Johann Joseph Fux (1660-1741): Missa confidentiae
Johann Joseph Fux was already 55 years old when he was appointed Court Kapellmeister in Vienna. He was to hold this office for a quarter of a century, one of the most important positions for a musician of that time in the Holy Roman Empire and beyond. Fux influenced countless composers as a theoretician and pedagogue, not least through his theoretical text "Gradus ad parnassum". But his main task was to create music. From as early as 1698 he was responsible as court composer for virtually all secular and church music needs and thus for the musical representation of the court.
In his "Missa Confidentiae", composed before 1720, Fux artfully contrasts different compositional techniques: in the Kyrie a fugue with augmentation (in which the theme also appears in an enlarged form), the Amen fugue of the Gloria is laid out as a double fugue, and in between one finds finely worked aria-like solo sections with concertante instruments as well as homophonic passages. The orchestration is rather small, the extent compact, as befits the type of mass that was not intended for special holidays.
The addition of "Confidentiae" (confidence/trust in God) in the title of the mass cannot be assigned to an ecclesiastical feast, nor to the musical content of the mass. However, the various virtues played an important role in the self-image or depiction of the rulers. Fux also wrote a "Missa Fortitudinis" (bravery), "Missa Humilitatis" (humility) and "Missa Constantiae" (steadfastness), which probably reflects the excellent education that Fux, born as a farmer's son in Hirtenfeld near Graz, received at the Jesuit universities in Graz and Ingolstadt.
Dr.in Maria Helfgott
Translation: Godwin Gundacker
Constanze Geiger (1835-1890): Ave Maria
On 6 April 2025, the Ave Maria op. 4 by Constanze Geiger will be performed by the Vienna Court Music Ensemble as part of the Holy Mass. This work was already performed 7 times in the Vienna Imperial Court Chapel between 1846 and 1851. In the current performance, the accompaniment is played in a version for string orchestra based on the two violin parts available in Anton Bruckner's manuscript (WAB add 324). Constanze Geiger composed this work in 1845 at the age of 10. In 1846, after the first performance in the Imperial Court Chapel, a newspaper report wrote about the Ave Maria that it ‘certainly captivates the listener's ear more easily with its simple and childishly tender attitude than many a new church tone work written in a bombastic style.’
Raimund Lissy
Translation: Godwin Gundacker
Conductor: Jordi Casals
Organist: Jeremy Joseph
Choir: Vienna Boys Choir, Members of the Vienna State Opera men's choir, "Choralschola der Wiener Hofburgkapelle"
Orchestra: Members of the Vienna State Opera orchestra
Celebrant: Peter Schipka
Duration: 75 min (09:15- 10:30)
Ticket reservation at office@hofmusikkapelle.gv.at
Online ticket sale through Culturall:
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