Mass in A flat major, attributed to Méhul

For two centuries, it was said, and believed, that this mass had been composed to celebrate Napoleon’s Coronation in December 1804 but that, in the end, the future emperor had preferred a work by his Italian protégé, Paisiello. Never premiered in France, the work was supposed to have mysteriously made its way into Europe: numerous sources exist, since manuscript copies have been found in cities such as Vienna and Bratislava. The truth is very different, however: the work is a forgery identified by Rita Steblin and written by a Viennese composer called Franz Xaver Kleinheinz (1765-1832). He circulated the score in the form of copies and performances of it were highly successful. This mass was written for four principal voices (SATB), chorus and orchestra. The many sequences for soloists are largely written in blocks along the lines of the responsorial model opposing soloists and chorus. The orchestra calls for pairs of woodwind, two horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings. The introductory bars of the Kyrie pass from p to f in the space of a few notes. The chorus enters solemnly, but the task of embellishing the musical line falls to the soloists, in the same vein as the spiralling scales and semiquavers of the wind instruments heard on many other occasions. The Gloria also opens with a jubilant motif on the woodwinds. The Qui tollis uses a solo clarinet to create its intimate atmosphere. The chorus engages in some unexpected modulations, while the soloists are heard on their own for the first time. The Credo, the number which sounds the most “Viennese”, begins with a motif that is highly expressive due to its successive dissonances. Recreating an intimate mood, the Sanctus is gently lulled by patterns played by the wind. The short Pleni sunt coeli forms a majestic introduction to the Hosanna fugue. In B flat major, the Benedictus seems to borrow its form from a popular romance. A repeat of the Hosanna  fugue invigorates the mood of serene languor. The Agnus Dei returns to the principal key of A flat major in a texture which could well have been written by Méhul: wind instruments harmonising with or reinforcing the voices, underpinned by pizzicati in the strings.