Catalogue | Voice

Schubert ’s E-flat major Mass was composed in 1828, his final year. Even though Schubert had distanced himself from his father’s bigoted piety after moving out of his parents’ house, religion was to remain a private matter of existential importance to him. He documented his own faith now and then in his works: “People were also quite surprised by my piety, which I expressed in a hymn to the Holy Virgin; it apparently takes hold of people of all dispositions, putting them in a devotional mood.”

With its performance duration of approximately one hour, the Mass extends beyond the temporal boundaries of the Catholic liturgy, exceeding the given formal limits in a sovereign manner. The Kyrie, which opens the Mass with a striding rhythm in the low strings and soft trombone chords, immediately develops the large-breathed, extended, symphonic dimensions in form and expansion of the Mass attained by Schubert. The solo parts are not richly ornamented, but at times have the effect of being embedded in the overall choral texture. The operatic exposition of soloists and their virtuosity was not Schubert’s principal concern, but rather the sonic alternation between soloist and vocal ensemble in the choir of the faithful. Schubert’s overriding interest was to achieve a balance between the classical Viennese sacred music tradition, the requirements of the clergy and his own musical aims. The two extended fugues at the end of the Gloria and the Credo are doubtless among the concessions made to the sacred music tradition. Schubert seems to be searching for a new interpretation of old forms in the Mass, a different approach to that of his late symphonies.

This live recording of 22 March 1968 in the Herkules-Saal of the Munich residence with Rafael Kubelik and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is issued in SACD format. It is the continuation of our series "LISTEN & COMPARE", which offers the SACD listener the possibility of directly comparing the revised, updated version to the completely unadulterated original archive recording.

• American Record Guide | Koob | January 3, 2006

  Schubert's sixth and final mass (seventh if you count his German Mass) is his masterpiece in the genre and part of the incredible gush of musical...

• Audiophile Audition | Gary Lemco | February 12, 2005

  Hi-res stereo release of an elegant 1968 performance by Kubelik
  Schubert drafted his E-flat Mass on a commission from Michael Leitermayer in June 1828. Schubert followed the Viennese tradition in liturgical music...

• CD Compact | Jesús Dini | January 5, 2006

  Schubert terminó su maravillosa misa en Mi bemol D950 entre junio y julio de 1828 y como en la misa en La bemol, utiliza una traducción alemana,...

• Classica-Répertoire | Philippe van den Bosch | January 11, 2005

  Discophage : les meilleures prises de son
  Un enregistrement de concert de 1968 en SACD, et sélectionné pour le discophage? Certes la captation paraît peu précise et plutôt globale, mais...

• Classica-Répertoire | Xavier de Gaulle | January 10, 2005

  Kubelik, dans ce concert munichois du 22 mars 1968, prend à bras le corps cette Messe, sans doute la plus accomplie de Schubert et composée durant...

• Der neue Merker | Dorothea Zweipfennig | January 7, 2005

  Schuberts Es-Dur Messe entstand in seinem letzten Lebensjahr 1828. Auch wenn Schubert sich nach dem Auszug aus dem Elternhaus von der bigotten...

• Diapason | Benoît Fauchet | January 10, 2005

  La Messe en la bémol (1828), chef-d'œuvre de synthèse spirituelle et musicale, jouit d'une discographie luxueuse, presque idéale ; à elle seule,...

• Fanfare | James Reel | January 5, 2006

  Wolfgang Sawallisch recorded all of Schubert’s Masses for EMI with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and with a starry cast of...

• Frankfurter Rundschau | August 13, 2005

  Die drei Wünsche:
  Hervorragend: Schubert, Es-Dur-Messe D. 950; Gundula Janowitz, Grace Hoffmann, Albert Gaßner, Waldemar Kmentt, Franz Crass, Chor und SO des BR,...

• klassik.com | Miquel Cabruja | April 11, 2005

  Licht und Schatten – das könnte das Motto sein, unter dem die letzten...

• Musicus | January 3, 2005

  In dieser live-Aufnahme von 1968 aus dem Herkulessaal München dirigierte Rafael Kubelik ein gut aufgelegtes Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen...

• Muzyka21 | Stanisław Lubliński | January 10, 2005

  Msze nr 6 Schubert skomponowal tuz przed smiercia. Jest to utwór bardzo rozbudowany, trwajacy prawie godzine, znacznie wychodzacy poza ramy...

• opushd.net - opus haute définition e-magazine | Jean-Jacques Millo | January 23, 2006

  Schubert et la musique sacrée. Voilà un sujet intéressant qui est, aujourd’hui encore, peu analysé. Et pourtant, avec ses six Messes, le...

• www.classicstodayfrance.com | Christophe Huss | January 11, 2005

  Rafael Kubelik a de la Messe en mi bémol une vision dramatique (cf. les cuivres très "Jugement dernier" du Domine Deus), une vision qui place cette...

• www.musicweb-international.com | John Quinn | March 1, 2006

  The Audite label continues to put collectors in their debt by issuing live performances conducted by Rafael Kubelik. This issue is particularly...

• www.SA-CD.net | John Miller | March 30, 2010

  Schubert penned this last, and some would say the greatest, of his sacred works in the summer of 1828, which also proved to be his last year. He was...