small organ solo in Credo (bars 100 - 110) to the clarinets and bassoons. In addition, there was no organ in the Linz Redoutensaal (1864). Today this mass is heard rather seldom; the F minor mass is the most popular, and even the delicate E minor mass is performed more often. Connoisseurs consider it a very original work, but it is not as effective as the other two fairs. As with all of his church music works, Bruckner always adheres to the liturgical requirements. None of his works are too long in the service, indeed some Haydn masses are longer. In contrast to the F minor Mass, the intonation of the Gloria and Credo must be sung by the priest, a soloist or a schola. Bruckner did not set these lines of text to music here. This is entirely in line with Catholic tradition. Even if Bruckner's sacred music has always been performed in concerts, it was primarily composed for church services.

The first print - first published by Johann Gross in Innsbruck in 1892 - follows the handwriting exactly. It is the last choral work that Bruckner wrote in old clefs. The score was printed that way; however, the piano reduction already received the modern keys. The complete edition had only presented this work in 1957, as it was recognized as unchanged, and on this occasion the keys were also adapted to today's conditions. The Philharmonia pocket score was published in 1924.

Web links