Antonín Dvořák: Mše D dur "Lužanská"

Product detailed description

Mass in D major is a well concentrated, perfectly structured composition rich in expression, aimed right from the beginning far beyond a local occasion. As for the original cast, Dvořák tailored it to the conditions of the Lužany chapel: only four solo voices, a mixed choir and organ. He spent about three weeks working on the composition from May 26 to June 17, 1887. The Mass was first performed on September 11 of the same year at Lužany with Dvořák conducting. The work was given its final shape in the year 1892 when, in response to a request from the Novello publishers of London, Dvořák arranged his Mass in D major for a symphony orchestra. In terms of form, the Mass in D major is based on the classical scheme of a six-part Catholic Ordinary, in which the most relevant music is situated in the Credo and Agnus Dei parts, which makes profound sense in terms of structure as well as content. Our recording offers the original version of the work with organ, and its exceptional value rests in that it was made in the authentic setting of the Lužany chapel. Mendelssohn regarded liturgic music composing as a great and difficult challenge to a symphony-oriented composer. As from his times, artistic and applied music would follow two predominantly different courses. For that reason alone, Dvořák’s Mass in D major can be viewed as a miracle for the way it goes about bridging the gap. Without seeming old-fashioned, Dvořák displays a sovereign command of the forces of harmony, melody and counterpoint in a work for four voices. The interconnection of the voices abounds in depth of expression and a wealth of interrelationships. At the same time, we are made aware of an accomplished mastery of the traditions of voice conduction reaching far back to the pre-Bach period combined, in an easy and unobtrusive way, with the broadened scope of expression characteristic of the 19th century. Three Spiritual Songs op.19b are incidental compositions par excellence written one by one in the years 1877. 1878 and 1879 during Dvořák’s summer vacation visits to friend Alois Göbl at the chateau of Sychrov near Turnov, northern Bohemia. Like his Mass in D major, these bagatelles based on spiritual texts were composed for the Sychrov chateau chapel and intended for a female voice and organ. This compact disk is complemented with Dvořák’s study compositions for organ written in 1859 during his second year of studies at the organists’ school. A total of eight compositions have been preserved – five Preludes and three fugues. While, of course, composed by a beginner, they do nevertheless show Dvořák’’s power of counterpoint and skill in handling the basic technical intricacies of a polyphonic texture.