SKU: BR.CHB-5289-02

ISBN 9790004412046. 7.5 x 10.5 inches.

According to the date inscribed in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's autograph score, the present mass was composed in March 1780. The instrumental setting (oboes, trumpets and timpani add color and festive splendor to the work) rightly suggests that the work was in all likelihood performed with the Church Sonata K. 336 at the Easter high mass in the Salzburg cathedral. Since Archbishop Hieronymus Count Colloredo wanted the mass text to be treated as succinctly as possible, Mozart offered him a richly orchestrated Missa solemnis in the terse form of a Missa brevis.The brilliant, festive character of the Mass K. 337 is abruptly interrupted by a powerful Benedictus in a harsh A minor, the most striking and revolutionary movement in all of Mozart's Masses, in the strictest contrapuntal style ... (Alfred Einstein). What could have inspired Mozart to such unexpected rigor? But there is another surprise yet: while the dark drama of the Holy Week seems to radiate from this Benedictus, the following Agnus Dei in the distant key of E flat major sounds, with its soprano solo and concertante oboe, bassoon and organ, like a song of thanksgiving filled with the warmth and light of Easter.Other features worth noting are the three unisons between the alto and bass heard at the Deus pater omnipotens in the Gloria (bars 22-32), the a cappella illumination of the words Jesu Christe found a little later (bar 62) and the descending chromaticism evocative of death at the Crucifixus in the Credo. (Incidentally, Mozart had initially planned a different movement for the Credo of this mass, superscribed Tempo di Chiaconna; he wrote out 136 bars but, for some unknown reason, never completed it.)While the Coronation Mass K. 317 of 1779 is one of Mozart's most well-known mass settings, its later composed frllow piece K. 337 - Mozart's last completed mass before the great C minor fragment K. 427 (417a) - has been paid less attention, even though it is an outstanding example of the Mozartian mass type and contains parallels to the Coronation Mass in its disposition and in the structure of its various movements. The score and piano reduction of this new edition were prepared on the basis of the autograph (Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek/Vienna, dass. no. Mus. Hs. 18 97512) and the Salzburg performance material (Staats- und Stadtbibliothek/Augsburg, dass. no. Hl. Kreuz 9). We wish to thank both libraries for putting the source material at our disposal.Franz Beyer, Munich, Spring 1998.

SKU: HL.49042434

ISBN 9783795794491. 10.25x13.5x1.141 inches. German.

Carl Maria von Weber's fame rests mainly on 'Der Freischutz'. The unprecedented success of this opera overshadowed all his other works and contributed to their increasing fall into oblivion. Certain works such as 'Preciosa', 'Oberon', and 'Euryanthe', the overtures, solo concertos and piano sonatas, the lieder and chamber works enjoyed great popularity and were widely known in Germany and abroad as late as the second half of the 19th century. However, any chance of a revival of Weber's influential and substantial oeuvre was wasted in the 1920s, when a complete edition - begun by Hans Joachim Moser and with potential contributors including Wilhelm Kempff, Hans Pfitzner, Max von Schillings, Fritz Stein and Richard Strauss - failed after the third volume.Ever since there have been numerous attempts to restart a complete edition of Weber's works, but as this kind of project would have required the co-operation of scholars from both sides of the inter-German border, the political situation after 1945 was not conducive to any such enterprise. Careful negotiations led to the first tangible steps in the 1980s. The intention, right from the beginning, was to place Weber's work in context, and not to separate his musical output from his influential work as a writer, critic and organiser in the musical field, but to publish his compositions together with his letters, diaries and other literary output as the best way to document the cross-fertilisation between his musical, literary and practical activities.Since the German re-unification both working-parties concerned - at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, and at the Musikwissenschaftliches Seminar, Detmold/Paderborn - have co-operated on the complete edition of the musical works (c. 45 volumes in 10 series: sacred music; cantatas, odes and other occasional works; stage works; lieder and vocal works; orchestral works; chamber music; music for piano; piano reductions; miscellanea, arrangements and orchestrations; works of doubtful attribution). The diaries (6-8 vols.) are edited in Berlin and the letters (8-10 vols.) and other writings (2 vols.) in Detmold. This complete edition aims to be a reliable basis of scholarly debate as well as for the authentic performance practice of Carl Maria von Weber's music. Conforming to the standards of recent historico-critical editions, the textual material will be based on all available authentic sources, accompanied by a detailed documentation of the genesis and a list of variants for each work. The musicological importance of the works will be evaluated by placing them in their historical context, the presentation of their genesis, history and Critical Commentaries. The letters, writings and diaries will be treated as inter-related and relevant to each other in the commentaries, therefore readers should benefit from a wealth of concise information and cross-references.

SKU: CA.2800907

ISBN M-007-24883-3. Latin.

A sacrilege or a stroke of genius? The composer and music director Gottlob Benedict Bierey (1772-1840) orchestrated the first movement of the famous Moonlight Sonata' by Beethoven (transposed to C minor) and added a four-part choral movement to it, which he underlaid with the text of the Kyrie from the Latin mass. The result is as astounding as it is harmonious! Versions for choir and organ, and choir and piano (both like the original version in C sharp minor) are also available (Carus 28.009/45 and in 28.009/03). Score available separately - see item CA.2800900.