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Schubert - Mass No 5 A flat major D 678
Identifier
020644
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Mass No. 5 in A flat major (D. 678)
Throughout his life, Franz Schubert's relationship to the Catholic church was one of mixed feelings. In 1825, he wrote in a letter to his parents that he never "forced [himself] to prayer". Nevertheless, he wrote almost 39 works of sacred music showing anything but cool distance. Tus his was an entirely personal faith in the spiritual world which he attempted to give voice to in his music.
He also fully recognised the source of his inspiration:
''I am composing like a god, as if it simply had to be done as it has been done''
The Mass in A flat major is among the most difficult compositions of masses Schubert has written. The demands on the choir are extraordinary, but if it finds the composer's winding paths and follows his ideas of sound to the last detail, then the result is an unrivalled and brilliant vocal work.
Schubert achieves extraordinary effects in the highly artificial refinement of the folk song, for example, and similarly in the dramatically charged opposition of simple solo song and majestic, full choir sound.