Messe in A - orgelfassung

César Franck’s great orchestral Mass in A major of 1861 is one of the works which the composer wrote for liturgical use at St. Clotilde in Paris, the church where he played for many years as a famous organist and organ improviser. Probably because of concerns on the part of his publisher, a few years after Franck composed his orchestral Mass he reworked it for much smaller forces: instead of orchestra, just organ, harp, cello, and double bass are required.

It was this version of the work was first published in 1872 in Paris. As well as the orchestral version (40.646/00), Carus-Verlag also publishes this much reduced version – both in the original, now rather unusual, choral scoring for soprano, tenor, and bass (40.646/50), and in a four-part scoring adapted for modern-day choirs (40.646/60).