Hermann Schroeder

Missa melismatica

Herrmann Schroeder (1904-1984), one of the most important church music composers of the 20th century, wrote this Latin mass in 1961, i.e. at the beginning of the Second Vatican Council. The Council marked a turning point in the field of church music: Masses in the respective native languages gained more and more acceptance, Gregorian chant faded into the background, stylistic features of popular music were also taken up in church music. Today, about 50 years after the beginning of the Council, one can see a return to Gregorian chant and polyphonic vocal music, and this is why even works such as Schroeder's Latin Missa melismatica arouse great interest again. The work takes the free intonation of the Gregorian chant as a starting-point and is enriched with wide-spun melodic arcs in elaborate polyphony, according to Schroeder's opinion that Gregorian chant and polyphony are particularly suitable for giving expression to the mysticism and irrationality of religious faith in the liturgy. A demanding work for good choirs, duration ca. 16 minutes.