Mass in A flat major

Franz Schubert’s “Mass in A flat major”: A work that time and again occupied the composer anew, with which he, in his words, strived towards the “highest in art” – and perhaps only wished to receive a court appointment in Vienna. His efforts to present a new, individual mass led, at any rate, to unconventional solutions (and an unusual key), a renunciation of plain acclamation, a reduction of pathos in favor of an exceptionally elaborate composition, particularly the first part – a brilliant “Missa solemnis” for the ceremonious organization of the court church service and, at the same time, the public presentation of an ambitious composer’s artistic competence.