Charles Gounod

Messe Solennelle de Ste. Cecile (St. Cecilia Mass): Sanctus

Charles Gounod (1818-1893) wrote the St. Cecilia Mass (officially named Messe solennelle en l'honneur de Sainte-Cécile) in 1855 as an homage to St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music. It premiered on St. Cecilia's Day (November 22), 1855 at the church of Saint-Eustache, Paris, conducted by Théophile Tilmant, as it was customary to perform a new mass to celebrate the holiday. Camille Saint-Saëns said of the work, "The appearance of the Messe Saint-Cécile caused a kind of shock. This simplicity, this grandeur, this serene light which rose before the musical world like a breaking dawn, troubled people enormously... at first one was dazzled, then charmed, then conquered." The Sanctus highlights passages by the cornets in the orchestra, a typical instrument for French orchestras in the Romantic era, though less common today. Instrumentation: 2.2.2.2: 4.2+Crnt(2).0.0: Timp.Perc(1): Org: Str (4-4-3-3-3 in set): Vocal Soli: Mix Chor.