The Mass No. 2 in E minor, WAB 27 is a setting of the mass ordinary for eight-part mixed choir and fifteen wind instruments, that  Anton Bruckner composed in 1866.

History 

The bishop of Linz, Franz-Josef Rudigier, had already commissioned a Festive cantata from Bruckner in 1862 to celebrate the laying of the foundation stone of the new cathedral, the Maria-Empfängnis-Dom. In 1866, he asked Bruckner for a mass to celebrate the accomplishment of the construction of the Votive Chapel of the new cathedral. Because of a delay in completing the construction, the celebration of the dedication didn't take place until three years later, on 29 September 1869 on the Neuer Domplatz. The performers were the Liedertafel Frohsinn, the Sängerbund and Musikverein of Linz, and the wind band of the k.k. Infanterieregiment 'Ernst Ludwig, Großherzog von Hessen und bei Rhein Nr. 14'. The manuscript and the  are archived in the episcopate of Linz.

Bruckner subjected the work to far-reaching revision in 1869, 1876, and 1882. The second version of 1882 was performed on 4 October 1885 in the Alter Dom, Linz by the Liedertafel Frohsinn, the Sängerbund and Musikverein of Linz under the baton of Adalbert Schreyer.

Versions and editions 

Two versions of the mass are available:
 Version 1 of 1866, issued by Nowak in 1977
 Version 2 of 1882 
First edition (Doblinger, 1896), revised by Franz Schalk
Haas edition (1940, 1949)
Nowak edition (1959)

The second version is slightly (26-bar) longer: 753 versus 727 bars. The differences among the two versions concern as well the phrasing as the accompaniment, mainly during the Credo and the Benedictus. As for the symphonies, the first version constitutes the raw material and sounds less polished, mainly during the orchestral transitions, than the later version. The about 150 differences among the two versions are described in detail at the end of the score of the 1882 version.

Setting

The piece is composed for eight-part mixed choir and wind instruments (2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets and 3 trombones).

It is based strongly on old-church music tradition, and particularly old Gregorian style singing. The Kyrie is almost entirely made up of a cappella singing for eight voices. The Gloria ends with a fugue, as in Bruckner's other masses. In the Sanctus, Bruckner uses a theme from Palestrina's Missa Brevis.

According to the Catholic practice – as also in Bruckner’s preceding Messe für den Gründonnerstag, Missa solemnis and Mass No. 1 – the first verse of the Gloria and the Credo is not composed and has to be intoned by the priest in Gregorian mode before the choir goes on.

The setting is divided into six parts.
 Kyrie – Ruhig Sostenuto, E minor
 Gloria – Allegro, C major
 Credo – Allegro, C major
 Sanctus – Andante, G major
 Benedictus – Moderato, C major
 Agnus Dei – Andante, E minor veering to E major
Total duration: about 40 minutes

Previously Bruckner had been criticized for "simply writing symphonies with liturgical text," and although the Cecilians were not entirely happy with the inclusion of wind instruments, "Franz Xaver Witt loved it, no doubt rationalizing the use of wind instruments as necessary under the circumstances of outdoor performance for which Bruckner wrote the piece."The Mass in E minor ... is a work without parallel in either 19th- or 20th-century church music. … Even as Bishop Rudigier was laying the foundation stone for a new cathedral, Bruckner too was beginning to raise a cathedral in music.
Note
Bars 53–61 of the coda of the Christus factus est, WAB 10 is a clear quotation of the coda of the Kyrie of the Mass.

Selected discography

Version 1 (1866) 
There is only one recording of a music-school performance:
 Hans Hausreither, choir and instrumental ensemble of the BORG Wien 1 - CD: issue of the BORG, 1996. An out-of-print recording.
A live-performance by Hans-Christoph Rademann with the RIAS Choir (23 June 2013) is put in the Bruckner archive (CD - Charter Oak COR-1904).

Version 2 (1882) 
About 100 recordings of Bruckner's Mass No. 2 have been issued. The first recording of the mass was by Hermann Odermatt with the Gregorius-Chor and Orchester der Liebfrauenkirche, Zürich in 1930 (78 rpm Christschall 37-41).

