Compositore/Musicista
Mozart W.A.
Titolo
Messa K317, Messa solenne celebrata da Giovanni Paolo II
Esecutori
Wiener Phil., H.von Karajan
Etichetta
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON
Numero CD
1
Prezzo €
12,60

Qualità incisione

DDD


In 1985, the celebration of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was given a special musical dimension by Herbert von Karajan, who fulfilled a long-cherished wish to express his veneration of the Pope by conducting for him Mozart's Coronation Mass. This was an exceptional event, a celebration of the liturgy closely combining prayer and art in an atmosphere of tranquil recollection.

This historic concert document was recorded live in the presence of Pope John Paul II as part of the Solemn High Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. It was originally released in 1986, and was made available again in 2004 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s assumption of the pontificate. This was not a novelty event or musical adornment of the service; the Coronation Mass is included in the Pope's celebration of the High Mass.

The Proper of the Mass was performed by the choir of the Sistine Chapel under its choirmaster, Domenico Bartolucci, who had composed — as for every papal celebration — the pieces belonging to the liturgy of the day. Along with these newly composed pieces, which are responsorial in form, there were antiphonally sung Greorgian melodies intended for the whole congregation. The Gregorian chant for the "Introit" and the "Alleluia" was taken from the Graduale Romanum. The verse of the Offertory, "O Roma felix" came from the Hymn of the First Vespers of the Apostles Peter and Paul. That year these Gregorian melodies were performed by students of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music directed by their vice-president, Fr. Bonifacio Baroffio. The five sections which constitute the Ordinary of the Mass — "Kyrie," "Gloria," "Credo," "Sanctus" and "Agnus Dei" — as set by Mozart, were conducted by Herbert von Karajan.

The Coronation Mass was composed at Salzburg in 1779 and took its name from the annual ceremony occuring on the fifth Sunday after Pentecost, which recalls the original (1751) crowning of the statue of the Virgin in the church of Maria am Plain, near Salzburg.