Jean Langlais * Messe Solennelle 

Dear Langlais, I understand you now. You are a genius. Thank you for teaching me what humanity is; what our small planet is in the immensity of time and space. What true prayer sounds like. It is a true honor to sing.

I'm in liverpool anglican cathedral and all 10000 pipes enjoyed playing this

Only discovered Langlais in the last half-hour. And what a discovery he is. This is majestic!

I've sung it on tour, and it's still as mindblowing hearing it as when I was a choral scholar aged 18. This time I'm not part of singing it - but I wish I was. It's a happy thing that, judging by comments, this ultra-Catholic, Orthodox-influenced piece seems to be still current in the English cathedral choir scene. It's just a piece of genius, and one that British organists and singers can and have done so well. I got slapped (in the sense of "here's something to blow your mind") with it by George Guest (RIP), with Andrew Nethsingha playing the organ. I don't think George Guest ever recorded it, but I like to think of him as characterised by this piece: distilled, beautiful, almost deniable musical-emotional violence.

That was always the highlight of the mass for me singing this as a chorister. ''Hosanna In ExCELLLLLLLsis

0:00 Kyrie 4:21 Gloria 9:58 Sanctus 11:42 Benedictus 14:35 Agnus Dei

I’ve had the privilege of both singing tenor in this piece and playing the grande orgue part in Perth, Australia. A magnificent work of art with a mix of stunningly modal, gloriously bittersweet, and obnoxiously dissonant harmony that touches my soul.

Spending my days in another COVID 19 halt looking for music I've never heard before. This is really the ticket! Can't wait to play again when I can. Thanks for the upload.

Stunning music that is rarely if never sung today in Catholic churches in Canada. The utilitarian attidude towards liturgical music has eliminated this repertoire. Our challenge now as composers is to offer music for the assembly that might be imbued with the same mysticism. Not easy but well worth while doing. In the meantime, we should listen to these great settings left by Jean Langlais and others. Happy that they might still be sung elsewhere. Beauty is essential to living, especially when praising God.

Just wonderful! Sang this with the Rochester Choral Society last night with James Norri on the organ and Scott Farrell conducting - wish it was not finished. If you get a chance to sing this with a half decent organ, DO NOT miss it!

Beautiful singing, such rich Langlais harmonies, wonderful sounds in a generous acoustic! Thank you for sharing.

The "in exceeeelllllllllllsiiiiiiissssss" bit should be a never hit those notes meme!😂😂

the high c in the sanctus was actually added during rehearsals for the first performance. Its when the choristers of that cathedral commented on it and said that it would be better with a high c. The choirmaster agreed and asked langlais if he is allowed to add it in. Langlais said yes but wasn't the happiest about it.

A fabulous work - probably my favourite Mass setting. I sang it with my church choir of the time (St Faith's, Great Crosby) in the late 1990s at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral with Ged Callacher, our Director of Music (I think he was Organ Scholar at the Cathedral at that time), with David Houlder, then Sub-Organist at the Cathedral playing. There was definitely plenty of organ on that occasion. I agree that the Gloria just feels a touch under speed for me and the top Cs were definitely the other way round on the penultimate note when we did it! I just wished that now I am a Director of Music myself that my current church choir could manage it. Such powerful spiritual music....

I remember singing this as a Chorister at Lichfield Catchedral back in the early 2000's. For some reason we would always sing this on the week of Ascension Day, and as a treat, the cathedral school paid for us all to go to Drayton Manor park for the day. I always this mass with bring suspended dozens of feet above Staffordshire on Apocalypse.

This is what organs were invented for.

Dear Lord this is brilliant

Thank you for the memory shared.

very enjoyable. Thanks for uploading. This is a seriously incredibly wonderful piece of music.

Sin duda una magnífica, nítida y expresiva interpretación; imponente órgano, voces maravillosas, felicidades ! AMDG

Very impressive.

Mi amiga Ángela

Wonderful music!

18:28 in diesem Genre eine der ergreifendsten musikalischen Auslegungen des Ringens um Frieden - wir rangen in der Kantorei wochenlang um richtige Töne und saubere Klänge bis zum erlösenden Schlußakkord.

Yes it is. Actually, it appears that it was added (on the second last note of the Sanctus) by a boy (or boys) during rehearsals with the composer, and he liked it so much that he added it. If you buy the score, it's been inked in - and both times, not just after the Sanctus.

❤💮💞🍋🌿🌸🇻🇦✝️🇻🇦💐💮🌿💞🍋❤📃🌺🌸💐🌿💮🎶✒📃📚💒🌿🧸💐🪢🎶💮💞🍋😊❤🇲🇬🫂🇲🇬🌸💐🌿💮🇨🇵🍋🎶📚📃🦁🌸🌺💒🌿💮💞🎶🌺🌸💐🙋‍♂️

Gloire à Langlais.

thank you for the upload! very helpful for my choir rehearsal :)

I first sang this in Bristol Cathedral on Easter Day in the same week as Langlais died, the conductor was a pupil of his, it was emotional, and these speeds are spot on, although it needs A LOT MORE ORGAN, long story about the top C in the sanctus...but I guess everybody knows it!!!!

I can play this. It's really hard is't it. You made a good job of it! :)

I agree it's poky in places, but I wager it was a matter of making the music work in an enormous room and that the recording producer urged Corboz to drive with the brakes on for the sake of clarity.

A fantastic piece of music admirably performed, but much too slowly, in my opinion.

This is something to strike the FEARE OF GODE into ye!

The strangst thing about this otherwise good performance are the speeds, up to 20% slower than those marked in the score. The Gloria is more funereal than glorious, despite the organist's efforts to gee it up a bit whenever she can. Is M. Corboz getting old and tired ? Or does he think he knows better than the composer ? Or do metronomes go more slowly in Switzerland ?

Was pete there he could have been a canon or something because he is dean of liverpool

but the top c was in the wrong place!

A terrible thing about this Mass is that after the "Dona nobis pacem" there is no peace and you have to go right back to the Kyrie. 1949. Hasn't stopped since then.

what’s the instrument?