Kodaly: Missa Brevis; Laudes Organi

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
To the average secular humanist, Zoltán Kodály's Missa Brevis can be a bewildering experience. It's an erratic expanse of music, ranging from deep-throated organ runs to angelic boys-choir arrangements--all over, one might say, God's green earth. The familiar "Gloria in excelsis Deo," sung solemnly by a solo male voice, blossoms instantly into full-bodied polyphony; the brief but elaborate organ works that bookend the mass proper threaten to smother its memory. Pairing Kodály with Leos Janácek makes more sense as concept album than as seamless listening experience. Both wrote church music in the early 20th century, but the differences between these works are more striking than are their similarities. Janácek's vocal settings are highly sophisticated, concerned less with the specific words of God than with their haunting spirit. He favors shifting vocal parts, in contrast with Kodály's formal rounds; when Janácek's voices do align, it's for stark dramatic effect. The choir is remarkable in its enunciation and ensemble, but the volume levels on this recording vary so widely as to unnecessarily complicate the selection of an appropriate listening level. Paul Wingfield's opinionated liner notes remind us that the Lord's work is fraught with human ego. --Marc Weidenbaum

Kodaly: Missa Brevis; Laudes Organi, Music, Leos Janacek, Zoltan Kodaly, Andrew Reid, Choral, Classical, Classical Composers, Classical Music, Classical Vocals, Modern Mass, Romantic Mass, Sacred Choral Music with keyboard (or continuo)

Average customer rating: An interesting showcase

Kodaly: Missa Brevis; Laudes Organi / Janacek: Mass in E Flat Leos Janacek , Zoltan Kodaly , James O'Donnell , Choir of Westminster Cathedral , and Andrew Reid Manufacturer: Hyperion UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Janácek, Leos | ( J ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Kodály, Zoltán | ( K ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Classical | Imports | Stores | Music Similar Items: Langlais: Missa Salve Regina / Messe Solennelle Handel: Messiah, Israel In Egypt - Andrew Parrott/Taverner Choir & Players (4 CD's) Schnittke: Piano Concerto/Requiem Dvorak: Mass in D; Biblical Songs Op99 Vierne: Messe solennelle; Widor: Messe à deux choeurs et deux orgues; Dupré: Quatre motets ASIN: B00004R61P Release Date: 2000-03-14

Tracks:

1. Missa Brevis: Introitus
2. Missa Brevis: Kyrie
3. Missa Brevis: Gloria
4. Missa Brevis: Credo
5. Missa Brevis: Sanctus
6. Missa Brevis: Benedictus
7. Missa Brevis: Agnus Dei
8. Missa Brevis: Ite, missa est
9. Laudes Organi: Introduction
10. Laudes Organi: Audi chorum
11. Laudes Organi: Musice! milites
12. Laudes Organi: Gravis chorus
13. Laudes Organi: Nunc per voces
14. Laudes Organi: Tali modulo
15. Laudes Organi: Huius artis
16. Laudes Organi: Fiat amen
17. Mass In E Flat: Kyrie
18. Mass In E Flat: Credo
19. Mass In E Flat: Sanctus
20. Mass In E Flat: Agnus Dei

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

An interesting showcase.......2000-07-06

Most of the programme is given over to the Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly. The opening "Missa Brevis" is a remarkable work - it has a fine sense of melody and a tonal language that is at times unpredictable but nonetheless bearable if you're used to Mozart or Haydn or Schubert. There are some really haunting moments here - the austere and lyrical opening of the "Kyrie" gives way to a passage for trebles and high organ accompaniment of the most radiant quality, including some unbelievably quiet top Cs! By contrast, such movements as the "Gloria" and "Credo" manage to be joyful but at the same time rather staid. As the work draws to a conclusion, the contemplative and ethereal mood returns. It is not hard to imagine this in liturgical performance.

The centre of the programme is taken up by an unusual cantata, "Laudes Organi," in which Kodaly sets an ancient Latin poem extolling the use of instruments (especially the organ) in worship, as well as offering praise for the makers of such instruments. The harmonic language of the Mass is also evident in this much more exuberant work, although for some reason I find myself taking it with a pinch of salt; it doesn't come across as convincingly as the Mass, although in its own right it is well-written.

