By Maria Bappert
Special to Inside
A memorial Mass for Hans Bauer will be held at 9:15 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 2, in St. Alphonsus Church, at the corner of Lincoln, Wellington, and Southport avenues. Hans was the president of the Schubert-Lyra Chorus and an active member of the German choir of St. Alphonsus when he passed away on Dec. 25 at age 70. The German-American community of Chicago has lost a good friend, and he will be sorely missed.
Alfred Schoepko, director of the German choir at St. Alphonsus, announced that the choir will sing the “German Mass” by Franz Schubert for this occasion, as he felt that it was a very appropriate Mass. The Kyrie begins with “Wohin soll ich mich wenden, wenn Gram und Schmerz mich druecken?” (Where shall I turn when grief and pain depress me?)
So why is it called the “German Mass”? Austrian composer Franz Schubert composed this beloved Mass in 1826, just two years before his untimely death. Schubert called it the “German Mass” to distinguish it from the main body of his other more formal Latin Mass settings. The result was an Austrian folk-style Mass which incorporates all the melodic grace associated with his over 600 songs.
According to Richard Proulx, long-time director of music at Holy Name Cathedral of Chicago from 1980 to 1994, “Rome had repeatedly forbidden any use of vernacular translations in the Mass. However, Austria, as well as other countries, circumvented this prohibition through the use of strophic hymns set to devotional poetry paraphrasing and extending the Latin ritual texts.
“Michael Haydn and many others also produced such ‘folk Masses,’ but Schubert’s setting has always had pride of place and remains popular to this day. It is, in fact, the most significant and successful vernacular Mass ever written! The ‘German Mass’ was set to texts of Johann Phillip Neumann, Professor of Physics at the Vienna Polytechnical Institute. The collaboration resulted in a practical Austrian ‘folk-style’ Mass for use by the student congregation at the Institute. The original version consisted of eight movements (Mass-Songs) to be sung at the appropriate points during the Mass. Schubert added the Lord’s Prayer setting some months later.”
In 1985, Proulx’s English adaptation of the “German Mass” to ICET texts was published by G.I.A. Publications of Chicago. It used seven of the nine Mass-Songs. This updated version is being sung in many parishes throughout the United States, as well as throughout the English-speaking countries such as England, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
All are invited to attend this Memorial Mass for Hans Bauer and hear the German choir of St. Alphonsus Church sing Schubert’s “German Mass” in its original language. For more information call (773) 525-0709. |
