Mass for three solo voices, chorus and orchestra

The porosity between sacred and secular music in the second half of the nineteenth century is somewhat hard to imagine for today’s audiences. Thus Clémence de Grandval’s Mass was first performed on 27 January 1867 at the Church of St Eustache in Paris to celebrate the birthday of St Agnes, the first patron saint of the church. The following March, the composer performed it in her own salon, replacing the orchestra with a chamber ensemble. Then, in April, Pasdeloup conducted it at the Théâtre de l’Athénée. These performances were social events that attracted many aristocrats and composers, whose presence was mentioned by columnists in their reviews (at the Théâtre de l’Athénée, the work was applauded by Gounod, Bizet, Delibes and Reyer, among others). Moreover, during the secular performances, it was permissible to encore certain pieces, such as the Gratias agimus tibi (a sweet duo for soprano and mezzo-soprano), the purely instrumental Offertory (a movement added to the usual pieces of the ordinary of a liturgical mass) and the Benedictus. This Mass provides insight into what appealed to the Second Empire’s social and artistic élite: the alternation of choruses and sections for solo voices, the balance between melodic grace, the grandeur of certain tuttis (but without too many brass instruments, as Nestor Roqueplan was happy to note in Le Constitutionnel) and the severe style essential to any religious work worthy of the name (the fugue on “Cum sancto spiritu” in the Gloria). To rediscover Clémence de Grandval’s work is to immerge oneself in a period when the expression of faith went hand in hand with the display of worldly splendour.