Windhaager Messe
| Windhaager Messe | |
|---|---|
| Mass by Anton Bruckner | |
The young Bruckner
|
|
| Key | C major |
| Catalogue | WAB 25 |
| Form | Missa brevis |
| Composed | 1842: Windhaag |
| Dedication | Anna Jobst |
| Published | 1932: Regensburg |
| Movements | 6 |
| Vocal | Alto soloist |
| Instrumental | Organ and two horns |
Bruckner composed the Windhaager Messe (WAB 25) in 1842, while he was a schoolteacher's assistant in Windhaag. It was first believed that it was composed for Maria Jobst, the alto soloist in the Windhaag church choir. It is now stated that it was composed for her younger sister, Anna.
The work, the manuscript of which is stored in the archive of Wels, was first published in band I, pp. 173–189 of the Göllerich/Auer biography. It is edited in Band XXI/2 of the Gesamtausgabe.
The Windhaager Messe is a Missa brevis in C major for alto solo, two horns and organ.
The work is divided into six parts:
Total duration: 8 to 10 minutes.
The work employs a text compressed to the absolute minimum and is predominantly homophonic in texture – often close to plainchant as, e.g., the initial phrase of the Kyrie and the Credo – with occasional contrapuntal interruptions. The organ part consists of the alto solo line and a mostly unfigured bass. The use of horns "adds a warm, familiar timbre to music, and helps to clarify the harmony".
As in the Landmesse tradition the Gloria and the Credo employ only a portion of the extensive text usually associated with these sections of the Mass. Such short masses (Missa brevis) were frequently performed in Austrian country churches, especially during Advent and Lent.
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