# Music for Lent



## Kreisler jr

Music for Lent, Holy Week and Passion

As Lent in Western Christendom begins today on Ash Wednesday, I thought I might try to listen to ALL the music for this time I have.

I made a preliminary list below I am of course aware that there is much more and I could add some stuff from youtube or such sources (e.g. I do have only one of Schütz's Passions and only a minor setting by Telemann and there are other gaps). But it seems enough that it is already unlikely that I will cover everything. That's also the reason I'll leave out pieces like Handel's Messiah or Liszt's Christus. And I will usually not listen to more than one recording, even if I have several (like with Bach's Passions).
I will go roughly in chronological order scattered over the whole period of Lent, otherwise I'd need to listen 24/7 during Holy Week...

Tallis: Lamentations

White: Lamentations

Lassus: Lamentations

Palestrina: Stabat mater

Byrd: St. John's Passion

Schütz: St. Luke Passion, 7 last words

Buxtehude: Membra Jesu Nostri

Charpentier: Lecons de Tenebres

Steffani: Stabat mater

A. Scarlatti: Lamentationes, St. John's Passion, Stabat mater

Couperin: Lecons de Tenebres

Vivaldi: Stabat mater

Telemann: Matthäus-Passion 1754 (there are more but it seems the only one I have)

Durante: Lamentationes

Händel: Brockes-Passion, Johannespassion (probably by Böhm or another contemporary but still listed as GFH)

Bach: Johannespassion, Matthäuspassion, (Markuspassion), Cantatas

D. Scarlatti: Stabat Mater

Stölzel: Brockes-Passion

Pergolesi: Stabat Mater

Haydn: Stabat mater, 7 last words

Beethoven: Christus am Ölberg

Rossini: Stabat mater

Liszt: Via Crucis

Dvorak: Stabat mater

Szymanowski: Stabat mater


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## Kreisler jr

This is of course not exclusive. Anyone can post his listening or comment as long as it's on topic

Thomas Tallis: Lamentations of Jeremiah, Pro Cantione Antiqua, B. Turner


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## Philidor

Thank you very much for starting this thread!

Let me add some music.

There are the *Penitential Psalms *that are sung in penitential periods such as lent - Orlando di Lasso composed the best known set, but there are settings by Byrd and Andrea Gabrieli. Individual psalms such as "Miserere" or "De profundis" have been composed by Allegri, Josquin Desprez, Bach and Liszt. - Schnittke's "Psalms of Repentance" are rather paraliturgic, their texts come from the 16th century.

Then we find the *Responsoria pro hebdomada sancta* - Tomás Luis de Victoria, Gesualdo, Zelenka, Johann Michael Haydn.

Another composed texts are the *Hieremiae prophetae lamentationes* - Orlando di Lasso, Durante, Genzmer.

Modern *passions* among many others: Pärt (St. John), Rihm ("Deus Passus"), Penderecki (St. Luke), Frank Martin ("Golgotha"), Gubaidulina (St. John).


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## Kreisler jr

I thought of including penitential psalms but did not in the first list I made. I think I will include some, especially of composers not or not so well represented yet.

Some additions, also pieces I forgot or found going through the shelves again:

Allegri: Miserere
Bruhns: De profundis
Weckmann: Wie liegt die Stadt so wüste [German setting from Lamentations]
Zelenka: Miserere, De profundis [There is some passion music by Zelenka, but I don't own it]

Verdi: Stabat mater (from 4 pezzi sacri)
Stravinsky: Threni (i.e. Lamentations)
Krenek: Lamentations


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## hammeredklavier

Johann Adolf Hasse Miserere in D minor




Miserere in C minor




Miserere in E minor







Philidor said:


> *Responsoria pro hebdomada sancta* - Johann Michael Haydn.


In sabbato sancto, MH 278




In coena Domini, MH 276




In parasceve, MH 277


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## hammeredklavier

In coena Domini ad missam, MH 628: No. 2, Christus factus est




Alleluia! Laudate pueri




Sequentia ad festum S.P. Augustini (De profundis tenebrarum)




De profundis




Beatus vir


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## Kreisler jr

another disc with Lamentation settings. I think the Tallis is justifiedly among the most famous of that time. I also prefer the sound of Pro Cantione antiqua to the larger mixed ensemble more distantly recorded on Naxos but it's also a nice disc overall.


