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DDD 66.09 Recorded at Asam Kirche "Maria de Victoria" Ingolstadt on 07, 09 and 10 April 2001 Johann Simon Mayr – the Maestro from Mendorf Johann Simon Mayr was born in Mendorf in 1763, near Altmannstein, not far from the city of Ingolstadt. His initial musical instruction he received from his father, who was employed in Mendorf as an organist and schoolteacher. Mayr completed further schooling at the Benedictine monastery in Weltenburg. In 1773 the young man came to Ingolstadt and having been granted a scholarship at the Jesuit College, he registered at the Bavarian regional university. During this time he was also an organist at various churches. In 1787 Johann Simon Mayr found an open-minded patron in Baron Thomas von Bassus, who was next to Weishaupt, one of the founders of the Illuminatenorden. Von Bassus, whose family still owns Schloß Sandersdorf today, recognized Simon Mayr’s musical talent and summoned him to Schloß Sandersdorf as a music teacher. With the help of the baron, Simon Mayr was able to undertake study visits to Bergamo and Venice. In Venice his successful opera career took off. After his first visit (probably in 1786, but possibly not until 1788) to the city of lagoons and islands, Mayr studied with Ferdinando Bertoni, the director of music at San Marco. In subsequent years a few oratorios and cantatas were written, which aside from the song compositions, helped to make Mayr famous. Mayr composed his first opera, "Saffo", in 1794 for the theatre La Fenice. Numerous other operas were also commissioned in the next couple of years. In 1803 Simon Mayr was finally elected Maestro di Capella at the basilica Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, a position he held until the end of his life despite tempting offers. His tireless work helped revive the urban musical scene. His work included around sixty operas, symphonies, chamber music and a few hundred musical works for the church. Only a fraction of his compositions are available in print today. Simon Mayr, a contemporary of Haydn, Beethoven and Rossini, was one of the most famous opera composers at the beginning of the 19th century. His works were performed in the capital cities of Rome, Milan, London Paris, Vienna and Lisbon. He is considered to be the "father of the Italian opera", his most famous student being Gaetano Donizetti (1797 – 1848). Mayr and the Mass Mayr’s mass settings are part of an Italian tradition, still not well researched. It consists of more or less complete, often obviously exchangeable versions of the series Kyrie-Gloria-Kyrie-Credo (Messa da Gloria) or Sanctus-Benedictus-Agnus. Apart from that there are a great number of individual movements, in which frequently only one verse was set, they were inserted as "versetti volanti". The large-scale Missa in C minor was probably commissioned in May 1823 by Joseph Morel for the Primiz of his brother, Peter Gall Morel, which was celebrated in the monastery of Einsiedeln on March 28, 1826. P. Gall Morel, possibly one of the most universal spirits the monastery ever had, was later a member of numerous scientific societies, prefect and principal of the school, librarian, and between 1835 and 1840, also director of music. In the years 1826 and 1829 two more productions of the work followed. The performances were directed by the director of music at that time, Father Bernhard Foresti (1774-1851), who had come from Milan and held the office from 1813 to 1831. Another performance of the piece can be traced to Einsiedeln in 1837. In the middle of September 1825 Mayr sent his finished, handwritten score of the mass to Einsiedeln. He added a letter to P. Foresti: To The most honourable Director of the Orchestra Dear Director! I had planned to offer a few comments in regards to the mass, which I am sending as commissioned by Mr. Morel; but since I have heard, that an experienced artist from Milan directs the orchestra, I think every other comment is superfluous. If you, most honourable Sir, just take a glance at the composition, you will undoubtedly recognize, that I have chosen a happy medium between the Italian and German style. Even if the work appears to be slightly stilted at times, I hope that it does not totally lack something of the stricter writings on the other hand. The few solos for various instruments were explicitly ordered from me. – I do not own the machine by Mälzl [Mälzl’s metronome], with which one can describe the exact time measurement, but I am convinced, that a director like yourself, who would research the character of the individual pieces and consider the competence of the musicians as well as the quality of the venue etc. etc., would also know to mark the appropriate tempo with greater accuracy than a mechanical aid could. Therefore, I am not afraid of putting my full trust in you, and asking you for your active participation