The disc concludes with a very special 'new' work: the "Mass in E flat" by Leos Janacek. This has often been referred to as the "Unfinished Mass" and has been a topic of interest to musicologists and Janacek scholars for many years - it is known that he wrote it as a study model for his composition pupils who sought to write short mass settings, and that the work was a prototype for the celebrated "Glagolitic Mass." There have now been at least two attempts to reconstruct the original sketches of the "Unfinished Mass," and the version recorded here is the most recent, made by musicologist Paul Wingfield (who describes the process in an informative booklet note). This is an interesting glimpse at Janacek's style: he had no religious convictions whatsoever and it certainly shows in places (the lack of a "Gloria" and the formal, almost stiff construction of the "Agnus Dei" are obvious examples). Nonetheless, like the Kodaly, one can imagine parts of this being performed in liturgical offerings, and it appears that Westminster Cathedral Choir are the first to try it out in that way.

This is certainly an interesting showcase of the now-legendary musicianship at the Cathedral. The daunting expressionism of the Kodaly Mass is ably met by the boys, a testament to James O'Donnell's choir training abilities, and the balance of voices throughout the rest of the programme is admirable. What is particularly arresting about the programme, however, is the performance of the Cathedral's sub-organist Andrew Reid. Each of the three works includes substantial passages for organ: the Kodaly Mass begins and ends with movements for organ alone; "Laudes Organi" naturally takes an opportunity to milk the resources of the organ (and test the stamina of its player!) and the Janacek Mass calls for some remarkably flambuoyant playing, particularly in the "Sanctus." Because of this, I feel that the disc is more of a presentation of the Westminster Cathedral organ that of the choir - not that there's anything wrong with that...

This is perhaps not a disc for you if you like your sacred music pure and unsullied. Still, it is an interesting and well-executed performance, worthy of anything else offered by James O'Donnell and his forces in the past.

Average customer rating:

Kodaly: Choral Works Manufacturer: Guild ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Kodály, Zoltán | ( K ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Choruses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music A Cappella | Folk | Styles | Music ASIN: B000026CZM Release Date: 1999-10-01

Average customer rating:

Zoltàn Kodàly: Laudes Organi / Missa Brevis Manufacturer: Globe ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Kodály, Zoltán | ( K ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B000025YMB Release Date: 2006-05-22

Tracks:

1. Laudes Organi
2. Missa Brevis: Introitus
3. Missa Brevis: Kyrie
4. Missa Brevis: Gloria
5. Missa Brevis: Credo
6. Missa Brevis: Sanctus
7. Missa Brevis: Benedictus
8. Missa Brevis: Agnus Dei
9. Missa Brevis: Ite Missa Est

Average customer rating:

Kodaly: Missa Brevis; Laudes Organi Manufacturer: Globe ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Kodály, Zoltán | ( K ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Classical (c.1770-1830) | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B0000044OQ Release Date: 1995-12-01

Tracks:

1. Laudes Organi
2. Missa Brevis: Introitus
3. Missa Brevis: Kyrie
4. Missa Brevis: Gloria
5. Missa Brevis: Credo
6. Missa Brevis: Sanctus
7. Missa Brevis: Benedictus
8. Missa Brevis: Agnus Dei
9. Missa Brevis: Ite Missa Est

Average customer rating:

In Praise of the Organ: The Latin Choral and Organ Music of Zoltán Kodály Manufacturer: Pro Organo ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Kodály, Zoltán | ( K ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Noels | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music General Christmas | Holiday | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music General Christmas | Holiday Music | Special Features | Music ASIN: B0000520TL Release Date: 2000-11-28

Tracks:

1. Fant On A 12th Century Sequence
2. Veni, Veni Emmanuel
3. Pange Lingua
4. Ave Maria
5. Missa Brevis: Introitus
6. Missa Brevis: Kyrie
7. Missa Brevis: Gloria
8. Missa Brevis: Credo
9. Missa Brevis: Sanctus
10. Missa Brevis: Benedictus
11. Missa Brevis: Agnus Dei
12. Missa Brevis: Ite Missa Est

Track Listings:

1. Ligeti: Requiem Aventures Nouvelles Aventures
2. Lotte Lenya Sings American & Berlin Theater Songs of Kurt Weill
3. Mahler: Symphony No.6 [Import]
4. Mendelssohn: Concerto for violin in Em; Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto Op35
5. Mendelssohn: Fantasy on 'The Last Rose of Summer'
6. Mendelssohn String Quartets
7. Michael Torke: Six
8. Mirabile Mysterium: Xmas Music Through the Ages
9. Mozart Son Piano [Box set] [Import]
10. Mozart: Symphonies Nos. 40, 31 & 28

Track Listings

track listings

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This Is The Last Time [CD-single] [Enhanced] [Import]

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Sin Limite De Tiempo

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Chimes of Freedom