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## Rogerx

Brilliant classics use to have a very nice box, containing: 
Pasquini, B: Hor ch’il Ciel fra densi horrori
Pasquini, B: Padre, Signore e Dio
Sturla: Passio di Venerdi Santo
Telemann: Passion Oratorio 'Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele', TWV 5:2
Perhaps with a bit of searching........
Good luck


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## Kreisler jr

Palestrina: Stabat mater (Pro cantione antiqua)

Allegri: Miserere (Tallis scholars)


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## RICK RIEKERT

There's James Macmillan's compelling masterpiece _Seven Last Words from the Cross_.


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## Helgi

New from The Gesualdo Six, Tallis and Gesualdo:










https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA68348


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## Kreisler jr

Michael Praetorius: Aus tiefer Not (De Profundis) à 4, Huelgas Ensemble, van Nevel

A rather simple chorale setting from the early 17th century.


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## Helgi

Yesterday I listened to James MacMillan's Triduum, an Easter triptych: 
I. The World's Ransoming, an English horn concerto
II. Cello concerto
III. Symphony "Vigil"


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## ansfelden

Alessandro Scarlatti - St. John Passion, René Jacobs, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis


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## Helgi

Listening to more Easter-related MacMillan (I have a stack of his CDs on loan from the library this week).

_Visitatio Sepulchri_ for chorus and chamber orchestra.



> ... a setting of a medieval liturgical drama which describes the scene from the New Testament where three women go to visit the Holy Sepulchre on the day after Christ's crucifixion, and learn that he has risen from the dead.


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## Philidor

Without being too pedantic: Easter music is not exactly music for lent ...  ... one could even say, it is just the opposite ...


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## Kreisler jr

St. John's Passion by Byrd. The Cardinall's Musick, Andrew Carwood (ASV)

This is very minimalist compared to later baroque passion music. 
While it does have separate singers for Christ and some of the others and choir for the crowd, most of it is basically a newsreel in Latin by the evangelist singer. The turbae are also very mild, if one has Bach or similar high/late baroque music. The brief beautiful Plorans Plorabit (it should be plora*v*it in the usual lamentations text) at the beginning of the disc seems to fit Byrd's style much better).


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## Helgi

Philidor said:


> Without being too pedantic: Easter music is not exactly music for lent ...  ... one could even say, it is just the opposite ...


Yes, but:



OP said:


> Music for Lent, Holy Week and Passion


The Triduum triptych is mostly within Lent. In my mind Easter denotes all of this, but maybe I need to go back to Bible school


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## Kreisler jr

Steffani: Stabat Mater (Leonhardt)

Not quite as impressive as Pergolesi or A. Scarlatti but a solid baroque setting with more variety (tenor, bass,choir) than the famous soprano/alto settings.















A. Scarlatti St. John's Passion (Näf, Jacobs, Basel)

Despite closer to Bach in time this is still close to the "old style", i.e. no full oratorio with arias etc., only the Gospel narrative with evangelist, turbae, Christ, Pilate etc. It features Jacobs in still fresh voice as evangelist (nevertheless an alto narrator needs getting used to) and an interpretation that seems otherwise still a bit prae-HIP with forces of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, despite apparently recorded in the 1981.


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## Kreisler jr

I am probably not going to listen to all of my list..

anyway, today:

Buxtehude: Membra Jesu nostri (Gardiner)


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## Kreisler jr

Stabat Mater by A. Scarlatti and Pergolesi in a somewhat old-fashioned recording, that IMO works better for the Pergolesi. But the latter is also the more accessible piece and its huge success back then is quite understandable. Today I plan to do a Stabat mater by Vivaldi and maybe another one (or another recording of the Scarlatti)


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## Shaughnessy

The Rosary Sonatas (Rosenkranzsonaten, also known as the Mystery Sonatas or Copper-Engraving Sonatas) by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber are a collection of 15 short sonatas for violin and continuo, with a final passacaglia for solo violin. Each has a title related to the Christian Rosary devotion practice and possibly to the Feast of the Guardian Angels.

