Jakub Jan Ryba: Missa Solemnis in C pro festo resurrectionis

Product detailed description

The musical material for the Missa solemnis in C for Festo Resurrectionis (N 347) is deposited at the Czech Museum of Music in Prague (sign. III D 43). Ryba himself left no information in any of his biographies about the circumstances of its composition. In a thematic inventory of his works, which he added to a collection of masses from 1796, it is listed as the fourth with a twobar incipit, dated 1788. If it was written in Rožmitál, which is most likely, it might have been one of the first to be composed by the young cantor in his new place of work. Musically, the Mass is characterized by the advanced compositional language of Viennese classicism and the serenity of all the components used. The orchestra is quite rich: flauto traverso concertante, with a typical flute, a pair of oboes, horns, trumpets, timpani, string instruments and an organ basso continuo. Most of the parts are composed for a mixed choir (SATB) with small vocal solos, clearly intended for choir singers. The only exception is the Benedictus, which is conceived as a soprano aria accompanied by a basso continuo and two solo violas. Arias and duets are the smallest formations of ecclesiastical music, but in Ryba’s work they rank along with the largest (i.e. Masses) among the most numerous, with more than eighty surviving. Ryba continued composing melodically polished and virtuoso pieces for one or two singing parts for the rest of his life. The selection on this CD comes from a collection entitled Octo ariae et duetto (N 32-40). Their popularity is attested by numerous copies with variations of instrumentation and text, spread across many Czech choirs. The musical language of this entire collection is firmly embedded in Classicism and is accompanied by a sense of balance of proportions, clear formal structure and fresh invention. Ryba set the medieval text of the Marian antiphon Salve Regina to music many times. Marian prayers accompanied him throughout his life. In some versions he used one or two solo parts, but mostly all four singing parts are accompanied by an orchestra with a diverse cast, from the most modest to the richest, comparable to the greatest of the Church’s works. The composition chosen for this CD (N 294) is preserved in the individual parts of the organ and four singing parts. This Salve Regina is one of the least conventional of Ryba’s works: contrary to his own usual practice, he gave up the orchestra altogether, leaving only the organ (basso continuo). Thus he left maximum space for a remarkable polyphony of four singing parts, which he used extensively and masterfully in his most valuable works.