Must-Have Masses (no Requiems)

[Drasko]

....I've tried to explain that you meant singing not sister but alas...

[FideLeo]

....I've tried to explain that you meant singing not sister but alas...

So long as they had their word with you instead I don't think I really care....

[gmstudio]

Even if the provocative shouting Peres interpretation is captivating on its own terms, I find it too special for a newcomer to this work, and I would suggest some other recordings like Clemencic (Arte Nova) or Parrott (EMI).

Regardless, I've really been enjoying this recording.

[prémont]

 

Regardless, I've really been enjoying this recording.

So have I, but I still think, you ought to listen to other recordings of this Mass.

[gmstudio]

So have I, but I still think, you ought to listen to other recordings of this Mass.

Noted. I'll keep my eyes out for another version...

[val]

Some personal suggestions:

DUFAY: Mass "Se la face ay Pale" / Mass "Ecce Ancilla Domini" / Mass "L'Homme Armé"

OBRECHT: Mass "Maria Zart"

PALESTRINA: Masses "Viri Galilei", "Assumpta est Maria"

BYRD: Masses for 3, 4 and 5 voices

CHARPENTIER: Mass "Assumpta est Maria"

JS BACH: Mass in B minor

HAYDN:  The 6 Great Masses

BEETHOVEN: Mass opus 86 and the Missa Solemnis

SCHUBERT: Mass D 950

JANACEK: Glagolitic Mass

STRAVINSKY: Mass

[Morigan]

Some personal suggestions:

DUFAY: Mass "Se la face ay Pale" / Mass "Ecce Ancilla Domini" / Mass "L'Homme Armé"

OBRECHT: Mass "Maria Zart"

PALESTRINA: Masses "Viri Galilei", "Assumpta est Maria"

BYRD: Masses for 3, 4 and 5 voices

CHARPENTIER: Mass "Assumpta est Maria"

JS BACH: Mass in B minor

HAYDN:  The 6 Great Masses

BEETHOVEN: Mass opus 86 and the Missa Solemnis

SCHUBERT: Mass D 950

JANACEK: Glagolitic Mass

STRAVINSKY: Mass

Good suggestions there...

For Charpentier, I think his most famous Messe de minuit pour Noël should be mentioned.

[gmstudio]

Agreed.  Machaut doesn't have to sound like a Corsican fisherman.   

I found a recording by Alfred Deller...never heard of him, but I'll give it a listen later this week...

[Josquin des Prez]

Even if the provocative shouting Peres interpretation is captivating on its own terms, I find it too special for a newcomer to this work, and I would suggest some other recordings like Clemencic (Arte Nova) or Parrott (EMI).

Peres is the greater artist, and that's the best introduction anybody needs.

[FideLeo]

Peres is the greater artist, and that's the best introduction anybody needs.

Disagreed as to who's greater here.  I'd say Clemencic is better. 

[Josquin des Prez]

Disagreed as to who's greater here.  I'd say Clemencic is better. 

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Peres&word2=Clemencic

I win.

[The new erato]

Lots of good recommendations here. Let me add a fine record off the beaten patch.



Has nobody mentioned Brahms mighty mass?

[knight66]

The heading does ask us to exclude Requiems.

The Bruckner Mass in F minor is very beautiful and dramatic, in parts it is like one of his symphonies set to voices. There are some very beautiful vocal lines and it is a passionate piece. The Corydon Singers version under Matthew Best is excellent. Here is a link with some samples.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bruckner-Sacred-Choral-Works-Anton/dp/B000002ZRG/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1197794197&sr=1-6

Mike

[The new erato]

The heading does ask us to exclude Requiems.

Well yes - somehow I don't think of Brahms A German Requiem as a Requiem because of its choice of texts. But of course you are right. And the Michael Haydns Mass anyway is mighty fine and deserves a place beside those of his brother.

[knight66]

You are right of course, the Brahms is a mile away from liturgy. I had assumed the reason to avoid the Requiem was perhaps to avoid the somber. Having said that; the Bruckner is not exactly a bouncy piece.

Mike

[canninator]

Then you may want to start with this:

http://www.amazon.com/Guillaume-Machaut-Ensemble-Organum-Marcel/dp/B0000007AY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1197086933&sr=1-1

It's the first unified mass cycle ever written and the one that started the trend in the first place.

Although the Peres recording is one of my all time favorite CDs I agree with other posters that another perspective is helpful here. The Hilliard Ensemble works just fine. In defense of the Peres, however, the inclusion of the Proper makes for a more liturgically correct and fascinating listen.

If you really want to go chronologically then the Tournai Mass...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Messe-Tournai-Ensemble-Organum/dp/B000FDFO2G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1198149834&sr=1-3

...is also a recording worth checking. Note that this was not composed as a "mass cycle" but is a collection of musically distinct settings of the Ordinary. Prior to the Tournai mass the settings were all grouped together i.e. all Kyries, all Credos, Gloria etc within a Codex (the Liber Usualis that provides the chants for the Mass Ordinary is like this). The Tournai codex suggests a mass setting picked from a variety of sources and intended to be performed as a cycle. There are other examples from Barcelona and Toulouse but I don't think these have been recorded, someone might be able to correct me on this.

[Hector]

How many have you amassed so far?

Personally, I would ignore anything before 1750 and advise you to try Cherubini.

He wrote masses of them

[Josquin des Prez]

Well yes - somehow I don't think of Brahms A German Requiem as a Requiem because of its choice of texts.

Isn't that pretty much the only difference?

[BachQ]

How many have you amassed so far?

He wrote masses of them

[Lilas Pastia]

And yet, he didn't write for the masses, did he?