Missa di Gloria; Concerto per Organo (2007)

"The short-lived Franticek Xaver Brixi (1732-71) was the most prominent of a once-famous dynasty of 18th-century Czech musicians. Among his 100-odd mass settings, this large-scale D major Missa di Gloria from the late 1750s seems to have been especially popular in his lifetime. In the tradition of the so-called Neapolitan "cantata Mass", it divides the text into self-contained sections that range eclectically from cheerful choral homophony and quasi-operatic arias to soberly contrapuntal movements like the final "Cum Sancto Spiritu" fugue. Several sections catch the ear: the second Kyrie, for instance, a vigorously worked fugue. Or the "Et in terra pax", with its bittersweet suspensions; or the lilting "Domine Deus" trio. On this evidence, Brixi was an assured craftsman and an agreeable melodist. Wolfgang Kelber draws a lively response from his youthful sounding chorus and period band (two trumpets and strings). As a digestif we get a charmingly frolicsome organ concerto." (R. Wigmore, Gramophone)