in my weak production, just like I commend to you the author, who has the honour to bow down most respectfully before you as your adoring, devoted and indebted servant Gio: Simone Mayr Bergamo, the 20th September 1825 To this point hardly anything is known about the formation of the music staff in Einsiedeln. The singers were likely Fathers and students of the monastery, possibly a few inhabitants from the village with the same name. The performance material still in existence suggests that a maximum of four to five singers per voice were involved in the performance. The monastery must have had quite a proficient orchestra at its disposal. P. Gall Morel comments in his diary, that around 1830 even outside the services, vocal and instrumental music was played daily, including chamber and wind music, oratorios, operas, operettas and symphonies. Joseph Morel expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Simon Mayr in a letter from June 24, 1826 for the successful composition, whose premier he had witnessed. Also Foresti, director of music, showed his respect to the master from Bergamo in a letter from the 4th October 1826. From this letter it can be gathered, that the new work in its extensive conception demanded a little too much from the musical forces available in Einsiedeln: To the most honourable, high-born patron Mr. Simone Maier Most honourable, highborn Patron! I am keeping my word, which I gave to you in my last letter. In the meantime the mass, which you had written for the pilgrimage church in Einsiedeln, has been performed twice more, most recently in the presence of his Excellency, the Archbishop of Paris on September 14, the dedication day of the Heiligen Kapelle der Jungfrau Maria (holy chapel of the Virgin Mary) as part of a Pontifical Mass. I am not well versed in flattering expressions and poetical sentences, which are all the fashion right now, but I can assure you without exaggeration, that your composition was well liked and that the celebrated name of Mr. Maier is going to resound all the way to the banks of the Seine. The mass is written in a solemn style, appropriate to the majesty of our temple. The Kyrie is impassionate, fitting to a sinner’s obsequious prayer. The Gloria is radiant, even though I had wished it to be simpler and more melodic. The versets of the Gloria suit the true character of its words. The Credo, to a certain extent, is in the middle, but the Crucifixus is too heavy and the remainder too long. All fugues have beautiful subjects and are carried out with complete care. The Sanctus is grandiose, the Benedictus a charming piece and, I almost want to say, the heart of the mass. The Agnus is too difficult. It seems to me like the soul’s repentance gets lost, if one has to contemplate first; and who does not willingly beat one’s chest, when he says – Miserere nobis? The Dona is tasteful and crowns the work. All together the mass is definitely worthy of the master, but it is slightly too long and, to tell the truth, too scholarly to be performed well and understood properly by a mixed audience, of which the greater part does not know anything about the rules of musical composition. Here, people like the music dominated by the melody, which goes straight to the heart, in one word, the folk music, orchestrated in a cantabile style. But surely the connoisseur will find great satisfaction in your mass. In everything the master’s signature is clearly recognizable, and in our musical archive this work is always going to remain in the first row among the beautiful masses by such outstanding composers as Haydn, Mozart and Hummel. We especially like <Paulo>Bonfichi, <Giuseppe> Nicolini und <Johann> Christian Bach. Nevertheless, even the less knowledgeable music connoisseur will recognize the diversity of styles immediately. These are, most honourable Sir, my thoughts about your mass for Einsiedeln. I congratulate myself for being able to work with you and am entirely grateful for your efforts to serve us well. I would very much like to express my gratitude above all this. Oh, if it would be possible to one day greet you as guest in our region! Switzerland is a beautiful land and offers to the traveller a thousand joys found nowhere else. I cannot suppress my desire to get to know other beautiful products of your mastery: but I do not want to be indiscreet. Therefore, I wish you all the blessings of heaven and take my leave with the greatest possible respect for you, most honourable Sir, as your devoted servant. P. Bernardo Foresti Capitular of Einsiedeln. The Kyrie of the Einsiedeln-Mass in C minor goes back to Mayr’s so-called "Kyrie di Novara", performed at a mass during a music festival in Novarra from the 14th to the 21st June 1812. In the Kyrie of the Missa in C minor intended for Einsiedeln, Mayr expanded the first section of the heavily orchestrated three-part "Novara-Kyrie" which contains a