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Franz LISZT (1811-1886):
Missa solemnis
zur Einweihung der Basilika in Gran
Susan Gritton _soprano_
Ingeborg Danz _alto_
Dominik Wortig _tenor_
Morten Frank Larsen _bass_
Collegium Vocale Gent
Royal Flemish Philharmonic
Philippe Herreweghe
*Graner Messe*
Even more than his virtuosic piano music or his revolutionary symphonic poems, Franz Liszt (1811-1886) viewed his religious works as being at the heart of his entire oeuvre. As early as 1834, in his essay ‘On the future of church music’, he had advocated bringing together the language and scale of church and theatre music. Liszt’s ‘Graner Messe’ from 1856, written for the dedication of the basilica in Esztergom (Gran) in his native Hungary, is a wonderful example of this successful symbiosis. Imbued with a strong sense of purpose, Liszt weaves modernity with tradition to create a massive but enormously sensitive Missa solemnis.