# Underappreciated Masses and Oratoris



## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

I've recently fallen in love with music from the Classical and Romantic eras for choir and orchestra, particularly masses and oratorios. I've looked on some threads discussing such music, in hopes of discovering new works, and I've of course found those by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Verdi, Schubert, Brahms, and other well-known examples, but I'm always surprised that I never seem to see the ones written by Hummel of Weber!! I find them to be immaculate pieces, and yet rarely brought up. Anyways, what are some Masses and/or Oratorios that you feel don't get the reapect they deserve?


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Lizst's Christus is very well done. I like the way he wrote for the chorus. Mangold's Abraham is something worth hearing if you like the Mendelssohn style of oratorios. 

Riccardo Muti has recorded a nice set of Cherubini masses. 

The masses of Vanhal (sometimes spelled Wanhal) are well done. 

If you like the Preclassical, Frantisek Brixi's Missa Integra is interesting.


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## Bevo (Feb 22, 2015)

Manxfeeder said:


> Lizst's Christus is very well done. I like the way he wrote for the chorus. Mangold's Abraham is something worth hearing if you like the Mendelssohn style of oratorios.
> 
> Riccardo Muti has recorded a nice set of Cherubini masses.
> 
> ...


Hey thanks!! I'll definitely look into those!! Especially interested in those by Vanhal!! Love his music, just never knew he wrote masses!! Thanks!!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Herzogenberg: Mass in E-minor, Op. 87






Jongen: Mass, Op. 130


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

My first choice: Franz Schmidt's Das Buch mit Sieben Siegeln. An overwhelming masterpiece. It's actually fairly well known in Germany and Austria, but elsewhere performances are far and few between. It's an extraordinary tour-de-force of compositional technique. It's got it all: from plainchant, to a highly complex 12-tone fugue.

Then there's Hans Pfitzner's Das Dunkel Reich, which probably has some nasty political overtones for some people, but boy is this fine writing.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Stanford's Requiem and Puccini's Messa di Gloria might be safe bets for you. The former definitely underappreciated, the latter less so since there's a number of recordings of it. Mendelssohn's influence is apparent in the Stanford, and Verdi's in the Puccini.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I quite like Poulenc's Mass in G:


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

I suppose Bach's B Minor Mass doesn't count? :lol:

(I'm currently addicted to it).


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

If you want oratorios you will not go past G F Handel in any era. He is the man!


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Handel: Joshua, HWV 64 and this performance:


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Handel is seconded! I suppose you know Cherubini's Requiem? Moving into the 20th Century but staying with romantic works that might work for you - Kodaly's Psalmus Hungaricus and the early Sibelius Kullervo? And CPE Bach's Magnificat is a fine early Classical work.


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## Anankasmo (Jun 23, 2017)

Saint-Saens wrote a truly beautiful Requiem which bridges the stylistic gap between Berlioz and Faure.






Then there is the much loved Oratorio de Noel which is quite famous but imo still underappreciated considering its beautiful music.






I also really love this early Mass which even Liszt praised enthusiastically. Only the Kyrie is a bit overblown and probably does outstay its welcome....


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Carl Maria von Weber - Missa Sancta No.1, Op.75a (1818)


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

@Manxfeeder and @Bevo suggested Cherubini's Requiem, which is glorious. Here's Muti's recording:





Berlioz's _Grande messe des morts_ is electrifying. This is the one with four brass band at each point of the compass for the Day of Judgement.

Oratorios: Nowowiejski's _Quo vadis_!


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Schubert's Mass in E-flat D.950 is quite a surprise.


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