Best version - Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr0MsaDpKsY_Z8VqwgX4l8kkxQbBtwVXy

1-1 Rosary Sonata #1 In D Minor, "The Annunciation"	
1-2 Rosary Sonata #2 In A, "The Visitation"	
1-3 Rosary Sonata #3 In B Minor, "The Nativity"	
1-4 Rosary Sonata #4 In D Minor, "The Presentation In The Temple"	
1-5 Rosary Sonata #5 In A, "The Finding In The Temple"	
1-6 Rosary Sonata #6 In C Minor, "The Agony In The Garden"	
1-7 Rosary Sonata #7 In F, "The Scourging"
1-8 Rosary Sonata #8 In B Flat, "The Crowning With Thorns"	
2-1 Rosary Sonata #9 In A Minor, "The Carrying Of The Cross"	
2-2 Rosary Sonata #10 In G Minor, "The Crucifixion"	
2-3 Rosary Sonata #11 In G, "The Resurrection"	
2-4 Rosary Sonata #12 In C, "The Ascension"	
2-5 Rosary Sonata #13 In D Minor, "The Descent Of The Holy Ghost"	
2-6 Rosary Sonata #14 In D, "The Assumption Of The Blessed Virgin"	
2-7 Rosary Sonata #15 In C, "The Coronation Of The Blessed Virgin"	
2-8 Passacaglia In G Minor, "Guardian Angel"


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## Kreisler jr

Vivaldi: Stabat Mater RV 621 (Alto solo, strings, continuo)









A considerably more modest piece than Scarlatti or Pergolesi with only one alto soloist and pretty short sections. It's a good piece but not _that_ special (I had remembered it a bit more impressive, maybe because Mingardo is such a wonderful singer.)


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## Philidor

Shaughnessy said:


> View attachment 165815
> 
> The Rosary Sonatas (Rosenkranzsonaten, also known as the Mystery Sonatas or Copper-Engraving Sonatas) by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber are a collection of 15 short sonatas for violin and continuo, with a final passacaglia for solo violin. Each has a title related to the Christian Rosary devotion practice and possibly to the Feast of the Guardian Angels.


The middle pentad is fitting for lent ("The sorrowful mysteries"):



Shaughnessy said:


> 1-6 Rosary Sonata #6 In C Minor, "The Agony In The Garden"
> 1-7 Rosary Sonata #7 In F, "The Scourging"
> 1-8 Rosary Sonata #8 In B Flat, "The Crowning With Thorns"
> 2-1 Rosary Sonata #9 In A Minor, "The Carrying Of The Cross"
> 2-2 Rosary Sonata #10 In G Minor, "The Crucifixion"


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## regenmusic

Beethoven: Christus am Ölberg

Libretto in English done by Google translate all in one piece.

1. Introduction (Grave - Adagio), Recitative and Aria (Allegro)
Recitative (Jesus)
Jehovah, you my father! O send comfort and strength and strength to me! It is now approaching, the hour of my suffering, already chosen by me, before the world escaped chaos at your behest. I hear your seraph's voice of thunder. She asks who instead of the people wants to stand before your court now. O father! I appear on this call. I want to be a mediator, I atone, I alone, the fault of men. How could this generation formed from dust endure a judgment that will crush me, your son, to the ground! Oh look, how dread, how fear of death seizes my heart with power! I am suffering greatly, my father! Oh look! I'm suffering a lot, have mercy on me!

Aria (Jesus)
My soul is shaken
by the torments that are threatening me.
Terror seizes me, and
my bones tremble terribly, shuddering.
Fear grips me like a chill
at the near grave,
and blood drips from my face
instead of sweat.
Father! Deeply bowed and pitiful,
your son begs up to you:
Everything is possible to your power,
take the chalice of suffering from me.
My soul is shaken
by the torments that are threatening me.
And
instead of sweat, blood drips from my face.

2. Recitative, Aria (Larghetto) and Chorus
Recitative (Seraph)
Tremble, earth! Jehovah's son lies here, his face pressed deep in dust, quite forsaken by his father, and suffers inexpressible torment. The good one! He is willing to die the most agonizing death so that the people he loves may rise from the dead and live forever!

Aria (Seraph)
Praise the goodness of the Redeemer,
praise, O men, his mercy!
He dies for you out of love,
his blood redeems your debt.

Seraph and choir of angels
Hail to you, you redeemed ones,
bliss beckons you
if you are faithful in love,
in faith and hope.
But alas! Those who boldly dishonor the blood that
flowed for
them, the curse of the judge falls on them,
damnation is their lot.

3. Recitative and duet (Adagio molto)
Recitative (Jesus)
Does your mouth tell me, Seraph, the mercy of my eternal Father?
Does he take the terrors of death from me?

Recitative (Seraph)
Thus says Jehovah: Until the holy mystery of atonement is fulfilled, the human race will remain rejected and robbed of eternal life.

Duet (Jesus and Seraph)
Jesus

So, my father, rest your judgment on me with all your weight.
Pour the river of suffering on me, only do not be angry with Adam's children!

seraph

I am shaken to see the sublime wrapped in mortal agony.
I tremble, and the grave shivers he feels blow about me.

