Deutsche Messe, D.872

The Deutsche Messe (German Mass), D 872, is a hymn-cycle by Franz Schubert written in 1827. Neither a Mass nor strictly speaking German, it was published in Vienna as what it is: Gesänge zur Feier des heiligen Opfers der Messe (Hymns for the Celebration of the Holy Offering of Mass). It sets a sequence of eight non-liturgical German poems by Johann Philipp Neumann, who commissioned Schubert's music, one or more of which could be used separately during Mass. A ninth hymn, given as an appendix, treats the Lord's Prayer, bringing the length to about 35 minutes when the music is performed, as it often now is, as one big concert work. The cycle's original scoring was plain: SATB choir with organ accompaniment. Decades after Schubert died, a grander edition was published: SATB choir, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani and basso continuo. Besides the now standard misnomer Deutsche Messe, the cycle is also sometimes called the Wind Mass due to the preponderance of wind instruments in this just-listed orchestration.