Missa Dei Filii ZWV 20

The long and the short of it: Zelenka´s “Missa brevis” Jan Dismas Zelenka´s “Missa Dei Filii” is the second of three transmitted “Missae ultimae,” but consists, like other “short masses” of the 18th century, solely of a Kyrie and Gloria. Nevertheless, it is an extensive work, and the lengthy, multipartite Gloria is considered as the most impressive Gloria setting that Zelenka created in his over 20 masses. What remains to be answered is whether Zelenka had originally planned a complete mass composition. Matthias Grünerts piano vocal score is based on the critical edition of the score edited by Paul Horn in volume 100 of the Erbe deutscher Musik, in which the gaps in the musical text found in the autograph towards the end of the Gloria were cautiously supplemented. "Zelenka's artistic personality, his biography and his compositional style are utterly distinctive. His style is highly experimental. Was Zelenka really one of the greatest composers of the 18th century, or only one of the most interesting? I think that he still has several surprises for us." (Schweizerische Musikzeitung) "Zelenka's Masses - fine specimens of Baroque choral literature, some parts of which are set even more colorfully than in the corresponding compositions by Bach." (Die Welt)