Missa Concertata

Two luminous works for the Christmas season.
During his time in Leipzig, Bach composed the Missa brevis BWV 233. With its lavish writing and pastoral key in F major, it seems destined for Advent. This festive and concertante work unfolds with a rich and vibrant orchestration, in which horns and oboes play a prominent role. In contrast to the work of the Cantor of Leipzig, Pergolesi's Missa concertata appears as a true mirror. Through a similar key and orchestration, it reveals the Neapolitan composer's talent for choral frescoes that are both evocative and theatrical, a stark contrast to the intimacy of his famous Stabat Mater .

Missa Concertata, an Unpublished Manuscript.
By the 1730s, Pergolesi already enjoyed a solid European reputation. His Stabat Mater , of which the Lyon Municipal Library holds a manuscript version, circulated widely throughout Europe. The mass presented in the program occupies a special place in his sacred works. Sometimes referred to as the Missa Romana or the Missa di Sant'Emidio , it is preserved as an unpublished manuscript in the Michel Chomarat collection housed in the rare book collection of the Lyon Municipal Library. The Missa Concertata , which takes its name from the virtuosity of its writing, is in the form of the Missa Brevis . It is structured around the Kyrie and a Gloria developed in seven sections, in a language that is both dense and expressive. Composed for double choir and double orchestra, it is believed to have been premiered in Naples to celebrate a return to more peaceful times, shortly after the 1732 earthquake.

Le Concert de l’Hostel Dieu
Franck-Emmanuel Comte, conductor
Reynier Guererro, 1st violin

Chœur de Chambre de Namur:
Thibault Lenaerts, choir preparation;
Emmanuelle de Negri, soprano;
Logan Lopez Gonzalez, countertenor;
Jean-Denis Piette, bass-baritone