Review: A Classical sacred miscellany

Abstract

Antonio Salieri lived a long life, from 1750 to 1825. Although primarily associated with opera in Vienna, from the mid-179os onwards he devoted most of his compositional energies to liturgical music, completing about loo works. Rather surprisingly, he composed only four Masses with orchestral accompaniment, all intended for the Hofkapelle, where he was Kapellmeister. The Mass in D minor was completed in July 1805, during the French occupation of Austria and the temporary removal of the court from Vienna. It may be tempting to link the choice of key, D minor, with the unease with which it is associated in Haydn's 'Nelson' Mass or with the melancholy and power of Mozart's Requiem, but Salieri's Mass spends most of its time in the tonic major. As Jane Schatkin Hettrick points out, the title 'Mass in D minor' is a humdrum consequence of contemporary cataloguing practice, and not an indication of a governing mood. This observation is typical of the authoritative editorial hand that is evident throughout the volume. The Mass is carefully placed in its historical context, and performers, as well as future editors of other works in the Hofkapelle repertory, will benefit from Hettrick's experienced observations on musical shorthand, copying practices and performance practice (including size of vocal forces and the make-up of the organ). Unusually, much of the continuo organ part was fully written out by Salieri, providing a useful model for other liturgical music of the period; generally it is much sparser than one typically hears in modern performances of this repertory, with a good deal of two-part writing. Hettrick is also sensitive to Salieri's personality as a composer of liturgical music. As she observes, he was one of those who regarded Haydn's sacred compositions as overdone; indeed, the Mass has a caution that one would not have expected from such an experienced composer of opera. Vocal lines hardly ever burgeon, and the open theatricality of Haydn's late Masses-evident too in contemporary Masses by Michael Haydn and Hummel-is avoided. Hettrick suggests that this understated style reflected the preferences of the emperor, Franz II, and her commentary on the individual movements sensitively relates the music to a range of contemporary comments on judicious style in church music. Leopold Ferdinand Schwerdt was born in Lower Austria in the 1770s, but from 18o6 spent most of his working life in Laibach (Ljubljana), a distant corner of the Austrian territories, but one whose musical practices reflected those of the broader Viennese tradition.