Franz Schubert

Messe in G

Franz Schubert's Mass in G major (D 167) was written in 1815 for his home parish in Vienna-Lichtenthal. It was initially intended as a Missa brevis with string orchestra and organ, but was soon supplemented by two trumpets and timpani ad libitum for more festive occasions. This instrumentation is documented in a set of parts that Schubert himself wrote shortly after his score. Numerous other copies of parts from Schubert's environment prove that the composer experimented with the form and instrumentation of the mass during and after the first performances and adapted it to the respective performance conditions. Even today, the G major Mass is one of his most popular and frequently performed compositions.

The New Schubert Edition edits the work for the first time in its first version for strings and separately in the second version with trumpets and timpani, which includes not only the changed instrumentation but also numerous minor changes in the musical text. In the appendix to the music volume, two variants of individual movements from Viennese parts copies are also reproduced, which Schubert must also have tolerated. In the foreword, Christine Martin locates the Mass and its various manifestations in the context of Viennese church music of the early 19th century and comments on references to the historical performance practice of the Mass that emerge from contemporary sources.

In addition to a mixed, four-part choir, string orchestra and organ, the instrumentation includes three solo voices (soprano, tenor and bass) and, in the second version, two trumpets and timpani ad libitum.