Petite messe solennelle

PETITE MESSE SOLENNELLE (Little solemn Mass) by Gioacchino Rossini is one of the most remarkable choral masterpieces of the 19^th century. It is among the last works the brilliant Italian composer wrote before he passed away in 1868. He wrote more than 30 operas, but after Wilhem Tell (1829) he hadn't composed a single work in this genre for nearly forty years. He produced several church compositions, including the Stabat Mater and a series of albums of songs and instrumental pieces, without publishing them. When he gave up opera, he was only thirty-seven years old. One explanation for this was his inability to fit in with the encroaching ideas of Romanticism in France and Germany, alien to his worldview; the composer described himself as "the last of the classics". The Mass was written in 1863, when the 71-year-old Rossini had long since settled in Paris. By 1822 he was in Italy. After that he visited several European cities, including Vienna and London, for two years. His reputation in the Austrian capital was immense. From 1824 he permanently settled in Paris and took over as director of the Italian Opera Theatre. The Mass is the last of his 150 vocal, chamber works and pieces for solo piano, which he called péchés de vieillesse (sins of old age). Its original version was chamber music, intended for 'salon' performance. On the title page of the manuscript, the composer specified that twelve singers of three sexes, male, female and castrati, will suffice for the performance: that is, eight for the chorus, four soloists, twelve cherubs in all, the soloists, when not performing, should sing with the chorus, the instrumental accompaniment being two pianos and harmonium. Although the work is expansive and is in its nature a large solemn mass, the composer ironically calls it 'small' because of its composition. On the last page of the autograph score (the manuscript is preserved at the Rossini Foundation in Pesaro) he wrote: Dear Lord, behold, this poor little mass is finished. Have I just created sacred music or rather sacrilegious music? I was born for opera buffa, as you well know. Not much technique, little heart, that's all. Blessed be to you and give me heaven. The work was presented at a private premiere on March 14^th, 1864 at the new residence of Count Alexis Pillet-Will in Paris. It was commissioned by him for his wife Louise, and was probably dedicated to her, but some scholars have suggested that the inspiration for its composition was the passing in 1861 of Rossini's Swiss friend, the composer Louis Niedermayer (a renowned scholar and performer of Baroque and Renaissance music), and others have suggested that he had his own reasons for writing it and that it was his spiritual legacy. The premiere of the Mass was attended by Paris high society and the musical elite. It is performed by excellent musicians, including the internationally renowned the Marchisio sisters - Carlotta (soprano) and Barbara (contralto), Italo Gardoni (tenor) and Luigi Agnesi (bass). Among the first listeners were Giacomo Meyerbeer, Daniel Auber and Ambroise Thomas. On the following day the performance was repeated to a wider audience, including members of the press. In 1866-1867 Rossini made an orchestral version of the work, which included the choral prayer hymn O salutaris hostia (O Saving Sacrifice) as a soprano aria (the hymn is not part of the Mass, but is often used during the celebration). Because he disliked the sound of cathedral boys' choirs, Rossini formally requested permission from the pope to perform the work with women's voices in church. His request was denied and he did not wish this new version to be heard while he lived. It was performed at the Salle Ventadour in Paris by the company of the Théâtre-Italien on February 24^th , 1869, three months after his decease on November 13^th , 1868. Two versions of the work were published in Paris in 1869, the chamber version with only one piano. The modern edited version, most accurately representing the composer's intentions, was printed in Florence in 1980, followed by others in 1992 in conjunction with the bicentenary of the composer's birth. Rossini's Mass is a heartfelt religious work. It is another brilliant testimony to the composer's talent. It is written in Latin and consists of 15 numbers: the Kirye (Lord have mercy), the Gloria (Glory) - five numbers, the Credo (Creed) - three numbers, the Sanctus (Three Holy), the Benedictus (Blessed) and the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God). The Preludio Religioso for solo piano/organ (like the Offertory, the Presentation of the Gifts) is the longest instrumental movement, and the unusual harmonic sequences in the aria O salutaris hostia are reminiscent of his later keyboard pieces. The aria is followed by a dramatic finale, the Agnus Dei for contralto (Rossini's favourite voice) and chorus. The Mass will be performed with organ for the first time in a version specially composed by Yanko Marinov.