Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel: 5 Masses
Catalog Number: CPO_555_366-2
Stölzel’s Lutheran Missae breves unfold as concise, vividly contrasted prayers—where supple counterpoint, attacca flow, and changing colours from intimate strings to festive trumpets create a kaleidoscope of Baroque devotion.
Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel: 5 Masses
Written for high feast days at the Gotha court, these Mass settings follow Protestant practice: rather than a full Ordinary, Stölzel concentrates his musical argument in Kyrie and Gloria, shaping works that are brief, focused, and theatrically alive. Their compact design does not mean uniformity—on the contrary, each section is given its own profile, often flowing seamlessly onward, and the whole cycle becomes a small gallery of shifting affections. Central throughout is Stölzel’s command of counterpoint, heightened by a remarkable variety of sonorities: from the clarity of an all-string texture to the warm bite of woodwinds, and finally the ceremonial brilliance of trumpets, horns, and timpani. The C-major “Missa canonica” stands apart in its conscious dialogue with Fux, illuminating the composer’s fascination with learned craft. Performed with alert vocal balance and articulate instrumental colour, the music speaks with both liturgical poise and Baroque immediacy.
Published date
2025-09-11
Number of discs
1
Channels
stereo:24:2.0
Made in Sweden since 1999. In collaboration with Textalk.
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