middle section reminiscent of Haydn’s "Kettledrum Mass", to an overall structure tied together by motives. The beginning of the Kyrie leaves no room for doubt; Mayr must have known the "Allegro con brio" from Beethoven’s Piano Trio in C minor op. 1/3. Omnipresent, this theme runs through the densely worked set, rich in expression and close to Beethoven’s pathos. I only need to point to the subtle and rich entry of the timpani. The Gloria in B major was constructed in four parts. First Mayr pays tribute to his great contemporary Joseph Haydn, whose high masses he was very familiar with. Wide spanning melodic lines, which reveal the experienced composer of operas, dynamic contrasts, which interpret the liturgical text in a sensitive and vivid way as well as the small interior imitations of the chorus and the colourful orchestration for winds show Mayr’s exceptional compositional ability. Mayr set the "Gratias agimus" in a six-eight-Andantino, tinted in the pastoral, with pizzicato in the strings, woodwinds and vocal solo quartet. The following section, an Andante in G minor, deals with the text of "Qui tollis peccata mundi" in expressive dialogues between wind soloists, vocal soloists and choir. Does not Haydn’s Nelson Mass sometimes shine through here as a model, much like in the later Sanctus? The last section, entitled Allegro moderatemente vivace, begins at the text line of "Tu solus Dominus", which is performed in "chorus-like" alternating Soli and Tutti. The movement closely resembles a rondo in form. Sections with polyphonal texture alternate with passages, which reflect the vocal ideal of the early 19th century, geared towards the opera. A sonorous Coda concludes the Gloria. Mayr took the Credo of the "Einsiedeln-Mass" in large parts from a Credo his master pupil Gaetano Donizetti had composed for the annual festival of Cecilia in Bergamo and which had been premiered on November 24, 1824. Only the slow middle part in A major of the "Et incarnates est" and the concluding "Et vitam venturi" are by Mayr himself. A repeating, fanfare-like credo motive structures the first section of the movement in D major. Once more Mayr creates variety and musical tension through sections of imitations, wide spanning melodic lines and complex treatment of the text. The A major Larghetto closely resembles a melodrama: the voice of the solo violin illustrates in an individual way, so to speak, the textual musical events of Christ’s crucifixion. Violin vibrati remind us of the flagellation, fanfares in the brass, drum rolls, words sung by the soloists ripped out of context, choral-like interjections of the choir, all paint a dramatic picture of death and burial. The following section, Allegro moderato in D major, is dedicated to the resurrection of Christ: The melodic lines strive to ascend, "scales of heaven" run through from bass to the first violin and a dotted rhythm imparts confidence. Mayr uses darker colours in the "Judicare vivos et mortuos" and the Credo motive from the beginning of the movement returns once more. Mayr reaches the triumphant finale via the not very rigorously executed fugue of "Et vitam venturi". Mayr dealt with the Sanctus in multiple sections much like Joseph Haydn did in his six high masses. The slow, solemn introduction of the "Sanctus" in a festive D major is followed by a fugal "Hosanna in excelsis" in a faster tempo. The Benedictus in the mediant F major is reserved for the soloists, until the "Hosanna" returns in expanded form. The Agnus Dei completes the work in a rather popular manner. A long solo passage in the clarinet, characterized by numerous semitone steps and contrasted with an almost march-like foundation in the strings, is followed by extended cantilenas of the soloists, before the choir intones a cantabile finale to his mass: a "Da pacem Domine" – "Lord, give us peace" as a naïve prayer song. Mozart’s Works: Arrangements – Tradition and Practice The Koechel Catalogue, a catalogue of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s works which has been continuously revised over the years, also lists those compositions which can be traced back to arrangements or have a doubtful authentication. New discoveries are still possible in this generally neglected area, evident in examples such as the Mass in G major KV 140 or the two Tantum ergo KV 142 and 197, which -- even in the sixth edition of the Koechel Catalogue -- still appear amongst the dubious works. Mozart’s authorship for these works has been verified since then. It was also common to arrange and parody secular compositions for liturgical use. This practice follows some famous examples: A large part of the Christmas Oratorio BWV 248 by Johann Sebastian Bach goes back to compositions which the master had composed for secular occasions. Both contemporaries and able publishers used opera arias by known composers, in order to revise and convert them for the