The C major Mass after Così fan tutte is the result of a
“parody practice” customary at that time, in which
secular musical works were given sacred texts. In this
case, an unknown editor took various numbers from
Così and made them into a cantata mass in around
1800. This mass stands out from a whole series of
similar surviving works because of its exceptional
stylistic fidelity and clever editing. The work can
be found in the archive of the abbey Rot a.d. Rot
(today the Swabian State Music Archive, University
of Tübingen). It was passed down from the hands of
the last abbot Nikolaus Betscher.
The German Mozart Orchestra was founded by
Franz Raml in 2006. It has specialized in the interpretation
of works from Viennese Classicism on period
instruments.
The Mass in C Major
based on “Così fan tutte”
The source for our performance
The Mass K. App. 235 e is an anonymous
arrangement by a musician writing
around 1800, that is, it is a parody using music
from Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte. Several
copies of this arrangement have come down
to us, including those extant in the Berlin
State Library, the Florence Conservatory and
in the Mönchsroth monastery archive, which
is today called Rot a.d. Rot. The latter is a
copy with instrumental parts in the hand of
the monastery’s last abbot, Nikolaus Betscher,
who was in close contact with Michael
Haydn and may well have been his student.
Betscher wrote numerous sacred compositions,
from Lenten songs for few voices up
to a Missa solemnis with choir, soli, orchestra
and organ.
In the quite extensive music archive of
the Rot a.d. Rot monastery, which is preserved
today in the Swabian State Music
Archive at the University of Tübingen, there
is no other work by Mozart. Of the better
known composers writing around 1800, only
Joseph and Michael Haydn are represented,
and only with a few works. The surrounding
Benedictine monasteries of Ochsenhausen
and Ottobeuren, on the other hand, contain
numerous copies of Mozart’s sacred music.
Because no further works of Betscher’s
were entered into the Rot a.d. Rot archive
after the secularization in 1803, the composition
of the Così-Mass can be dated at about
1800.
Parody in music
The technique designated as ‘parody’ has
been known from the Renaissance on. It
refers to the practice of taking secular songs
or contrapuntal compositions and replacing
their texts with sacred ones. The number
of voices, compositional techniques and/or
rhythms may also be changed. In addition
to the numerous parody masses from Dufay
to Lasso, famous examples include Hans Leo
Hassler’s German choral song Mein Gmüt ist
mir verwirret, whose upper voice became the
source of the chorale O Haupt voll Blut und
Wunden and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas
Oratorio, which – except for the role of
the evangelist and the chorales – consists of
retexted, previously existing secular cantata
movements.
Musical parody around 1800
After the end of the Baroque period, which
– in addition to parody and contrafact was
also familiar with the pasticcio, or taking
arias from different operas and putting them
together to form a “new” opera – parody was
found only rarely towards the end of the 18th
century. Even though Mozart himself was
the author of an outstanding example of this,
with his Mass in C Minor, K. 427 and the
cantata Davide penitente K. 469, this is a sole
instance of a rearrangement of a previously
existing work.
Audiences during Mozart’s life apparently
enjoyed hearing opera arias with sacred texts
in the church – e.g. as the offertory (like the
Offertory of our program “Laudibus coelum
sonet”, which was actually the soprano aria
“Deh se piacer” from La clemenza di Tito,
K. 621). In the early years of the Romantic
period, even instrumental works were texted
out of enthusiasm for Mozart – e.g. an offertory
for choir, violin, organ and strings,
K. App. B to 370 a, based on a wind serenade.
In our case, however, the Così-Mass is an arrangement
of secular to sacred vocal music in
which an abundance of the most varied and
intelligently used techniques can be found.
The arranger, whom we do not know by
name, was highly tasteful in his use of Mozart’s
musical “quarry”. This is possibly why
Abbot Nikolaus Betscher copied specifically
this arrangement and not a Don Giovannior
Magic Flute-Mass, of which there are also
examples. The character of the music selected
fits the respective Mass text very well, and
almost always corresponds to the musical
techniques customarily used in masses composed
in Mozart’s time. In the Sanctus, for
example (“Dove son” from Scene XVI, Act
1), one hears a dotted rhythm throughout, as
in the Sanctus of the Coronation Mass, followed
by a songlike Benedictus (“Secondate,
aurette amiche” from Scene IV, Act 2). The
light-footed Dona nobis (“Fortunato l’uom”
from the finale of the last act) is the kind of
spirited “last-call-audience-rouser” type of
movement often found as the last movement
of masses from the Viennese Classic.
The primary goal of the arranger was
creating a Missa Solemnis in C Major in
the form of a cantata mass. This made many
transpositions necessary, e.g. in the Kyrie (the
D Major terzettino “Soave sia il vento” from
Act 1). The Christe used circa 50 measures
from the duet “Ah guarda sorella” from Act 1.
Here, however, the section from the opera is
used which was composed for only one voice
(!). The arranger has taken this voice and
composed a second voice to accompany it,
and formally rounded out the entire section
as well. In the opera, the second vocal line
enters only afterwards, and the duet leads
into an allegro.