Of the recordings from the LP era, Eugen Jochum's recording with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus on Deutsche Grammophon has been remastered to CD. Matthew Best's more recent recording with the Corydon Singers has been critically acclaimed. Other excellent recordings, according to Hans Roelofs, are i.a. those by Roger Norrington, Hellmut Wormsbächer, Philippe Herreweghe, Simon Halsey, Frieder Bernius, Ingemar Månsson, Helmuth Rilling, Marcus Creed, Winfried Toll and Otto Kargl.

 Eugen Jochum, choir and members of the Sinfonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, LP: DG 2530 139, 1971 – CD: DG 423 127-2 (Box set of 4 CD)
 Roger Norrington, Schütz Choir London, Philip Jones Wind Ensemble – CD: London/Decca 430365, 1973
 Hellmut Wormsbächer, Bergedorfer Kammerchor, members of the Philharmonischen Staatsorchester Hamburg, LP: Telefunken 6.41297,  (with Schubert's Deutsche Messe); reissued on CD by the choir
 Matthew Best, Corydon Singers and English Chamber Orchestra Wind Ensemble, CD: Hyperion CDA 66177, 1985 
 Simon Halsey, CBSO Wind Ensemble & Chorus, Mass in E minor (No. 2) / Motets – CD: Conifer CDCF 192, 1990
 Philippe Herreweghe, Collegium Vocale Gent & Chapelle Royale Paris, Ensemble Musique oblique, CD: Harmonia Mundi France HMC 901322, 1989
 Frieder Bernius, Kammerchor Stuttgart & Deutsche Bläserphilharmonie - CD: Sony Classical SK 48037, 1991
 Ingemar Månsson, Hägersten Motet Choir, ad hoc orchestra, Poulenc, Bruckner – CD: Caprice CAP 21420, 1991
 Helmuth Rilling, Gächinger Kantorei and Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, 1996 – CD: Hänssler 98.119 (with Te Deum and Psalm 150)
 Marcus Creed, SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart, Mitglieder des Radio-Sinfonieorchesters Stuttgart des SWR, Anton Bruckner – Mass in E minor - Motets – CD: Hänssler Classic SACD 93.199, 2007
 Winfried Toll, Camerata Vocale Freiburg, Brass players of L'arpa festante, CD: Ars Musici 232828, 2008
 Otto Kargl, Domkantorei St. Pölten, Cappella Nova Graz and Blechbläserensemble – CD: ORF CD 3174, 2013
 Stephen Cleobury, King's College Choir and Academy of St Martin in the Fields – SACD: Kings College Cambridge KGS0035, 2020

References

Sources 
Anton Bruckner, Sämtliche Werke, Kritische Gesamtausgabe – Band 13: Messe e-Moll (Fassung 1882), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag, Robert Haas (Editor), Leipzig, 1940
 Anton Bruckner: Sämtliche Werke: Band XVII: Messe e-Moll (1866-1882), Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag der Internationalen Bruckner-Gesellschaft, Leopold Nowak (Editor), Vienna
XVII/1: 1. Fassung 1866, 1977 
XVII/1: 2. Fassung 1882, 1959
 Max Auer, Anton Bruckner als Kirchenmusiker, , Regensburg, 1927, 
 Uwe Harten, Anton Bruckner. Ein Handbuch. , Salzburg, 1996. .
 Paul Hawkshaw, "Bruckner's large sacred compositions" The Cambridge Companion to Bruckner edited by John Williamson, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004
 Stephen Johnson, "Anton Bruckner, Masses Nos. 1–3" 1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die, Rye Matthew (editor), Universe, New York, 2008
 Lee T Lovallo, "Mass no. 2 in e minor" - Anton Bruckner: a Discography, Rowman & Littlefield, New York, 1991
 Nick Strimple, Choral music in the nineteenth century, Hal Leonard, New York, 2008
 Cornelis van Zwol, Anton Bruckner - Leven en Werken, Thot, Bussum (Netherlands), 2012.

External links 
 Messe Nr. 2 e-Moll, WAB 27 Critical discography by Hans Roelofs  
 
 Live performances can be heard on YouTube:
 Second version of 1882
 Michael Stenov with the Cantores Carmeli, Linz (c. 2009): Anton Bruckner Messe Nr. 2 in e-Moll. 
 Johannes Kleinjung with the Universitätschor, München (2011): Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus & Benedictus, and Agnus Dei

Masses by Anton Bruckner
1866 compositions
1869 compositions
1876 compositions
1882 compositions
Compositions in E minor