Collegium 1704: Two Zelenka Mass Settings

Many of us are familiar with the “A to Z” game, which involves assigning the last name of a composer to every letter of the alphabet. Thanks to a recent release on the Accent label, listeners are likely to have less trouble dealing with that last letter. An album of two Mass settings by Jan Dismas Zelenka was released a little over two weeks ago, and it serves up a little over an hour’s engaging listening experience.

The interior of the chapel for the Dresden court, for which Zelenka’s first mass setting (ZWV 1) was probably composed (from a Wikipedia Web page, taken from Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

This may be a bit of a jolt for those that associate a setting of the Mass ordinary with Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 232 version, which has come to be known simply as the “Mass in B minor.” Ironically, Bach not only knew Zelenka but also, according to the latter’s Wikipedia page, held him “in high esteem. Furthermore, Bach entrusted his eldest son, Wilhelm Friedemann, to copy the “Amen” movement from Zelenka’s third Magnificat setting (ZWV 108); and Bach performed it at the St. Thomas Church in Leipzig, where he was cantor. Bach, of course, composed four additional Missae breves, limited to the Kyrie and Gloria sections, while Zelenka was more productive, composing approximately twenty Mass settings.

The two Zelenka settings are (in “order of appearance”) ZWV 11 (“Missa Circumcisionis Del Nostri Jesu Christi”) and ZWV 3 (“Missa Corporis Domini”). Both of these were composed during Bach’s lifetime, but any connection between either of these pieces and Bach’s sacred music would probably be coincidental! Mind you, my experiences with BWV 232 go back to my undergraduate days; and I rarely shy away from an opportunity to listen to a full performance in either a church or a concert hall. Nevertheless, I had no trouble keeping my long-standing interest in Bach from interfering with a more recent acquaintance with Zelenka.

In that context I found myself readily drawn to Václav Luks and his leadership of Collegium 1704 and Collegium Vocale 1704. At that time Bach was based in Thuringia, providing music for Protestant churches in Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, although he tends to be better known for his work as an organist at the courts in Weimar and the composition of chamber music for the reformed court at Köthen. In spite of that rich context, most attentive listeners are likely to find both ZWV 11 and ZWV 3 refreshing experiences!