Jesus, Seraph

Great is the torment, the fear, the terror that God's hand pours out on me/him,
but greater still is my/his love with which my/his heart encloses the world.

4. Recitative and choir (Alla marcia)
Recitative (Jesus)
Welcome, death, I
die bleeding on the cross for the salvation of mankind!
O be blessed in your cool tomb,
which an eternal sleep holds in its arms,
you will wake up happy to bliss!

Choir of Warriors
We have seen him
go to this mountain,
he cannot escape,
judgment awaits him.

5. Recitative (Tempo della Marcia) and Choir (Allegro molto)
Recitative (Jesus)
Those who went out to catch me are now drawing near. My father! O bring hours of suffering past me in swift flight, so that they flee, swiftly, like the clouds driven by a storm wind across your skies. But not my will, no, your will only be done.

Choir of Warriors
Here he is, the exile who
boldly
called himself King of the Jews among the people,
seize him and bind him!

Choir of Disciples
What is the noise supposed to mean?
It's about us!
Surrounded by rough warriors,
how will we fare?
Have mercy, oh have mercy!
It's about us!

6. Recitative, trio and chorus (Allegro ma non troppo), final chorus (Maestoso - Allegro)
Recitative (Peter)
The bold crowd should not go unpunished to seize you, my friend and master,
with a cheeky hand.

Recitative (Jesus)
O let thy sword rest in its scabbard! If it were my father's will to save me from the power of my enemies, legions of angels would be ready to save me.

trio
Peter

Righteous anger and rage churn in my veins.
Let my revenge cool in the bold blood!

Jesus

Thou shalt not avenge! I just teach you alone,
love everyone, gladly forgive the enemy!

seraph

Pay attention, oh man, and listen: Only the mouth of a god proclaims
such holy teaching of neighborly love.

Seraph, Jesus, Peter

O children of men, understand this holy commandment:
Love him who hates you, only in this way will you please God!

Choir of Warriors
up, up! Seize the traitor,
do not tarry here any longer.
Away now with the culprit,
hurry him to court!

Choir of Disciples
Oh! We will
also be hated and persecuted because of him.
They will bind us,
torture us, and consecrate us to death.

Jesus
My torment will soon be gone,
the work of redemption will be accomplished,
soon it will be completely overcome
and the power of hell conquered!

Chorus of Angels
Worlds sing thanks and honor
to the sublime Son of God.
Praise him, you choirs of angels,
loudly in holy jubilation!

From:

https://gemeinden.erzbistum-koeln.de/stifts-chor-bonn/dokumente/werkbeschreibung/Beethoven_op85.html


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## Kreisler jr

Domenico Scarlatti: Stabat mater for 10 voices and b.c.

This is a very remarkable pieces, very different from his father's or Pergolesi with their high solo voices. Despite the many-voiced polyphony it doesn't really sound antico to my ears either but high baroque in expression. Highly recommended as it is not that well known.









Johannespassion (Hamburg 1704)
Ascribed to but very probably not composed by Handel, but maybe as an 18-19 year old, or by Georg Böhm or Christian Ritter (apparently the most recent favorite of musicologists for the authorship) or still another unknown German early 18th century composer. The main argument for Handel's authorship is an extended critique (with clear hints, although Handel is not explicitly mentioned) by Mattheson (published much later in the 1720s) who knew Handel as a young man in Hamburg.

It doesn't sound much like later Handel (which would not be surprising as he was obviously strongly influenced by his subsequent years in Italy and we have very little early vocal music from Hamburg or Halle). The later Brockes-Passion sounds different from Italian/English Handel but this early piece is again very different, e.g. there are more duets in one hour here than in three hours Brockes. But of course, it could well be the piece of a young composer (although Handel was so young and busy at this time in Hamburg it doesn't seem that likely that he'd have been approached to compose a German passion oratorio besides his opera duties and ambitions).
It's a decent piece, all numbers are quite short (arias around 2-4 min.), and we know that John's passion narrative is fast-paced, with a few quite beautiful numbers, especially the duet for two sopranos "Schauet mein Jesus ist Rosen zu gleichen" (Jesus is like roses because clad in purple and crowned with thorns)

I have the disc in one of the older Brilliant editions; the picture below shows a slightly different one that is available separately. There is another more recent recording on cpo.


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## marlow

Great masterpiece of young composer


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## Philidor

marlow said:


> View attachment 166039
> 
> Great masterpiece of young composer


Fully agreed.

However: Why is this for lent?


