''Czech Christmas Mass'' ( cs, Česká mše vánoční; la, Missa solemnis Festis Nativitatis D. J. Ch. accommodata in linguam bohemicam musikamque redacta – que redacta per Jac. Joa. Ryba) is a pastoral

mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

written by the Czech composer

Jakub Jan Ryba Jakub Šimon Jan Ryba (surname also Poisson, Peace, Ryballandini, Rybaville; 26 October 1765 – 8 April 1815) was a Czech teacher and composer of classical music. His most famous work is '' Czech Christmas Mass "Hey, Master!"'' (''Česká mše ...

in 1796, a mass in name only and thus an anomalous example of its genre (Missa pastoralis, less often Missa pastoritia). Because of its opening words, it is also known as Hail, Master! or Hey, Master! (in Czech: Hej, mistře!). ''Czech Christmas Mass'' was composed following the outlines of the Latin Catholic

(with movements titled

Kyrie Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ). In the Bible The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives f ...

, Gloria etc.), but containing a narrative based on the theme of the

birth Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...

of Jesus of Nazareth. Accordingly the work draws on traditions of Central-European Christmas pastoral music and dramatizes the nativity through characters representative of the Czech countryside. Its early performance history is little studied, but over time the composition achieved an extraordinary popularity among Czechs at home and abroad, a veritable musical symbol of the Czech celebration of Christmas.

Background

Ryba composed his most famous work in 1796, a year after he managed to resolve a dispute over his teaching methods with the priest Kašpar Zachar. He wrote the music to a Czech libretto of his own devising; It was his only "mass" composed to a Czech text, although several of his earlier pastoral masses included interpolations with Czech text. Ryba did not identify this mass in his list of compositions created from 1782 to 1798, mentioning rather only "seven pastoral masses, one of them in Czech." The autograph manuscript was lost; today only the title page is preserved intact. Some parts of the composition were performed separately as

pastorale Pastorale refers to something of a pastoral nature in music, whether in form or in mood. In Baroque music, a pastorale is a movement of a melody in thirds over a drone bass, recalling the Christmas music of ''pifferari'', players of the tradi ...

s (pastorellas) and the text gradually adapted with changes in Czech. Although Ryba created more than 1,000 compositions, his ''Czech Christmas Mass'' remains one of the few works by him performed regularly to date. The music of Ryba's mass along with paintings by Josef Lada appear in a 2007 animated film called ''Česká mše vánoční'' (Czech Christmas Mass).

Structure

The original key of the composition was A major, however, it was later transposed and arranged in various ways. Today the transposition in

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable composi ...

(a tone lower) is the most commonly used version. The main form of the composition is called '' ordinarium'' and consists of six parts. The mass contains characteristic short melodic motifs inspired by the folk music, supported by colorful rhythms. It is often considered a

Christmas cantata A Christmas cantata or Nativity cantata is a cantata, music for voice or voices in several movements, for Christmas. The importance of the feast inspired many composers to write cantatas for the occasion, some designed to be performed in church serv ...

, based on pastoral motifs. Because of its folk character and simplicity, it has been excluded from the Catholic liturgy. However, it still remains connected with the celebration of traditional Czech Christmas. According to Czech mezzo-soprano

Magdalena Kožená Magdalena Kožená (also Lady Rattle; ; born 26 May 1973) is a Czech mezzo-soprano. Early life Kožená was born in Brno in Czechoslovakia. Both her parents had come originally from Bohemia, to the west. She was born one of the two daughters o ...

, it was widely performed in local churches on Christmas Eve when she was young. The mass consists of nine parts: Mohelnice nativity scene

# ''Kyrie''
full text
– The opening part begins with a well known verse ''"Hej, mistře, vstaň bystře!"'' ("Hey Master, get up quickly!"). A young shepherd wakes his master, they both wonder at various unusual phenomena of nature. # ''Gloria''
full text
– a hymn to celebrate the birth of Christ # ''Graduale''
full text
– Shepherds assemble the people from all the regions and lands. The part ends with an appeal: ''"K Betlému teď půjdeme, Boha slavit budeme."'' ("We're going to Bethlehem, to celebrate the God.") # ''Credo''
full text
– In the ''Czech Christmas Mass'', ''Credo'' describes the preparations for the pilgrimage to Bethlehem. # ''Offertorium''
full text
– the gathering over the

manger __NOTOC__ A manger or trough is a rack for fodder, or a structure or feeder used to hold food for animals. The word comes from the Old French ''mangier'' (meaning "to eat"), from Latin ''mandere'' (meaning "to chew"). Mangers are mostly used in ...

; People offer musical gifts to God and Christ. # ''Sanctus''
full text
– the shortest part of the composition, an angelic hymn # ''Benedictus''
full text
– This part with a solo soprano in the central role is dedicated to the celebration of the newborn Redeemer. # ''Agnus''
full text
– parting with Christ, plea for protection of all people # ''Communio''
full text
– The final part ends with a monumental choral hymn celebrating the Holy Trinity. The original instrumentation of the work was 4 soli,

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

, organ, flute, 2 clarinets, 2

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

, clarion (''klarina''; trumpet), 2

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

, violon-

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

and

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

Published scores

* Ryba, Jakub Jan: ''Česká mše vánoční'' (Böhmische Hirtenmesse, Czech Christmas Mass) – piano reduction.

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, Editio Bärenreiter, 2004. M-2601-0325-2.

Recordings

* Jakub Jan Ryba: ''Czech Christmas Mass; 3 Pastorellas'' –

, Robert Hugo, Capella Regia Musicalis; Deutsche Grammophon Archiv 4778365 (2009). * Jakub Jan Ryba: ''Czech Christmas Mass'' (Česká mše vánoční) – Jaroslava Vymazalová, Marie Mrázová,

Beno Blachut Beno Blachut (14 June 1913 – 10 January 1985) was a lauded Czech operatic tenor. An icon in his own nation, Blachut drew international acclaim through his many commercial recordings of Czech music. He was an instrumental part of the post-World ...

Zdeněk Kroupa Zdeněk Kroupa (15 November 1921 in Adamov – 7 January 1999 in Brno) was a Czech opera singer. His wife became lifelong soloist of the National Theatre in Mira Figarova. Life Kroupa inherited his talent from his mother, who worked in amateu ...

, Václav Smetáček conducting the

Prague Symphony Orchestra The Prague Symphony Orchestra (Prague, Czech Republic, cs, Symfonický orchestr hlavního města Prahy ''FOK'') is a Czech orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra has traditionally been known by the acronym 'FOK', standing for 'Film-Opera-Koncert' ...

, Josef Veselka and the Czech Philharmonic Chorus;

Supraphon Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers. History The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. ...

SU 3649 (1966).

References

External links

The magic of Czech Christmas music (Radio Prague)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110716055502/http://www.supraphon.com/en/catalogue/on-line-database/detail/?idtitulu=2003692 Ryba, J.J. Czech Christmas Mass / Vymazalova, Blachut, Mrazova, Kroupa / Prag.Philh.Choir / PSO / Smetacek (Supraphon)]
Rybova Česká mše vánoční (Společnost Jakuba Jana Ryby)
{{Authority control Christmas music Masses (music) Compositions by Jakub Jan Ryba 1796 compositions Czech-language choral compositions Christmas in the Czech Republic