Missa Grande [Great Mass]
for soloist voices, choir and organ/basso continuo

by Marcos Portugal

Publisher Coro de Câmara de Lisboa, 2009 (Lisboa)
Language(s) Portuguese and English
Pages xl, 100 pp.
ISMN 9790900750211
Dimensions 210 × 290 mm
Weight 540 g
PDF Work excerpt

In stock.

Dated c.1782-1790, the Mass was probably commissioned by Queen D. Maria I. This is the first edition (in Portuguese and English) of one of the most paradigmatic Portuguese works from late XVIII^th and XIX^th centuries, as can be ascertained by the large number of versions found (15), as well as the extant manuscript copies (80). It was also known in Brazil, since it was sung in the Royal and Imperial Chapels of Rio de Janeiro, as well as in Minas Gerais. The musicologist Ernesto Vieira praises the work in his Diccionario Biographico de Muzicos Portuguezes:

“[...] at the time when I started to practice the art [of music] it was still sung frequently in Lisbon and was known as “Missa Grande”, is noteworthy for a long sextet in the “Domine Deus”, for two sopranos, alto, tenor and two basses, a beautiful and gracious concertante piece; the “Cum Sancto Spirito” is also a splendid two theme fugue [...].”

The present publication includes a detailed introductory essay, the description of the three sources used, as well as a critical commentary.