Missa in G D 167

Franz Schubert’s Mass in G major is one of the most popular settings of the mass ordinary: the charming song-like melodic writing, especially in the Kyrie and the Credo, forms a magical counterpoint to more concertante passages in the Gloria and the Sanctus. For a long time it was thought that Schubert’s final version was scored for purely string orchestra, whilst a version with wind, brass, and timpani was thought to be an expanded orchestration by his brother Ferdinand Schubert. However, since the mid-1990s it has been known that the parts for trumpets and timpani were additionally composed by Franz Schubert himself for use "ad libitum". The present edition offers this "Klosterneuburg Version”" – with trumpets and timpani ad libitum, but without Ferdinand’s wind parts – in an Urtext edition reflecting Schubert’s own intended orchestration.