Missa brevis explained

la|'''Missa brevis'''|short Mass|paren=left

plural: Missae breves) usually refers to a mass composition that is short because part of the text of the Mass ordinary that is usually set to music in a full mass is left out, or because its execution time is relatively short.

Full mass with a relatively short execution time

The concise approach is found in the mostly syllabic settings of the 16th century, and in the custom of "telescoping" (or simultaneous singing by different voices) in 18th-century masses. After the period when all church music was performed a cappella, a short execution time usually also implied modest forces for performance, that is: apart from Masses in the "brevis et solemnis" genre.

Polyphony

Classical period

For composers of the classical period such as Mozart, Latin: missa brevis meant "short in duration" – as opposed to Latin: missa longa (long mass), a term that Leopold Mozart used for his son's K. 262[2] – rendering the complete words of the liturgy. As the words were well known some composers had different voice parts recite simultaneously different sections of long texts. This is especially characteristic of Austrian masses in the Gloria and the Credo.

19th century

Kyrie–Gloria masses

Partial settings are seen in both the Roman and Lutheran traditions, where many works consist of the Kyrie and Gloria. These masses came to be called Missae breves because they are shorter in words, the opposite being Missae totae (complete Masses).

Baroque period

Protestant liturgies did not have a mandated set of Mass ordinary sections to be included in a Mass composition. Thus, in addition to settings of all five sections (e.g. Hieronymus Praetorius, Christoph Demantius), there are many German: Kurzmessen (short masses) that include settings of only the Kyrie, Gloria, and Sanctus (e.g. Stephan Otto, Andreas Hammerschmidt). From the early 17th century, many German: Kurzmessen consist only of Kyrie and Gloria sections, e.g. those by Bartholomäus Gesius (eight out of ten Masses included in his 1611 Missae ad imitationem cantionum Orlandi).

In the second half of the 17th century the Kyrie–Gloria Kurzmesse was the prevalent type in Lutheranism, with composers like Sebastian Knüpfer, Christoph Bernhard, Johann Theile, Friedrich Zachow and Johann Philipp Krieger. Gottfried Vopelius included a Kyrie–Gloria Mass in Gregorian chant on pages 421 to 423 of his Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch (1682), introducing its Gloria as "... what the old church has done furthermore in praise of the Holy Trinity".[4]

In the first half of the 18th century Kyrie–Gloria Masses could also be seen as a Catholic/Lutheran crossover, for example for Johann Sebastian Bach: not only did he transform one of Palestrina's a cappella missae totae in such a Kyrie–Gloria Mass for use in Lutheran practice,[5] he also composed one in this format for the Catholic court in Dresden.

19th century

Other partial settings

Some Mass settings consisting of only three or four sections of the Mass ordinary can be indicated with a specific name, rather than with the generic Missa brevis name:

Masses written for the Anglican liturgy often have no Credo (usually recited by the congregation and rarely sung to a choral setting in Anglican services) and no Agnus Dei. For American denominations, the Sanctus is usually without Benedictus. The Gloria section may be moved to the end of the composition.

Some Masses in this category are rather to be seen as incomplete, while the composer did not write all the movements that were originally planned, or while some movements went lost, but the extant part of the composition found its way to liturgical or concert practice recast as a Brevis.

Whatever the reason for omitting part of the text of the Mass ordinary from the musical setting, the umbrella term for such Masses became Missa brevis. Partial Mass settings that are not a Kyrie–Gloria Mass include:

– the composers only attempt to set the Mass, is composed of Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei only, a fourth movement, the Credo believed to have been completed five years after the other movements, is lost.[20]

Messe brève (1875, no Credo)

Messe des pêcheurs de Villerville (1881, includes two movements composed by André Messager – partial setting); Messe basse (1906, based on the parts composed by Fauré of the former – Kyrie, Sanctus/Benedictus and Agnus Dei only)[21]

Messe des pauvres (mid 1890s, Kyrie apparently incomplete, Gloria missing, several other non-Ordinary movements composed)[22]

Missa Princeps Pacis for choir and organ (1962, no Credo)

Brevis for various reasons

From the late 19th century Missa brevis (or French: "Messe brève") may refer to a Mass composition with any combination of the following characteristics: (1) short execution time, (2) limited forces for performance, (3) leaving out part of the Mass ordinary and/or (4) the composition is incomplete so that the extant complete parts are seen as a Missa brevis. A Mass being short in this sense does however not exclude that sections based on texts outside the Mass ordinary are added to the composition (like the O Salutaris Hostia in several of Gounod's Messes brèves).

