Franz Schubert's "German Mass" was written in 1827, his penultimate year, at the same time as Die Winterreise. As so often with songs that transcend...

Franz Schubert's "German Mass" was written in 1827, his penultimate year, at the same time as Die Winterreise. As so often with songs that transcend their texts, here too he succeeded in creating a choral hymn cycle that rises above its simple lyrical content. Each of his hymns has a distinctive lyrical tone: uplifting praise in the Gloria, fervor and devotion in the Offertorium and concluding parts, and so on. This "Viennese Mass" also expresses Schubert's movingly prescient resignation and melancholy.

The works by Rossini and Brahms take us to other realms. During the last four decades of his life Rossini wrote no more operas. We find cheerful detachment and joie de vivre in "I Gondolieri" and "La Passegiata", magical vocal quartets with virtuosic piano accompaniment - these are far from being occasional works. As we move to Brahms the mood changes: after Vienna and Italy, he evokes the romance of the North, the secret attraction of a moonlit night, autumn mists and a nostalgia for blessed days. These quartets fuse piano part and voices into a wonderfully poetic whole.