Kyrie eleison
Choir
Gloria in excelsis
Choir
Laudamus
te
Soloist Quartet
& Choir
Gratias
Alto, Tenor
& Bass Trio
Domine
Deus
Tenor Solo
Qui
tollis
Soprano &
Alto Duet
Quoniam
Bass Solo
Cum
Sancto Spiritu
Choir
Interval
Credo in unum Deum
Soloist Quartet
& Choir
Crucifixus
Soprano Solo
Et
Resurrexit
Soloist Quartet
& Choir
Et
vitam venturi
Soloist Quartet
& Choir
Ritornelle
Solo Harmonium
Prélude religieux (pendant l’offertoire)
Piano 1 & Harmonium
Ritornelle
Solo Harmonium
Sanctus & Benedictus
Soloist Quartet & Choir
O salutaris
Soprano Solo
Agnus Dei
Alto Solo &
Choir
Performers
Julia Platt
Soprano
Sarah Helsby-Hughes
Alto
Barrie Cheshire
Tenor
Steve Grice
Bass
Maxwell Petitt
Piano
1
John Moseley
Piano
2
Terry Duffy
Harmonium
David Barclay
Conductor
Metropolitan Cathedral
Cantata Choir
Programme Notes
Gioachino Rossini (1792 – 1868) devoted the summer of 1864 to the composition of his Petite Messe Solennelle. More than twenty years had passed since he had last produced a major work (The Stabat Mater, completed in 1841) and over thirty since he had voluntarily left the operatic arena. Since 1855 he had lived in comfortable retirement in Paris, enjoying the stimulation and companionship of a glittering group of artistic and intellectual celebrities. During these last years Rossini composed over 150 chamber works which he referred to jestingly as his péchés de vieillesse, his ‘sins of old age’.These pieces, along with favourite arias from his operatic days, were frequently performed at the Samedi soirs, the fashionable Saturday evening musicales hosted by Rossini and his second wife, Olimpe Pélissier. The music of the péchés clearly demonstrates that the elderly composer had neither lost his compositional skill nor indeed his sense of humour. Many of the pieces have witty titles or marginal glosses, and they often poke gentle fun at compositional clichés or the idiosyncrasies of other composers. Rossini was composing only to please himself.
The Petite Messe Solennelle dates from the same period as the péchés and shares with them many musical characteristics, most obviously the chamber-sized ensemble for which it was originally scored and the cheerful nature of much of the music. This inscription was found in the manuscript. At the beginning Rossini wrote:
Petite Messe Solennelle, in four parts with
accompaniment of two pianos and harmonium, composed during my country vacation
at Passy. Twelve singers of three sexes
– men, women and castrati.
The Petite Messe Solennelle was dedicated to Comtesse Louise Pillet-Will, whose father-in-law, the late Comte was a benefactor of the arts and personal friend of Rossini. The first performance took place on Sunday March 14 1864 in the Comtesse’s town house. The Petite Messe Solennelle was not published during Rossini’s life. After his death, his widow was paid 100,000 french francs by the impresario Maurice Strakosh for the rights to the work, and it was first published in Paris by Brandus & Dufour on 28 February 1869. Many subsequent versions have been published all over Europe with different scoring, several for lavish romantic orchestra and often with notational errors. The version we shall perform for you this evening is based upon Rossini’s original manuscript of the 1864 version and honours quite carefully all Rossini’s original intentions.