Evening with Schubert

For its first concert of the 2009-10 season, The Metropolitan Chorus presented two major works of Franz Schubert, his Mass No 2 in G Major and Mass No 6 in E-Flat Major. The chorus' performance was exceptional, as were the organ and string accompaniments and solo sections performed by The Met Singers.

Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) was an Austrian composer, writing some 600 lieder (songs), 9 symphonies, liturgical music, operas, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music. He is particularly noted for his original melodic and harmonic writing.

Written in 1815, Mass No 2 in G Major (D167) was the best known of the three "shorter" mass compositions that Schubert composed between his more elaborate first and fifth masses. This second mass, commonly referred to as Schubert's Mass in G, was composed in less than a week (March 2-7), the year after his first mass had been successfully performed in Schubert's home parish.

Written in 1828, Mass No 6 in E-Flat Major (D950) was among Schubert’s most admired creations, hardly what one would expect of an ailing composer in his final year. Yet this great mass for five vocal soloists, choir, and orchestra is a bold and innovative work, inspired in its expansive form and abundant counterpoint by Ludwig van Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

The concert was held Saturday October 23 at 8 pm at Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, Virginia.