A Monument of Sacred Music: The work is dedicated to Anton Ritter Imhof von Geißlinghof, an important supporter of Bruckner’s in the Office of the Court Chamberlain. In a letter to the dedicatee, Bruckner emphasized that he had taken “the greatest trouble” in composing the mass. In the early biographies of Bruckner, reference is made to his spiritual inspirations in an anecdotal way.
Church music by Italian opera composers of the 19th century: While opera was clearly at the heart of music in Italy – it was the only way to achieve national renown – church music was certainly more present in the daily lives of the people. Most churches maintained choirs and orchestras, performing pieces written by professional church music directors, who also raised the next generation of musicians and composers.
If today – 1700 years after the creation of the Nicene creed – we intensively study and listen to its settings, then this is perhaps less as an aural manifestation of the Christian faith or an attempt to distinguish “true” religious tenets from false or different beliefs. Instead, the focus today is more on the musical exploration of various urgent questions facing humanity that transcend all religions and denominations, and which have been rendered into sound by composers throughout the ages: Why am I here? What is guilt and what is redemption? What will happen after my death?
For me, Palestrina’s music is like a balm for the senses and the soul. Regardless of whether I’m singing, playing or conducting, a few clean chords or an intensely shaped line can touch me, sweep me away and bring me a unique form of happiness. I’m always impressed by the ingenious combination of tonal beauty, spiritual depth and musical/textual clarity in his work.
In the case of Ravel’s composition L’Aurore (Carus 10.407), submitted in 1905, the poet was Édouard Guinand, an author who had already provided the text for the cantata L’Enfant prodigue in 1884, with which Claude Debussy won first prize. L’Aurore describes an idyllic view of nature at sunrise and celebrates the sun almost as a deity for its beneficial influence on nature and mankind.
Today the biggest pop stars in the world are women. Beyoncé, of course, and above all Taylor Swift, Adele, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and, in Germany, Shirin David and Helene Fischer. They don’t just inspire the masses musically with their songs; they also influence politics and society. Why is it so different in the world of classical music and so-called high culture?
The origin of the myth surrounding the mass dates back to 1607, when the musician and theorist Agostino Agazzari, in his treatise on the basso continuo, directly relates the composition of the Papae Marcelli to the issue of the intelligibility of the text in polyphonic works. Although it was then taken up even more decisively by Adriano Banchieri and Ludovico Cresolli, this cause-and-effect relationship has, however, no historical foundation, except for the temporal coincidence between its composition and the events relating to the Council of Trent.
It was not until the beginning of 1944 that he managed to find words, if not yet sounds, for the “et in terra pax”. It was Kaminski’s fervent wish to complete the mass: He wanted “to be able to finish these two works [Die Messe deutsch, Das Spiel vom König Aphelius]; then, as far as a human being can say, I will wave a confident farewell to this world when the hour comes.”
In honor of the 300th anniversary, Carus editor-in-chief Dr. Uwe Wolf looks at Bach’s chorale cantata year-cycle from 1724/1725.
A scholarly-critical edition of the works of Giacomo Puccini has been published by Carus since 2012. The Edizione Nazionale is published by the international research institute Centro Studi Giacomo Puccini.
(c) Sven Cichowicz