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## Kreisler jr

Dixit Dominus is in the Vespers psalms every? Sunday, including Lent, I think. Not *for* Lent, but...


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## Philidor

Kreisler jr said:


> Dixit Dominus is in the Vespers psalms every? Sunday, including Lent, I think. Not *for* Lent, but...


Maybe, but I even doubt whether 110 is in each Sunday's vesper according to each rite ...

However: The sundays are *not* part of lent. We have 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter if and only if we don't count the sundays ...


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## Kreisler jr

Rossini: Stabat Mater (Fricsay, Stader, Radev, Haefliger, Borg, DG)









Maybe it was not the best idea to listen to this only half a day after Scarlatti and pseudo-Handel... Not that some baroque sacred music isn't also rather operatic but the second section with the tenor solo (after a "serious" choral beginning) is full 19th century italian opera, a genre I nowadays very rarely listen to. It took time to get used to it and I couldn't fully appreciate the piece, I guess. Fricsay sounds very good for a mid-1950s mono recording but the sound limitations show nevertheless in such a large scale choral work. Still, it is an impressive (almost one hour) work, probably the largest work Rossini wrote after his retirement from opera.


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## hammeredklavier

.


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## Philidor

Just remembering the canonic placement of Passion Narratives in the Holy Week according to the Tridentine Roman Missal, which matches the placement of some other denominations:

Palm Sunday or Holy Monday: St. Matthew
Holy Tuesday: St. Mark
Holy Wednesday: St. Luke
Maundy Thursday: no entire Passion Narrative; commemoration of the Last Supper; beginning of the Easter Triduum
Good Friday: St. John _(not to forget: Parsifal )_
Black Saturday: After sundown, Easter Vigil


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## Kreisler jr

I lost a longer text I had began because of the forum software change, so I'll just list briefly what I listened to since the last post without comments

D. Scarlatti: Stabat mater for 10 voices
Dvorak: Stabat mater
Verdi: Stabat mater

Lassus: Lamentations
Krenek: Lamentations
Durante: Lamentations


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## Kreisler jr

As I realized soon I would not get through all of it as I wanted to listen to some other music as well. So I mostly skipped the pieces I thought I already knew fairly and had listened to more often in the past. I put a a x behind the ones I actually listened to

Tallis: Lamentations x

White: Lamentations x

Lassus: Lamentations x

Palestrina: Stabat mater x

Byrd: St. John's Passion x

Schütz: St. Luke Passion, 7 last words

Buxtehude: Membra Jesu Nostri x

Charpentier: Lecons de Tenebres x (1/3 sets)

Steffani: Stabat mater x

A. Scarlatti: Lamentationes x, St. John's Passion x, Stabat mater x

Couperin: Lecons de Tenebres x

Vivaldi: Stabat mater x

Telemann: Matthäus-Passion 1754 (there are more but it seems the only one I have)

Durante: Lamentationes x

Händel: Brockes-Passion, 
Johannespassion (probably by Böhm or another contemporary but still listed as GFH) x

Bach: Johannespassion, Matthäuspassion, (Markuspassion), Cantatas

D. Scarlatti: Stabat Mater x

Stölzel: Brockes-Passion

Pergolesi: Stabat Mater x

Haydn: Stabat mater, 7 last words

Beethoven: Christus am Ölberg

Rossini: Stabat mater x

Liszt: Via Crucis

Dvorak: Stabat mater x

Szymanowski: Stabat mater x

Allegri: Miserere x

Verdi: Stabat mater (from 4 pezzi sacri) x

Krenek: Lamentations x


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## hammeredklavier

Philidor said:


> Without being too pedantic: Easter music is not exactly music for lent ...  ... one could even say, it is just the opposite ...


I've wondered about this too, but it seems masses of the ordinary can also be music for lent depending on the setting.

"Gregorian melodies, of course, continued to be used in the Mass throughout the eighteenth century; but by Beethoven's time they were relatively rare, especially in orchestral Masses. The one composer who still used them extensively is Michael Haydn, in his a cappella Masses for Advent and Lent. It is significant that in some of these he limits the borrowed melody to the Incarnatus and expressly labels it "Corale." In the Missa dolorum B. M. V. (1762) it is set in the style of a harmonized chorale, in the Missa tempore Qudragesima of 1794 note against note, with the Gregorian melody (Credo IV of the Liber Usualis) appearing in the soprano. I have little doubt that Beethoven knew such works of Michael Haydn, at that time the most popular composer of sacred music in Austria." < Beethoven | Michael Spitzer | P.123~124 >


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