CD 70

Andreas Hofer Memorial Concert 1995

The  fact  that  the Tyrolean composer   Johann   Baptist Gänsbacher (1778-1844) was a worthy director of the cathedral music at St Stephens’ in Vienna is proven not least by his great Mass in B Flat Major dating from 1808 and recorded for the fi rst time on this CD. It is easy to understand that, as Gänsbacher noted in his autobiography, this mass caused quite a stir in Germany. With this work, which is novel and original in many respects, the composer, not yet thirty years old, had not only furnished proof of his remarkable talent but also immediately attained a leading position  in  the  domain  of musica sacra of his generation. A modern, stringent formal arrangement that consistently avoids any long-windedness, a lofty-minded touch throughout, and a compact handling of the instrumentation  raise  this accomplished work of sacred music far above the average kind  of  music  commonly produced  for  the  church  at the time. The altogether solid contrapuntal technique proves Gänsbacher  to  have  been  a talented pupil of Beethoven’s teacher Johann Georg Albrechtsberger. On the other hand, the often daring harmonic and melodic turns and the drive towards  modernity  of  this mass are important elements in the work of almost all of his fellow students at Georg Joseph Vogler’s school, who included Gänsbacher’s close friends Carl Maria von Weber and Giacomo Meyerbeer.

Track 7, 2:17
Mass Nr.3 in Bb
Agnus Dei

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