GOUNOD Charles.

Lot 259
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GOUNOD Charles.
MUSICAL MANUSCRIPT autographed "Charles Gounod", Première Messe Solennelle, 1839; 133 pages in-fol. (35.5 x 26.5 cm), contemporary hardback binding (spine missing). Unpublished Mass in memory of his master Lesueur, entitled Première Messe Solennelle à Grand Orchestre. This very first Mass by Gounod [CG 54] is dedicated to the memory of his master Jean-François LESUEUR, on the title page: " À la Mémoire de mon cher et Illustre Maître Le Sueur ", which also specifies that it was " performed for the first time in the church of St Eustache on the 3rd of November 1839, for the patronal feast day of the church " (Condé, pp. 547-550). This Mass had been commissioned to Gounod by Louis Dietsch, the choirmaster of St Eustache; it was composed in five months; it was Gounod himself and his mother who copied the orchestral parts, not having the means to pay a copyist, as Gounod tells us in his Mémoires d'un artiste, adding: " my Mass was certainly not a remarkable work : it showed the inexperience that could be expected of a young man still quite new to the handling of this rich palette of the orchestra, the possession of which requires such long practice; as for the value of the musical ideas considered in themselves, it was limited to a fairly accurate feeling, a fairly true instinct of conformity to the meaning of the sacred text; but the firmness of the design, the intention left much to be desired. Be that as it may, this first attempt earned me kind encouragement"... Working manuscript of the orchestral score, written in brown ink on 24-stave paper, with numerous erasures and corrections, with crossed-out bars, scratches, and revisions on collettes. The score requires five soloists (soprano, two tenors, and two basses), a five-voice choir (1st and 2nd Overtone, 1st and 2nd Tenors, Basses), and the orchestra composed of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, 2 horns, trumpets, timpani, strings, great organ, and choir organ. It includes the following numbers: No. 1 Kyrie, in G minor in 4/4, Andante con moto (22 p.); - No. 2. Gloria in Excelsis Deo in C major in 4/4, beginning Larghetto (26 p., 156 bars); - N° 3. Credo in A minor in 4/4, Tempo moderato (after "et sepultus est", Gounod noted: "with the accent of the Recitative but without altering the measure", 25 p., 184 bars); - N° 4. Offertory in E major at 3/4, Andante: " Beatus qui intelligit "....(Psalm XL); at the beginning of this piece, Gounod noted: " This word must be recited by the Bass voice, representing the priest, with the feeling of a lively faith and prophetic confidence: the Chorus will then recite with an accent of deep and recollected meditation the word which it received from the priest; it will develop it by the following verses, and will share at the end with the priest the firm but calm song of Conviction " (13 p., 151 bars); - No. 5. Sanctus in D flat major at 2, Large (12 p.); - No. 6. O Salutaris (unaccompanied) with double choir, in B flat minor at 3/2, Moderato (6 p., 69 bars); - No. 7. Agnus Dei in D minor in 2/4, Slow (11 p.); - No. 8. Domine salvum in D major in 4/4, Large (9 p.).
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