St. Cecilia Mass

At 37, Charles Gounod writes his "St. Cecilia Mass" and, as the name suggests it, dedicates it to Saint-Cecilia, the Patroness of sacred music. In his composition, Gounod tends to combine ancient Roman simplicity with operatic pomp in an enormously colorful instrumentation. In opposition to this, is the theme, reminiscent of Gregorian melody, with which the Kyrie is framed, the almost entirely homophonic choral movements, the
strikingly simple harmonies and the moderate tempi, geared towards a large reverberation and church space.

The premiere took place on November 22, 1855, the anniversary of St. Cecilia, in St-Eustache de Paris. The
composer present, Camille Saint-Saëns later wrote: Present at the premiere, the composer Camille Saint- Saëns
wrote the following: "The performance of the Cecilia Mass evoked a kind of daze. This simplicity, this grandeur, this pure light that
spread over the musical world like a breaking dawn, amazed people: one felt that a genius was at work... radiant rays emanated from this mass ... at first one was dazzled, then intoxicated and finally overwhelmed."

Conductor: Jan S. Bechtold

Information for participants:

The festival is opened to both solists and choirs. The participants should rehearse Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass beforehand.
Please bring your own choral scores or piano reductions for the “St. Cecilia Mass”. Any edition can be used. However, the musical instructions refer to the Hieber edition.

Dress code:
Ladies are kindly asked to wear a black outfit black with a colorful accessory (scarf or similar).
Gentlemen should wear a black suit, a white shirt and a colorful tie.
Please feel free to bring a coat If the weather doesn’t play along.

Registration: 
We can accept up to 150 singers respectively a maximum of 50 sopranos, 50 altos, 25 tenors and 25 basses (first come - first served principle).
We reserve the right to only accept registrations for certain voice groups if certain groups are already fully booked.

As per: August 2023.
Subject to change.