Franz Hauk

Simon Mayr Choir, Concerto de Bassus, Franz Hauk – Mayr: Messa solenne in D Minor (2024)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:35:50 minutes | 1,71 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Naxos

Johann Simon Mayr’s music stands at the interface between the classical and romantic periods. The expressive lyrical qualities in his religious music reflect a career in which he composed almost 70 operas. The Messa solenne is in the Italian tradition of the Messa concertata and contains the full stem movement – a rarity in Mayr’s oeuvre in this genre. The polyphonic sections of the work left a particularly lasting impression on churchgoers of the time, as Mayr’s first biographer Girolamo Calvi attests, who wrote enthusiastically about the “exquisite vocal music” and the “profoundly exciting” virtuosity of this work – qualities that remained hidden for almost 200 years.

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Simon Mayr Choir, Concerto de Bassus & Franz Hauk – Mayr: Messa di gloria in E Minor & Messa di gloria in F Minor (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:20:03 minutes | 2,59 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Naxos

Mayr’s Masses were in demand across Europe, and their composition is rooted in the Italian tradition of the “messa concertata” which demands division into separate vocal numbers. The Mass in E minor has long been recognised as an outstanding example of Mayr’s late style, with its polyphonic mastery and dialogues between singers and concertante solo instruments being exceptionally convincing. The Mass in F minor evokes both joy and deep melancholy, though accompanied, as always, by Mayr’s notable gift for melodic beauty.

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