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Which Is Your Favourite Mass Setting?

Which Is Your Favourite Mass Setting? (Take 2)

13K views 39 replies 24 participants last post by  Weird Heather 
#1 · (Edited)
(Second attempt, technical problem).

:D I think I need to do a poll. Cheer up, folks. It's Christmas time. Which of the following great masses is your personal favourite? Nothing more, nothing less; just click a button.

By "mass", I mean the usual setting of (in whole or in part) Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei. We include Requiems.
 
#3 ·
Yes, I know. Just a harmless poll for this time of the year when Santa is just around the corner. Really, just to discuss mass settings in music. The Berstein mass is OK, not my favourite, but listenable.
 
#8 ·
I like all that are on the list except for the first two which I haven't heard but my vote has to go to Berlioz' Grande Messe des morts - definitely one of the 'blood and thunder' variety. On the other end of the sonic scale I'm also fond of the gentle Requiem of Durufle and Stravinsky's mass (for mixed chorus and 10 wind instruments).
 
#17 ·
Well, looks like Bach's great B Minor Mass is taking the lead so far (11/31)! Nothing more, nothing less.
 
#18 · (Edited)
This WAS difficult and on a different day...

The Victoria Requiem is not a well-known piece, but is very, very beautiful. I have the Paul McCreesh recording, which leaves out none of the Propers.

The B minor Mass of JSBach - well, it is one of the great works, isn't it...

The Mozart Req has so much beauty, but is a wrecked masterpiece, unfortunately.

The Beethoven Missa Solemnis is flawed only by its unsatisfactory ending, which seems like an afterthought. If you listen to the 'Gloria' (I have Gardiner's version) you will buy the work, anyway.

My favorite mass was not listed: the Josquin Missa Pange Lingua or Missa Hercule, Dux Ferrariae.

I voted for the Beethoven...predictably.
 
#24 ·
Indeed. He wrote many mass settings during his long career (job requirement). A master at it.
 
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#22 ·
I voted 'other'. Though it may not have as many 'classic moments' as some of those options in the poll, I find myself listening to the Vaughan Williams Mass in G Minor the most and it sets a nice mood and atmosphere. I really enjoy a lot of RVW's works and I'd say this Mass is up there with many of his best despite how often ignored it is.
 
#28 ·
Machaut essentially invented the mass ordinary, to an even greater degree than one can credit Monteverdi with the invention of Opera.

Josquin, Dufay, Ockeghem, Palestrina, Victoria, Lassus all were enormously influenced, and in my opinion, all lacked the inventiveness of Machaut.

I would argue that the Notre Dame mass is more important than any work on the poll, including Bach's B Minor mass and Beethoven's Solemn mass.

I really want a re-poll!! :)
 
#34 ·
The great Mass in B minor by Bach.
 
#35 ·
I voted "Other" since my favorite mass was not listed:

Machaut Messe de Nostre Dame.

This work is another obsession of mine (the Durufle Requiem is one, too). I've attempted to locate all available copies and read what there is available on it. I am fascinated by this work, and the history surrounding it. Machaut in general is a composer that I listen to a lot, but this work I consider his masterpiece.
 
#37 · (Edited)
I have quite a collection of masses. It is very difficult to say which is my favourite as there is such great variety through the ages, and there are several from each main era I like a lot.

One that I have tended to play more often recently, which is rather off the beaten track in terms of general fame, is by Dame Ethel Smyth. It's her Mass in D that she wrote in 1899. She was High Anglican by upbringing, and following some lapse had recently been through some spiritual rejuvenation having read "The Imitation of Christ", written by Thomas à Kempis in the early 15th. I can see how Dame Ethel was motivated by it, as it's a good read for anyone who may be interested.

What makes her Mass in D rather strange is the order of material. It's based on Catholic liturgy with the usual Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei. But the order is diferent: Kyrie, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, Gloria. This is partly because she realised that the work would probably be performed mainly as a concert piece, and she wanted it to end on a celebratory, joyous note. It does that, and I generally think it's a great work, yet another by this remarkable lady who is one of my favourite (female) composers.
 
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