The approximately 20-minute work from 1952 requires two oboes, bassoons, trumpets and trombones. The organ part included in the exemplary edited score is for rehearsal purposes only and is not an alternative to the wind instruments. The mass is in a moderately modern tonal language, modally orientated and richly blessed with diatonic dissonances. The textuality of the music is particularly convincing in the transparency of the wind section, which is always cleverly orchestrated, and the orientation towards the rhythm of the language, which requires constant changes of metre. In terms of compositional technique, Hummel also presents a clever disposition of homophonic and polyphonic parts. In terms of line and ambitus, the work barely exceeds an intermediate level of difficulty, but the transitions to the chorus' entry notes must be well rehearsed. All in all, Hummel's Missa brevis (with Credo!) is a rewarding setting of the Ordinary that does justice to the liturgy.

With the concluding "Missa Brevis" op. 5 for choir and eight wind instruments, Hummel has written an original and versatile work. Traditional elements such as the intonation of the Gloria and Credo are contrasted with a moderately modern tonal language and an unconventionally dance-like Gloria movement.

For the first time, a work of modern church music was presented for discussion in Donaueschingen, a mass by the young Freiburg composer Bertold Hummel performed during the service in the Catholic town church, which builds bold contrapuntal structures on chorale motifs, modal choir and wind mixtures, hard in sound and strict in its spiritual stance. The industrious and skilful performance of the Freiburg Cathedral Choir under Professor Franz Stemmer testified to its liturgical usefulness.

PREMIERE OF A "MISSA BREVIS" IN DONAUESCHINGEN

This year, for the first time, the Donaueschingen Music Days for Contemporary Music gave contemporary musica sacra a voice and included it in its official programme. In view of church music's open-mindedness and its own forays into new musical territory and the position of church music in music in general, this has long been a necessary demand; let us hope that musica sacra nova has thus acquired a permanent place at the Donaueschingen Music Festival. - It is no longer the case that the relationship between church music and modern music is as completely interrupted as it was years ago, and since church music is not bound to historical styles, it can also glorify the liturgy in the language of its time, just as every time has its language, as the popes have repeatedly pointed out in their decrees on church music; Pope Pius XII. In his encyclical "Mediator Dei" (1947), Pope Pius XII advocated a healthy modernity and thus gave new meaning to the psalm "Sing to the Lord a new song".

The new work we are talking about here is the "Missa brevis" for mixed choir and eight wind instruments by Bertold Humrnel, written in 1951. The young Freiburg composer (b. 1925), who was a pupil of Genzmer, has here, apart from his great technical skill - which also includes an unusual mastery of the idiosyncratic but never sought-after compositional technique - demonstrated an astonishing maturity and independence of his creative power and created a valid work in which the contemporary syntax of music finds liturgical expression. In its Gregorian-inspired melodic and thematic language, the musical language is detached from any tradition of harmonic ties and far removed from any functional harmony; on the contrary, the chords - as far as we can speak of them here in the usual sense - are branched out, the horizontal and vertical lines are completely unconventional and the focus is more on coherence than on the tonal experience. This ascetic rigour also applies to the treatment of the text, which in floating declamation, also indebted to Gregorian chant , tolerates no musical interpretation whatsoever. In the musical embedding and overall structure, the homophonic and polyphonic are juxtaposed in a righteous manner. The wind parts (two oboes, two bassoons, two trumpets and two trombones) also do not strive for a fusion of sound with the vocal body, as we are accustomed to from instrumental masses, but their mixturally applied "sounds" and episodes sometimes even appear somewhat unrelated to the overall complex, so that one may not always find their task completely justified. However, this Missa, taken as a whole, is undoubtedly a work that breaks new ground in liturgical music; a work that also clearly demonstrates the great talent and implicitly, as it seems to us, the great developmental potential of the young composer, as documented in his chamber music works. Cathedral conductor Professor Franz Stemmer is known for his ability to create valuable new works in musica sacra with a sifting hand, but with determination and consistency, In this new work, too, he has identified with the composer's intentions with his cathedral choir and wind players from the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra with a convincing dedication born of conviction and has given the premiere an impressive performance in the Catholic town church of Donaueschingen, especially in terms of the overall picture, which is extremely cohesive and has a strong impact. Immediately after the Donaueschingen premiere, Cathedral Conductor Professor Stemmer also paved the way for the work in Freiburg Cathedral, where it met with a successful response.

Dr M. Ganter
 

Rhythmically and melodically, the young composer feels indebted to Gregorian chant in this work, while some of the sound seems to be orientated towards Stravinsky. This good example of usable modern church music fulfils the demands of liturgical music in all its parts.

A third specimen of modern church music was the Missa Brevis for choir and winds by Bertold Hummel (Germany). The melody of this work is inspired by Gregorian examples but in its form of expression and writing technique, the mass is completely modern and may count as a good example of contemporary church music.

In his Missa brevis for mixed choir and eight wind instruments, the young Freiburg composer Bertold Hummel uses an austere and powerful language. The melodically and rhythmically Gregorian-inspired, masterfully crafted choral writing is largely based on the contrapuntal treatment of modal themes. This is complemented by diatonic mixed sounds in the winds. The sacred text is treated succinctly, with sparing melismatics, and by renouncing all pompous sound development, Hummel's mass shows German Catholic church music a path that has turned away from all the usual sweet conventions.

Josef Häusler (from: The most uncompromising festival in Europe - On the Donaueschingen Music Festival)