Georg Muffat: Missa in Labore Requies a 24
Le Banquet Céleste, La Guilde des Mercenaires, Damien Guillon
Château de Versailles Spectacles CVS106. 58’53

If you like your music loud and dramatic, with moments of calm, you will love this recording by Le Banquet Céleste and La Guilde des Mercenaires of Georg Muffat’s c1690 Missa in Labore Requies a 24. Muffat (1653-1704) is one of the most interesting composers of the high Baroque period, not least because of his ability to combine musical genres from many different countries. Born in Savoy, he studied during his early teens with Lully in Paris. After a period as organist at Strasbourg Cathedral, he studied law in Ingolstadt, before moving to Vienna, Prague and then Salzburg, where he worked for about 10 years (with Biber) in the court of the Prince-Archbishop. After further study in Rome, where he studied organ with Pasquini and met Corelli. he moved to Passau as Kapellmeister to the Bishosh of Passau. It was in Passau that we find the first mention of the monumental Missa in Labore Requies, Muffat’s only surviving sacred work. The score came into Haydn’s hands, passing on his death into the Esterházy archives and finally to the Budapest National Library.

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