The instrumentation is often changed as
well: clarinets are never used, obbligato soli
for two bassoons are often given to divisi violas.
In the Benedictus, strings are added to
Mozart’s pure wind writing. The original rich
wind setting is also thinned out, for example,
in the Dona nobis, in favor of the vocal
lines.
Some of the articulation and bowings in
the arrangement are extremely different from
those used in the opera.
The Gloria uses a type of pasticcio technique.
The arranger took individual short
sections from ensembles and put them together
again anew, as they were needed to
fit the text (Scene IX and XV from Act 1).
The most amazing effect is the strategy of using
the aria “Smanie implacabili” not in the
original racing allegro agitato tempo, but in a
serene andante, to the text of Gratias agimus
tibi. In addition, the arranger has taken two
measures from Mozart’s model and put them
together as a sort of “big measure” and transposed
the whole piece from E-flat Major to F
Major.
The first 14 measures of the Gloria as well
as most of the Credo were newly composed
by our arranger. In our score, we find a total
of 42 pages by the arranger, contrasted with
91 pages by Mozart. Motivic borrowings
from Mozart’s music are often recognizable
in these newly composed sections. Sixteenthnote
triplets in the violins, for example, form
the main motive of the Credo. The arranger
took these from the Gratias agimus tibi, i.e.
Mozart’s aria model. This ensures clear motivic
homogeneity.
Conclusion
Throughout the history of sacred polyphonic
music, there were any number of attempts to
forbid entry of secular characteristics or elements
into this music, e.g. Pope Benedict
XIV’s bull “Annus qui” from 1749. From the
mid-19th century on, the Order of St. Cecilia
favored unaccompanied vocal music of
the late Renaissance, the so-called classical
vocal polyphony, in the Catholic Church;
they condemned sacred music of the Viennese
Classic as too operatic – and in general,
too profane.
Regarding the subject of “secular” or
“sacred”, Evangelical composer and Mozart
contemporary Justin Heinrich Knecht (Biberach
1752-1815) wrote in the preface to his
23rd Psalm for Soli, Choir and Orchestra (not
published in Leipzig until 1783), “I finally
come to the necessary characteristics for a composer
of church music. Some have believed that
whoever is too dry for the theater is just right
for the church. […] A composer of sacred music
must have many years of manifold experience as
well as deep and comprehensive knowledge of
theory, but above all, be full of devout religious
sensibilities (!). […] He must be a Christian
and a virtuoso in one person. Religion must give
art its hand and inspire the compositions with
its own sublime soul.”
Today, we again have the opportunity to
hear and judge arrangements like the Così-
Mass with fresh, unbiased ears. Certainly,
there may well be a problematic level in the
area of arrangements of Mozart’s works, i.e.
when a new text just doesn’t want to fit the
music, or when the musical model is so well
known in its original version that the listener
simultaneously mentally hears the original
secular text.
In my opinion, Abbot Betscher has made
a good selection, aesthetically speaking; Così
fan tutte does not have the kind of famous
arias that various other operas do, but does
have many ensembles whose structure is easily
adapted to a mass with solo voices.
The choices made by the anonymous arranger,
on the other hand, show knowledge
of the “deep and comprehensive knowledge of
[the] theory” of church music and do justice
to the religious sensibilities expected at the
time in sacred musical compositions.
March K. 408 /3
and Jupiter Symphony K. 551
According to J.G. Walther’s Musikalisches
Lexikon from 1732, a March is not only a
military piece, but “a serious, but still fresh and
heartening melody [… and] has much in common
with an Entrée.” This particularly festive
character was used, for example, by Luigi
Cherubini in his Marche religieuse, composed
for the communion of Karl X during his unction
mass. We also find marches in Handel
oratorios and orchestral works; they were earlier
also written purely for the organ, and can
be found, for example, in the Ochsenhausen
organ book from 1735. The heyday of the
organ march is 19th century Italy with composers
such as Giuseppe Gherardeschi, Padre
Davide da Bergamo or Vincenzo Petrali. But
processional marches are still well loved today
in rural areas of Southern Germany on
Corpus Christi Day.
The occasion for which Mozart wrote his
March K. 408/3 is unknown. Because it has
come down to us as an individual work, and
not in context, e.g. in an opera, it serves here
as a festive opening to the Mass.
The last of Mozart’s 41 symphonies, the
Great C Major Symphony, later named the
“Jupiter”, is considered to be the apex of Mozart’s
symphonic work along with the symphonies
in E-flat Major K. 543 and G Minor
K. 550. All three were written in 1788.
Absolute beauty, classical balance of
themes and supreme contrapuntal technique
are combined in these works with emotionality
and structures of utmost clarity.
While the first movement has the character
of an overture, the second movement,
“Cantabile” has almost an early Romantic
flair with its muted strings. The Menuett is
unsurpassed in formal clarity and is characterized
by unexpected dynamic changes. The
last movement – a fusion of sonata form and
fugue as Mozart already used in his string
quartets – almost sounds, with its compressed
compositional density, like the definitive
close of two epochs that were decisive
for Mozart’s life: the baroque and the classic.
