Mass No. 4 in

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

, 452, is a

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 elementar ...

composed by

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

in 1816. It was originally scored for

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: ''altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In 4-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in choruses by ...

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

and

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

soloists,

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

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 ...

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 regular ...

I and II, and

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

(

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

and

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

). It is classified as a

missa solemnis {{Audio, De-Missa solemnis.ogg, Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass, and is a genre of musical settings of the Mass Ordinary, which are festively scored and render the Latin text extensively, opposed to the more modest Missa brevis. In French ...

Background

The setting was composed in June–July 1816, and possibly received its first performance in late summer or early fall of the same year at the

Lichtental Church The Lichtental Parish Church () is the Roman Catholic parish church of Lichtental, now part of Vienna, Austria. Officially the ', it is dedicated to the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The church has elements of Baroque and Neoclassical architecture. It i ...

. As in his previous masses, the soprano solos were written with

Therese Grob Therese Grob (16 November 1798 – 17 March 1875) was a singer and is alleged to have been the first love of the composer Franz Schubert. The composer's friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner recalled – twenty-six years after Schubert's death: "Fr ...

's voice in mind. The mass shows the influence of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

in Schubert's work, particularly in the original reduced orchestration (the ,

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

church trio) and the perceived "lightness of touch". Schubert's contemporary diary entries confirm his interest in Mozart's ''missae breves'', along with the music of

Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 173710 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohrau, near the Hungarian border. ...

, another Salzburg composer. Schubert made considerable revisions to the mass for subsequent performances. He added parts for 2

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

s or

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

s, 2

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s 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 traditionall ...

, all , for an 1825 performance in

St. Ulrich, Vienna St. Ulrich is a Roman Catholic parish and church in Neubau, the 7th district of Vienna, Austria. The official name of the church is ' (Parish church of St. Ulrich and Mary's consolation), it is also known as '. The Baroque hall church with two towe ...

. He revisited the mass in 1828, seven weeks before his death, with a purely choral setting of the (formerly D. 961) to replace the earlier soprano solo. It is likely that this was in anticipation of a performance where a soloist of Grob's calibre was unavailable. Schubert sold the score of Mass No. 4 and some shorter church works to

Anton Diabelli Anton (or Antonio) Diabelli (5 September 17818 April 1858) was an Austrian music publisher, editor and composer. Best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote ...

for publishing in 1825. It was the only mass published during the composer's lifetime. Schubert dedicated the publication to Michael Holzer, the organist and choirmaster at the Lichtental church, and his teacher in organ, singing,

figured bass Figured bass is musical notation in which numerals and symbols appear above or below (or next to) a bass note. The numerals and symbols (often accidentals) indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones that a musician playing piano, harpsic ...

and

counterpoint In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

Structure

The mass consists of six

movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

s. Performances require approximately 23 minutes. Commentary is for 452, unless otherwise indicated. # , , C major, common time # , , C major, common time # , , C major, 3/4 #: , , D minor, cut common time #:: While Schubert habitually omitted certain passages of the Creed, in this mass he makes the unusual exclusion of the words "" (of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

). #: , , C major, 3/4 # , , C major, common time #: , , C major, common time # , , F major, 2/4; soprano solo #: , , C major, common time #: , ( 961) , A minor, cut common time; choir #:: , , C major, common time # , , C major, common time #: , , C major, 3/4

Notes

References

* * * * * *

External links

* (includes soprano and choir settings of ''Benedictus''; 1825 orchestration with wind, brass and timpani) * (choir setting of ''Benedictus'' only) {{Authority control Masses by Franz Schubert 1816 compositions Compositions in C major