Georges Bizet (1838-1875): Te Deum (1858)
Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Missa sacra (Mass in C minor), op. 147 (1852-53)
- Yvonne Elisabeth Frey. soprano
Minsub Hong, tenor
Markus Vollberg, bass
Wataru Hisasue, piano
- Berliner Oratorien-Chor
- Neue Preussische Philharmonie
- Conductor Thomas Hennig
You can look forward to an evening of sacred works that are not really sacred. Because in their works, the composers focus more on the musical content than the religion – in their very own way
Intoxicating …
In the Choral Fantasy, Beethoven combines a piano concerto with a choral cantata. It is considered a hymn to art and many see it as the precursor to the ninth symphony. No wonder. In the finale, Beethoven introduces the theme on which he also based the “Ode to Joy”.
… pompous …
The “Te Deum” is Bizet’s only sacred choral work. Some people hear the style of pompous Italian church music in it, which is known for drawing on elements of operatic music
… and rapturous!
Schumann’s “Missa sacra” is characterised by its distance from church music – both musically and textually. Even contemporaries saw it less as a mass than as a romantic rapture with a peculiar blaze of colour that even violated liturgical conventions.
