Mass in A major – Josef Rheinberger

The Mass in A major Op. 126 was written in 1881. Although originally conceived for three-part chorus and organ, its first performance was with string quartet and flute. This was on Christmas Eve 1881, and although this version later appeared under the title Missa in Nativitate Domini, the work itself has no particular pastoral or Christmas characteristics – the name derives solely from the date of the first performance.

The organ provides essential harmonic support, and at times adds a fourth voice to the polyphony. However, most of the character of the mass – appraisals in Rheinberger’s day stressed its ‘optimistic’ mood – comes from the close interaction of the three upper voices, often all singing together, but with a fair degree of imitation to propel the music forward. A fine example of this, and of Rheinberger’s ability to use a very simple idea to telling effect, is the first phrase of the Sanctus. Here the same phrase is heard six times in succession, but the close imitation, the resulting dissonance and the constantly rising tessitura build the phrase up towards its conclusion. Another example is the Agnus Dei, where the words ‘miserere nobis’ (‘have mercy on us’) are set to music which is both contrapuntal and chromatic, in contrast to the setting of ‘dona nobis pacem’ (‘grant us peace’) which is generally much more homophonic and diatonic.