church use. The Salve Regina in F major KV appendix C 3.01 has been preserved in several copies under Mozart’s name, supposedly composed for the church Maria Plain near Salzburg in 1768 or 1769. The Mozart scholar Deiter had already noticed that "a Regina coeli performed in Maria-Plain on May 23rd, 1768 for which Mozart was thought to be the composer, could not have been from him because he was in Vienna at the time". Leopold Mozart also does not mention the work in his 1768 index. Despite all objections the work stylistically belongs to the Salzburg church music, surrounding the young Wolfgang Amadeus. He himself took up suggestions, which some of his great models such as his father Leopold or Johann Michael Haydn had provided him with. Musically, the Salve Regina is identical to the Benedictus from the Mass in C major KV appendix C 1.20, which also exists in a copy by Simon Mayr. "Quis te comprehendat" goes back to the Adagio of the Serenade for Brass KV 361 (370a). There is evidence that this work existed in different arrangements. A soloistic violin and a concertizing organ take on a melodic function; the remaining strings and the two horns supply the accompaniment. Someone else created the four-part choral movement, even though it was well fitted into the given texture. Copies of the work can be found in the Moravske Museum Brünn and the Benedictine monastery Michaelbeuern; the publishers Mathias Artaria (1825) and Antonio Diabelli (1833) issued this piece in printed form. "In te Domine speravi" is a parody, or to be more precise, a revision of the Scena con Rondo KV 505 "Ch’io mi scordi te" – "Non temer, amato bene", that was originally composed for solo soprano, obligato piano and orchestra. Overall Mozart wrote about 50 such arias for one vocal voice and orchestra, mostly intended as opera interludes. KV 505 was written in 1786 as a commissioned work for the then famous English singer Nancy Storace, the first Susanna in the "Marriage of Figaro". The original text of the piece comes from an arrangement of "Idomeneo". This work appears as Offertorium "In te Domine speravi" in a contemporary manuscript, which today is being kept in the Bavarian State Library. The organ part in this version was cleverly modified to work with the manual range common in South Germany at the time, which only went as high as c3. Simon Mayr and Ingolstadt In 1995 an international Simon-Mayr-Society was established in Ingoldstadt. It plans to make the composer known to a wider audience, it promotes and initiates performances of his musical works and fosters the cultural exchange with other sites of historical significance to Mayr, like Bergamo and Altmannstein. Furthermore, this society promotes the scholarly research and edition of his work. For more information: Internationale Simon-Mayr-Gesellschaft c/o Kulturamt, Unterer Graben 2, D-85049 Ingolstadt, Tel. 0841-305 1813, Fax 0841-305 1805, e-mail: simon-mayr-gesellschaft@ingolstadt.de Performance Material A printed score including material for voice for Simon Mayr’s Missa in C minor recorded here is going to be edited by Klaus Zoephel and the publisher …. Thanks A special and heartfelt thanks goes to Musical Director Klaus Zoephel for transcribing Simon Mayr’s autographical manuscript into computer score. Father Lukas Helg, the music librarian at the monastery in Einsiedeln, made the originals available and patiently answered numerous questions. Dr. Iris Winkler in Venice translated Italian letters and shared her most recent research findings. Dr. Marcello Eynard in Bergamo put transcriptions of letters at our disposal. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Hotel Anker, the Bayrischen Musikfonds, the International Simon-Mayr-Society and its President Dr. Andreas Schleef, the Sparkasse Ingolstadt, the office of culture and the city archives in Ingolstadt, the group "Freunde der Musik am Münster", Mr. Michael Schmatloch, Mr. Gabriel Engert, cultural advisor of the city of Ingolstadt, for his initiative in a renewed performance of the Mayr-Masses and to all who lent their moral and practical support to making this production possible. Not only are the Klosterkirche Einsiedeln and the church Maria de Victoria in Ingolstadt closely connected through the person of Simon Mayr, but also through the artistic décor: both rooms are adorned with frescos and stucco by Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin Asam. For 30 years Mr. Edmund Schuller, together with his wife, acted as Custos and tourist guide in the Ingolstädter Asamkirche. This recording is dedicated to him and his wife. The baroque sensuousness becomes alive in Edmund Schuller’s character. Cosmas Damian may forgive us that we decided to subsequently put up a memorial for Mr. Schuller in the famous ceiling fresco, and this already during his lifetime. Page revised 26.06.03 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