19th century

As concert performance of liturgical works outside a liturgical setting increased, for some of the composers the brevis/solemnis distinction is about the breves, which not always needed professional performers, being intended for actual liturgical use, while a Missa solemnis was rather seen as a concert piece for professional performers, that could be performed outside an actual Mass celebration, similar to how an oratorio would be staged.

[23] [24]

20th century

21st century

Sources

Notes and References

  1. [Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina]
  2. Web site: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Missa longa in C major. 2021-03-10. www.carus-verlag.com. en.
  3. Black, David Ian (2007): Mozart and the Practice of Sacred Music, 1781–91, pp. 65–74. Harvard University thesis. Cambridge, Massachusetts.
  4. "[...] was die alte Kirche zu Lob der Heiligen Drey-Einigkeit weiter hinzu gethan hat."; Gottfried Vopelius. Neu Leipziger Gesangbuch. Leipzig: Christoph Klinger, 1682, p. 421.
  5. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Other/Palestrina-Missa-sine-nomine.htm Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina Missa sine nomine a 6
  6. Book: Stockigt, Janice B.. Tomita. Yo . Leaver. Robin A. . Smaczny. Jan . Exploring Bach's B-minor Mass. 2013. Cambridge University Press. 978-1-107-00790-1. Bach's Missa BWV 232I in the context of Catholic Mass settings in Dresden, 1729–1733. 39–53.
  7. [Alfred Dörffel]
  8. [Klaus Hofmann]
  9. [Karl Geiringer|Geiringer, Karl]
  10. Maria Zadori, Lena Susanne Norin, Guy de Mey, Klaus Mertens, Veronika Winter, Gundula Anders, Hans Jörg Mammel, Hans-Joachim Weber, Annette Schneider, Rheinische Kantorei, Das Kleine Konzert and Hermann Max (conductor). Johann Ludwig Bach: Trauermusik (für Soli, Doppelchor, 2 Orchester). Capriccio, 2011
  11. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Vocal/BWVAnh166.htm Mass in E minor, BWV Anh 166
  12. http://www.bachdigital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00001477 Missa (Kyrie and Gloria), e JLB 38; BWV Anh. 166; BNB I/B/18
  13. Bach Lutherische Messen, Study Score based on the NBA, Bärenreiter-Verlag (1987)
  14. Kirsten Beißwenger (ed.) Werke zweifelhafter Echtheit, Bearbeitungen fremder Kompositionen (Volume 9 of Series II: Masses, Passions, Oratorios from the New Bach Edition). Bärenreiter, 2000.
  15. http://resolver.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/SBB0001949B00000000 Stölzel, Gottfried Heinrich: 14 Geistliche Gesänge; V (X), Coro, orch, bc, 1740–1770 (1740–1770)
  16. Stölzel, Gottfried Heinrich: Masses in c-Moll (in 14 church pieces manuscript), Stölzel, Gottfried Heinrich: Masses in c-Moll (composer's autograph 1739) and Stölzel, Gottfried Heinrich: Masses in E minor
  17. Stölzel, Gottfried Heinrich: Missa canonica in C-Dur
  18. Stölzel, Gottfried Heinrich: Missa canonica in C-Dur
  19. Stölzel, Gottfried Heinrich: Masses in C-Dur, Stölzel, Gottfried Heinrich: Masses in C-Dur, Stölzel, Gottfried Heinrich: Masses in C major, Stölzel, Gottfried Heinrich: Masses in C major and Stölzel, Gottfried Heinrich: Masses in C major
  20. Book: Pascall, Robert. Brahms 2: Biographical, Documentary and Analytical Studies. Musgrave. Michael. Brahms's Missa canonica and its recomposition in his Motet "Warum" Op. 74 No. 1. 111–136. Cambridge University Press. 1987. 0521326060.
  21. http://data.bnf.fr/13911992/andre_messager_messe_des_pecheurs_de_villerville/ Messe des pêcheurs de Villerville
  22. [Erich Schwandt]
  23. http://www.charles-gounod.com/messes-et-requiems.html Charles Gounod: Les messes et requiems
  24. http://www.flaminioonline.it/Biografie/Gounod-catalogo-pagina1.html Charles GOUNOD: Catalogo delle composizioni
  25. http://www.carus-verlag.com/4063700.html Charles Gounod: Messe brève no. 6 aux cathédrales
  26. http://www.carus-verlag.com/2730200.de.html Charles Gounod: Messe brève pour les morts en fa majeur (Requiem in F)
  27. http://www.carus-verlag.com/2709000.de.html Charles Gounod: Messe funèbre (Requiem in F)
  28. Web site: Category:Ferrari, Carlotta - IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download .
  29. http://www.universaledition.com/Missa-brevis-Arvo-Paert/composers-and-works/composer/534/work/13700 Arvo Pärt: Missa brevis

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