Composer: Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Performer: James Gilchrist, Susan Gritton, Ann Murray, Stephen Varcoe
Orchestra: Collegium Musicum 90
Conductor: Richard Hickox
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Catalogue: CHAN0712
Release: 2004
Size: 282 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
01. Te Deum
Quod in orbe, Op. 88
02. Graduale: Quod quod in orbe, Op. 88
Mass in E flat major, Op. 80
03. Kyrie
04. Gloria: Gloria in excelsis Deo
05. Gloria: Qui tollis peccata mundi
06. Gloria: Quoniam tu solus sanctus
07. Gloria: Cum Sancto Spiritu
08. Credo: Credo in unum Deum
09. Credo: Et incarnatus est
10. Credo: Et resurrexit
11. Sanctus
12. Benedictus
13. Agnus Dei: Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi
14. Agnus Dei: Dona nobis pacem
The second in Richard Hickox’s Hummel Mass edition concentrates on works written soon after Hummel was appointed Konzertmeister to Prince Esterházy in 1804. Hummel was keen – the Mass was completed four months before the September deadline. In his booklet-note David Wyn Jones suggests the composer may have been trying to pre-empt his potential rival, Johann Fuchs, who was nominally in charge of church music for the prince. The result has a winning freshness. As in the first disc, Hickox captures the joy of Hummel’s inspiration, with clean attack and fine diction from chorus and soloists.
That clarity extends to the superb setting of the Te Deum, written at high speed to celebrate peace with Napoleon in 1805. Each section of the elaborate text is strikingly characterised without holding up the urgency established in the opening fanfares. The graduale Quod quod inurbe is another fine, neglected work. The Blackheath Concert Hall recording is full and clear: this is shaping up to be an outstanding series.