Other notable composers:
Luigi Cherubini, 1760-1842
Johann Adolph Hasse, 1699-1783
Classical Composers
1725-1825
Ludwig
van
Beethoven
Franz Joseph
Haydn
Wolfgang
Amadeus
Mozart
1770-1827
1732-1809
Mass
Other Works
wrote 12 masses
1756-1791
The Great Organ Mass:
- 4 Soloists and choir
- 2 English Horns, trumpets, horns, strings, and organ
- Uses operatic writing for soloists
Choral Fantasy, Op. 80
- Composed for piano solo, choir, and orchestra
- Piano solo introduces, followed by orchestral variations, choral setting of an earlier Beethoven work
- anticipates choral passages from the Ninth Symphony
Missa Brevis:
- 2 Soprano Soloists & 4-part choir
- 2 violins, an Organ, and Bass
- Optimistic, cheerful tone
- Omits many commonalities: instrumental intro and interludes, repeating phrases to create a musical balance
- creates a recapitulation of the Kyrie (uses this in late works)
St. Cecilia
- Longest of Haydn's Masses
- Cantata-style Mass - various arias, choral pieces, ensemble quartets
- 4 soloists, 4-part choir, enlarged orchestra
- Music becoming more important than the text
Mariazell Mass:
- used soloists to create a 4-voice ensemble
- transitional stage in the development of his style
Ninth Symphony, 4th movement
- climax of the previous three orchestral movements
- "Ode to Joy" text helps present central idea of the symphony:
- "universal joy and brotherhood of all humanity"
- only used three (out of the eight) stanzas and the refrains to the first, third, and fourth
The Six Late Masses:
- 4 soloists, four-voice choir, orchestra
- orchestra develops from into large ensemble: flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, timpani, and strings
- avoids solo arias
- interweaves ensemble passages and choral passages
- overall joyful feeling, with some serious movements
- leading up to large instrumental forms
Oratorio
wrote 3 Oratorios
Mass
The Return of Tobias
- 4 soloists, 4-part choir, standard orchestra
- avoided operatic elements
- sonata-form arias and expressive recitatives
The Creation
- Text came from Genesis and Milton's Paradise Lost
- Five soloists, 4-part choir, standard orchestra
- Soloists are: Adam & Eve, arch-angels Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael
- Wrote in the style of Handel
- choruses use chordal writing, imitative / fugal textures, soloistic passages
- Dramatic and lyrical
Requiem
Christ on the Mount of Olives
- wrote in two weeks
- Three soloists: Jesus, Seraph, Pete
- 4-voice choir and large orchestra
- series of recitatives, arias, ensembles, 3 choral movements, final chorus of angels
- Operatic arias, cadenzas, melodramatic mood
Other Works
- 18 masses, 1 Requiem Mass
- 9 Masses are in the Missa Brevis style
- 9 Masses were in the style of Missa Solemnis
The Requiem Mass, K. 626
The Seasons
- Bass, Soprano, and Tenor Soloists
- 4-voice choir, large orchestra
- sets a happy tone throughout the 39 various recitatives, arias, choruses, and ensembles
- noteworthy orchestration
34 misc. works for choir
Agnus Dei from Dominicus Mass
Gloria from Missa Brevis in D Major
God is Our Refuge, K. 20: written when he was 8
- Commissioned in 1791 by Count Walsegg
- Mozart viewed this as a messenger of death
- Work was still unfinished when he died
- Completed by Franz Xaver Sussmayr
- 4 soloists, four-part choir
- orchestra: 2 basset horns, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, strings, and organ
7 Kyries, 6 Offetories, 4 Antiphons, 4 Litanies, 2 Vespers
Mass
Other Works
"The result is a series of musical forms in which balance, proportion, unity, and contrast are all provided, with musical considerations occasionally outweighing the liturgical in Mozart's mind."
Litany, K. 243
- 4 soloists, 4-part choir
- orchestra with organ and continuo
- 10 movements
- contrapuntal writing contrasted with chordal writing
- arias, instrumental obbligatos
- chromatic accompaniment foreshadows later styles
- 1 Passion setting
- Secular cantatas
- 20 misc works, such as Te Deums and Offertories
Mass in C Major, Op. 86
- commissioned by Prince Nicolas Esterhazy
- Many did not like; caused Beethoven extreme embarrassment
- 4 soloists, 4-part choir, orchestra with organ
- short solo/ensemble passages, never separate arias
- movements connected, although sections contrast tempos, meter, and tonality
- constantly changing textures: chordal style, soloist passage, imitative writing, etc.
- set mass not by a specific form, but by what it meant to him
The Seven Words of Our Savior on the Cross
- Text by Baron van Swieten
- Nondramatic and contemplative
- mixed chordal and imitative style
- solo and choral writing
Mass in D Major, Op. 123
- Also known as, "Missa solemnis"
- 4 soloists, four-part choir, full symphonic orchestra, organ
- concerned with ethical matters
- expression of Beethoven's beliefs
- two hours long
- extreme contrasts used to accent the meaning of the text