The Kronstorfer Messe, WAB 146, is a missa brevis composed by Anton Bruckner in 1843-1844.
History Bruckner composed the Kronstorfer Messe, WAB 146, in 1843–1844, while he was a schoolteacher's assistant in Kronstorf. This Choral-Messe in D minor for mixed choir a cappella was presumably intended for the Lenten season.U. Harten, pp. 288-289
The work, the manuscript of which was archived in the St. Florian Monastery, was premiered by Augustinus Franz Kropfreiter on 1 December 1974 in the church of the monastery.C. van Zwol, p. 710 The work is put in Band XXI/41 of the .Gesamtausgabe - Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke
Setting The work is divided into four parts: Kyrie - Adagio, D minor Sanctus - Adagio, B-flat major Benedictus - Andante, F major Agnus Dei - Adagio, F major Total duration: about 5 minutes.
This Missa brevis, also called [], exhibits relationships to Palestrina's style.J. Garrat, p. 183 The mass survives only in a fragmentary state, without Credo.J. Williamson, p. 43 The manuscript, with, on the front page, an autograph indication "Sine Gloria", contains two blank pages with an autograph indication that they were to contain a Credo in F major.
Alike the contemporaneous Asperges me in F major (WAB 4), the Agnus Dei in F major contains audacious modulations.
Note The Sanctus is re-used in a slightly modified setting for that of the next Messe für den Gründonnerstag.
Discography There are two recordings of the Mass: Jussi Kauranen, Pirkanpojat boys' choir, Tampere (Finland), Tuhansin Kielin – CD PPCD 02, edited by the choir, 1998Tuhansin Kielin (1998) - item 19: Anton Bruckner's Messe ohne Gloria und Credo Sigvards Klava, Latvian Radio Choir, Bruckner: Latin Motets – CD Ondine OD 1362, 2019
References
Sources Anton Bruckner – Sämtliche Werke, Band XXI: Kleine Kirchenmusikwerke, Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Hans Bauernfeind and Leopold Nowak (Editor), Vienna, 1984/2001 Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. , Salzburg, 1996. . James Garrat, Palestrina and the German Romantic Imagination, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004. John Williamson, The Cambridge Companion to Bruckner, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004. Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner – Leven en Werken, Uit. Thot, Bussum, NL, 2012.
External links Messe ohne Gloria und Credo / Kronstorfer Messe, d-mol WAB 146 Critical discography by Hans Roelofs
Smaller sacred works (1835–1892) Gesamtausgabe – Volume XXI Live performances of the Kronstorfer Messe: Michael Stenov with the Cantores Carmeli (13 April 2017): Anton Bruckner – Kronstorfer Messe WAB 146, etc. Repina Siyana with the Choir Aeternitas (2022): Хор Aeternitas - Kronstorfer Messe Raffaella Benori with the Ensemble vocale de' Medici (5 March 2022): A. Bruckner - Messe in D ohne Gloria und Credo – with organ colla parte John James with the Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble (3 March 2024): In Praise of Palestrina, Stanford and Bruckner – Kyrie at 1:10, Sanctus, Benedictus & Agnus Dei at 21:20