Messa per Rossini
The Messa per Rossini is a Requiem mass, which resulted from a joint effort of thirteen composers.
Shortly after Gioacchino Rossini's death in 1868, Giuseppe Verdi invited the twelve most eminent Italian composers of the time to contribute to a funeral mass for Rossini. The premiere of the mass was meant to take place on the first anniversary of Rossini's death on November 13 1869 in Bologna. The composition was finished by the summer of 1869, yet the performance had to be cancelled due to temperamental and political wrangling. The manuscript subsequently fell into oblivion.
Giuseppe Verdi adopted his own contribution, the concluding Libera me, in revised form as origin for composing his own Messa da Requiem.
The complete Messa per Rossini was discovered by American musicologist David Rosen in 1970 and premiered in 1988 by the Gächinger Kantorei conducted by Helmuth Rilling at the European Music Festival in Stuttgart. The first performance in the United States took place one year later. The opus has subsequently been recorded on CD. The first performance in the United Kingdom was given in 2003 at the Royal Academy of Music (London) by the Trinity Chorale and Trinity Orchestra, conducted by John Wyatt (Director of Music, Aldenham School). As the orchestral, vocal parts and full score have never been published, copies of the hand-written manuscript scores used in this performance were loaned to the performance director, Dr Stewart Brodie, by Casa Ricordi (Verdi's music publisher) in Milan.
Scoring
- soloists: soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass
- mixed chorus (4 to 6 voices)
- orchestra: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 4 bassoone, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, ophicleide, 4 timpani, bass drum, cymbals, tam-tam, organ, strings (including divisi and solo)
Structure of the work and contributors
| Composer | Section | Movement | Setting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Buzzolla (1815 - 1871) |
I. Introitus | Requiem e Kyrie | chorus |
| Antonio Bazzini (1818 - 1897) |
II. Sequentia | 1. Dies Irae | chorus |
| Carlo Pedrotti (1817 - 1893) |
2. Tuba mirum | solo (baritone) and chorus | |
| Antonio Cagnoni (1828 - 1896) |
3. Quid sum miser | duet: soprano, alto | |
| Federico Ricci (1809 - 1877) |
4. Recordare Jesu | quartet: soprano, alto, baritone, bass | |
| Alessandro Nini (1805 - 1880) |
5. Ingemisco | solo (tenor) and chorus | |
| Raimondo Boucheron (1800 - 1876) |
6. Confutatis Oro supplex |
solo (bass) and chorus | |
| Carlo Coccia (1782 - 1873) |
7. Lacrimosa Amen |
A Capella chorus and chorus | |
| Gaetano Gaspari (1808 - 1881) |
III. Offertorium | Domine Jesu Quam olim Abrahae Hostias Quam olim Abrahae |
quartet (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) and chorus |
| Pietro Platania (1828 - 1907) |
IV. Sanctus | Sanctus Hosanna Benedictus Hosanna |
solo (soprano) and chorus |
| Lauro Rossi (1810 - 1885) |
V. Agnus Dei | Agnus Dei | solo (alto) |
| Teodulo Mabellini (1817 - 1897) |
VI. Communio | Lux aeterna | trio: tenor, baritone, bass |
| Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901) |
VII. Responsorium | Libera me Dies Irae Requiem aeternam Libera me |
solo (soprano) and chorus |