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Kodály / Janacek - Masses

Westminster Cathedral Choir, James O'Donnell

Kodály / Janacek - Masses
Janácek began his Mass around 1908, left it to gather dust for 20 years, then turned it into the first draft of the Glagolitic Mass. Paul Wingfield's reconstruction draws substantially on the...

Kodály / Janacek - Masses

Westminster Cathedral Choir, James O'Donnell

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Janácek began his Mass around 1908, left it to gather dust for 20 years, then turned it into the first draft of the Glagolitic Mass. Paul Wingfield's reconstruction draws substantially on the...

About

The Jan?ek Mass is a new completion of the unfinished Mass by Jan?ek expert Paul Wingfield. Jan?ek wrote his unfinished Mass in E flat for soloists, mixed chorus and organ probably in 1908. Having completed a Kyrie, an Agnus Dei and some of the Credo, he put it to one side. Twenty years later he returned to it, incorporating most of it into his first draft of the Glagolitic Mass. Subsequent revisions of the Glagolitic Mass removed almost all of the material from the earlier work, the score of which Jan?ek appears to have destroyed. Fortunately, the incomplete Mass was preserved by a pupil of Jan?ek's and was published in 1972. The version recorded here is based on both this edition and the early drafts of the Glagolitic Mass. Paul Wingfield has provided a new completion of the Credo. The Missa Brevis by Kodly was written originally as an Organ Mass and later rearranged as a Missa Brevis for organ and mixed choir. The first performance was in the Budapest Opera House cloakrooms during the siege of Budapest in 1944/45! The Laudes Organi is Kodly's last completed work and is notable for its imposing organ introduction and interludes. Its triumphant conclusion marks a fitting end to the career of a composer whose contribution to the Hungarian choral tradition remains unrivalled. This recording is the final recording with James O'Donnell as the Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral.

Contents and tracklist

I. Introitus
Track length3:01
II. Kyrie
Track length2:41
III. Gloria
Track length4:21
IV. Credo
Track length6:20
V. Sanctus
Track length2:25
VI. Benedictus
Track length3:35
VII. Agnus Dei
Track length5:42
VIII. Ite, Missa est
Track length3:42
I. Introduction
Track length4:10
II. Audi chorum
Track length1:34
III. Musice! milites
Track length2:13
IV. Gravis chorus
Track length1:31
V. Nunc per voces
Track length1:10
VI. Tali modulo
Track length3:13
VII. Huius artis
Track length2:31
VIII. Fiat Amen
Track length3:05
I. Kyrie
Track length5:53
II. Credo
Track length8:10
III. Sanctus
Track length3:32
IV. Agnus Dei
Track length3:41

Awards and reviews

2010

Janácek began his Mass around 1908, left it to gather dust for 20 years, then turned it into the first draft of the Glagolitic Mass. Paul Wingfield's reconstruction draws substantially on the original draft of the Glagolitic Mass to the extent of including a complete movement (the Sanctus) from it. Clearly Janácek knew best, and the only distinguishing moments are those bits recognisably from the Glagolitic Mass. Unquestionably, though, both the Missa brevis and Laudes organi are among Kodály's most inspired creations. Yet new recordings of favourite works are prone to disappoint. Not this one. If anything, this stunning performance, crowned by Andrew Reid's masterly organ playing, raises this setting of dog-Latin verses in praise of the organ and commissioned by the American Guild of Organists even higher. About 20 years before Laudesorgani, the Missa brevis was first performed in this version for organ and chorus (it was originally an organ solo) in a bomb shelter during the 1944-5 Siege of Budapest. From such an inauspicious start, the work has fared remarkably well on record and this release represents an undoubted climax. It's a simply glorious performance and, in short, should not be missed.
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