Learning Files
MESSAGE FROM JOHN:
I am excited to announce that our main work for the spring season will be Mass No. 2 in G Major by Franz Schubert (1797-1828). Composed in only six days in March, 1815, for a performance in the church where he sang as a youth, this work has nonetheless earned a place as a masterpiece of choral literature - and a work that Media Chamber Chorale has never performed.
To this day, the Mass No. 2 in G Major remains the most familiar and popular of the six Latin masses composed by Schubert.
"That this Mass was modest in requirements and written in the space of six days is no reflection on the abilities or seriousness of the eighteen-year-old Schubert... He composed readily and swiftly, because at this time his pen neither faltered nor ceased. Choral music, chamber music, theater music poured forth in this year. Of songs alone, 149 are attributable to 1815, the Erlkönig and Heidenröslein among them"
(Burk, John N. “Program Notes for Friday August 13.” Boston Symphony Orchestra Tanglewood Festival Concert Programs, 1971, p. 14.).
If you would like to get a head start on learning, here are links to learning files in which you can see the music as you practice:
I would suggest starting with the Gloria - beginning at 2:38 and ending at 5:12. Another good movement to work on outside of rehearsal is the Credo from 5:12 through 10:00 - simply because the Credo has the most Latin.
Here is a link to a full performance with the score on the screen conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch. If you click "show more," you can skip to specific movements:
NOTE - please ignore the German pronunciation of Agnus Dei with the hard "g" that you might notice at times in this recording. We will use the usual pronunciation (ah-nyoos) without the hard "g."