Massive

Well, two masses to be precise. Mass in D Major and Mass in B flat major by Hummel, performed by Collegium Musicum 90 led by Richard Hickox with soloist Susan Gritton featured on a bonus track, Alma Virgo. Hummel was a contemporary of Beethoven in Vienna and important to the musical life of the city at that time. A pupil of both Mozart and Salieri and recommended to the Esterhazy court by Haydn. These masses look back to those of Haydn and Mozart in style and bear comparison with them. Difficult to conceive of them being played any better either and fine recorded sound. To me the masses written at this time sound more akin to a public performance than a devotional act but no less worth listening to for that.