Franz Raml
Translation: Elizabeth Gahbler
The interpreters
German Mozart Orchestra
The German Mozart Orchestra is an international
symphony orchestra that
performs on period instruments. It was
founded by its leader Franz Raml in 2006 in
order to perform operas, symphonies, concertos
and sacred music from Haydn, Mozart
and Beethoven as well as on into works of the
early Romantic.
Its debut CD with Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony
and the premiere recording of the Così
fan tutte-Mass is appearing in 2008 on the
OehmsClassics label. The German Mozart
Orchestra toured with this program in South
Tirol, Italy and Upper Swabia during the
2006 Pentecost season.
Programs with music of the late Renaissance
and Baroque continue to be performed
by the Hassler Consort under the direction
of Franz Raml. Numerous CDs and radio
recordings document this ensemble’s work.
Franz Raml
Franz Raml was born in 1964 in Straubing,
Germany. After completing secondary
school, he studied Catholic Sacred Music
and organ at the Detmold and Munich
Academies of Music.
As a scholarship recipient of the Studienstiftung
des Deutschen Volkes, he then
studied for three years with Ton Koopman
in Amsterdam, completing his years there in
1990 with a degree in baroque organ at the
Royal Conservatory in Den Haag.
In addition to his activities as a conductor,
he concertizes as an organist and harpsichordist
as well as accompanying on the
pianoforte. Franz Raml also lectures and
gives courses as an organist and conductor on
historical performance practice. In 1998, he
was awarded the Special Prize of the International
Lake Constance Conference. In 2002,
the Bavarian Radio Broadcasting Corporation
did a portrait of him. In 2003, he was
appointed head of the international Organ
Academy of Upper Swabia.
Siri Karoline Thornhill
Siri Karoline Thornhill, a Norwegian soprano
born in England, began her vocal
studies in her home city of Stavanger, Norway.
Scholarships from Norway enabled her
to continue in Den Haag with such teachers
as Diane Forlano.
Her active concert and opera activities at
home and abroad include repertoire ranging
from early music to that of the 21st century.
She has performed as soloist under the direction
of Phillip Herreweghe, Ivor Bolton,
Thomas Hengelbrock, Peter Neumann,
Michael Schneider, Winfried Toll, Andreas
Spering, Phillip Pickett at international festivals
including in Göttingen, Karlsruhe,
Halle, Brühl, Berlin, Lucerne, Amsterdam
and Vienna.
Ursula Eittinger
Ursula Eittinger was born in Ingolstadt,
Germany. She began her vocal studies
at the Detmold Academy of Music, completing
them with excellence in 1990.
She regularly sings at international festivals,
including the Schleswig-Holstein Festival,
the Proms in London, the Kissinger
Kultursommer, the international Early Music
Festival in Cracow and at the Lake Constance
Festival (Bach program with the Hassler
Consort).
In addition to her concert activities, Ursula
Eittinger also sings on the opera stage
(incl. in Ulm, Bregenz, Basel and the Hamburg
State Opera). She is a regular guest
in the Freiburg, Kiel and Dortmund opera
houses.
Hubert Nettinger
Hubert Nettinger was born in Landshut,
Germany. He was a member of the Regensburg
Domspatzen as a boy and had his
first vocal training with Richard Brünner. He
later studied privately with Peter Wetzler.
In 1994, he was asked to join the internationally
renowned vocal ensemble “Die
Singphoniker”. Parallel to his work with this
ensemble, he is in demand as a soloist and
interpreter of sacred repertoire.
As a student of Christoph Prégardien,
Hubert Nettinger has also made a name for
himself as a Lied singer; numerous concert
tours have taken him to France, Belgium,
Austria, Italy, Switzerland and the USA. In
1997, he was a prizewinner at the international
competition of the Konzertgesellschaft
Munich as a “lyric tenor”; in 1998 he was
awarded the prize of the Bavarian Volksstiftung.
Stefan Geyer
Stefan Geyer was born in Ulm, Germany.
He studied voice at the Karlsruhe Academy
of Music with Prof. Kern and in the Lied
classes of Mitsuko Shirai and Hartmut Höll.
In 1994/95 he was one of Dietrich Fischer-
Dieskau’s master-class students in Berlin. In
1992, Stefan Geyer won the international
“Franz Schubert and the Music of the 20th
Century” competition in Graz, along with
his piano accompanist Heike Dorothée Allardt.
He was also awarded prizes at the
“Meistersinger Competition” in Nuremberg,
the international “Robert Schumann Competition”
in Zwickau and the international
“Hugo Wolf Competition” in Stuttgart.
Stefan Geyer is equally in demand as a
Lied interpreter and oratorio singer. Concert
engagements have taken him to such venues
as the Festival van Vlaanderen in Bruges, the
Telemann Festival in Madgeburg, Early Music
Festival Stuttgart and Festa da Musica in
Lisbon. Radio and television recordings as
well as CD productions, e.g. with Musica
Antiqua Köln under Reinhard Goebel, document
his work. He currently holds a vocal
teaching post at the Karlsruhe Music Academy.