Mass No. 6 (Schubert)

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The Mass No. 6 in E flat major D  950 is a composition by the Austrian composer Franz Schubert . During his life he composed numerous sacred works, his first liturgical chants at the age of 12. There are also six Latin masses among these sacred works . He is thus the first great mass composer who stands in the "bourgeois tradition", that is, his masses no longer wrote his masses only for use at court, but for performance in parish churches by the church choir. After the first four smaller masses, Schubert wrote two large-scale masses, in A flat major and in E flat major.

Origin, performance, reception

The E-flat major mass was written in June and July of Schubert's last year (1828). Like many other of his great late works ( Symphony in C major , Winterreise , ...) Schubert never heard them. The first performance took place on October 4, 1829 in the parish church "Heilige Dreifaltigkeit" in Vienna- Alsergrund , where Schubert's friend Michael Leitermayer was the choirmaster . The public enjoyed the fair very much and it was repeated several times, but was soon forgotten afterwards.

It is thanks to the efforts of Johannes Brahms that the work was able to appear in print in Leipzig in 1865. Brahms also made the piano reduction necessary for rehearsing the work himself . The first edition was followed by a harsh, from classical music perception coined in 1866 slating in the musical Leipziger Allgemeine Zeitung , which shows how much Schubert entered the work compositional territory and broke away from the conventions of his time.

The work

occupation

The E-flat major mass is Schubert's longest and largest mass, also in terms of the cast. A second tenor is added to the usual four vocal soloists , and in addition to the usual strings , Schubert demands two oboes , clarinets and bassoons , as well as two horns , two trumpets , three trombones and timpani . Throughout the work there are repeated homophonic and polyphonic sections, there are often interludes and a great deal of emphasis is placed on the fugues in the Gloria and Credo. The fair takes about 55 minutes.

Kyrie

The Kyrie is in E flat major, 3/4 time, and is composed as a whole, large three-part piece. In the first section there are very calm movements, the shortest unit is eighths, only the bass brings an interesting rhythmic movement figure. In the second section the mood and the movement change, now the strings play in triplets and the melodic and equally dynamic climax is reached, followed by the recapitulation of the first section.

Gloria

The Gloria is in B flat major and is also in three parts, but with a change of time before the Domine Deus , from 4/4 Allegro moderato e maestoso to 3/4 Andante con moto . The choir begins a cappella and modulates from B flat major within 3 bars to G major and then to F major (dominant). Then a polyphonic section begins, before a homophonic movement occurs again in bar 20, without the use of the strings. Schubert retained this principle for the entire first section and also for the recapitulation of the same. The Domine Deus in G minor, 3/4 time seems very disturbing . It begins in fortissimo with the use of the trumpets. The recapitulation begins the same as the first section, now on the words "Quoniam tu solus sanctus", and in measure 260 the large fugue to the words "Cum sancto spiritu in Gloria Dei patris" begins in the moderato, allabreve measure. Amen.". This fugue is 204 bars long and full of rich chromaticism .

Creed

The Credo lasts even longer than the Gloria , again the movement is in three parts, with a change of time from Moderato , Alla Breve , to Andante , 12/8. The movement is in E flat major and begins in pianissimo with a drum solo. As in the Gloria , polyphonic and homophonic cuts change constantly. The "Et incarnatus est" is a trio for two tenors and soprano in A flat major and ends in the "Crucifixus", in which the choir is used again . These two sections are repeated, which also caused criticism, because after the “Crucifixus” the “Resurrexit” has to follow, according to my music critic. However, the recapitulation begins with the “Resurrexit”. The fugue (reached without changing meter) on the text “Et vitam venturi saeculi” (roughly: “and an eternal life”) now lasts as much as 224 bars. It is one of the longest fugues in classical and romantic mass composition.

Sanctus

The Sanctus , Adagio , 4/4 time, is one of the most interesting Schubert movements. Schubert understands the text not as a colossal hymn of praise to God, but as a humble prayer. The movement begins with a tremolo E flat for the strings and rears up three times from pianissimo to fortissimo, modulates from E flat major via B minor and G minor to E flat minor and finds its way to the dominant B via C E flat minor and F major -Major. Then begins a fugato to the words "Pleni sunt coeli ...", the whole thing is now repeated with other harmonies before the Osanna begins, a short fugue in E flat major, 2/4 time.

Benedictus

The Benedictus , Andante , Allabreve are in A flat major . Here again the soloists have their performance. The sentence does not sound like most of the settings of the Benedictus , lovely and carefree, there is something warning about it. This sentence also ends with the Osanna .

Agnus Dei

The basis for the Agnus Dei , Andante con moto , 3/4 time, C minor, was the song “The Double” from the “ Swan Song ”. The threatening four-tone motif is intoned again and again by some voice, it is the most polyphonic of all movements in this mass and also the one with the richest orchestration. The following “Dona nobis pacem”, E flat major, Andante, Allabreve seems like a release from the gloom of the movement . The wavy string movements and the homophonic movement seem excited and excited. After a short episode of Agnus Dei , the mass ends quietly.

literature

  • Hans Jaskulsky: The Latin masses of Franz Schubert . Schott, Mainz 1986, ISBN 3-7957-1784-1 .
  • Michael Kube: Mass No. 6 in E flat major D 950. In: Hans Gebhard (Hrsg.): Harenberg Chormusikführer . 2nd Edition. Harenberg, Dortmund 2001, ISBN 3-611-00817-6 , pp. 786-787.
  • Peter Wollny: Mass in Es D 950. In: Silke Leopold, Ullrich Scheideler: Oratorio guide . Metzler, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-476-00977-7 , pp. 650-653.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carl von Bryck: Franz Schubert. Big mass in Es. In: Leipziger Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung. 1st year (1866), No. 5 (January 31, 1866), pp. 37-40; No. 6 (February 7, 1866), pp. 45-47; No. 7 (February 14, 1866), pp. 53-56 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).