Mass No. 6 in E-Flat Major

Schubert was destined never to hear his final mass. It was composed during the summer of 1828, but the ailing composer died that November, and it was only the following year that it was performed. Schubert had requested that his Mass in E-flat Major be premiered at the Holy Trinity Church in Vienna’s Alsergrund district where, in 1827, the funeral had taken place of Schubert’s compositional idol Beethoven. Having failed to win an imperial position with his previous Mass, Schubert appears to have composed the E-flat Mass out of inner compulsion rather than to a commission. It displays not only his personal and highly developed approach to harmony and orchestration, but also a depth of expression distilled through his unparalleled experience as a song writer. Nevertheless, for all its forward-looking aspects, features such as the grand fugues at the close of the two longest movements, the “Gloria” and “Credo”, show the influence of Baroque composers such as Handel and Bach, while the Mass derives its devotional tone from works such as Mozart’s Requiem and its monumental scale from Beethoven’s Missa solemnis. The Mass’ distinctive soundworld is established in the woodwind writing of the opening “Kyrie”, while its harmonic distinctiveness is nowhere clearer than in the dramatic juxtapositions of the “Sanctus”. The unaccompanied opening of the “Gloria” punctuates the movement on its returns, while the “Credo” is characterised by its ominous timpani rolls. To close, the bleakly austere “Agnus Dei” gives way to the melodic balm of the “Dona nobis pacem”.