For the release of Marcel Tyberg – Masses, conductor Brian A. Schmidt shared some exclusive insights on the recording of the album. Together with South Dakota Chorale and organist Christopher Jacobson, Schmidt managed to bring the recordings to a magnificent result.
“Anticipating the Nazi movement in his region in 1943, Marcel gathered his friends in secret to share his music one last time. One friend recalled, “There was a childlike joy and tenderness in him that is only seen in great souls shortly before their return home. The tears ran down my cheeks. We all had the feeling that he will not be with us much longer.” That night Marcel entrusted his compositions to a friend — including the two Masses, his only sacred manuscripts that exist today. Only a few days later, Marcel was captured in a night raid by the Nazi Gestapo and later counted among the millions murdered at Auschwitz. His music was kept by friends and eventually ended up in Buffalo, NY where the Buffalo Philharmonic began uncovering his symphonies in 2008.”
”Tyberg’s Masses reverberate the joy of a devout man and brilliant musician. Their late-Romantic structure and harmonic composition resemble other masters like Mahler and Brucker, and their symphonic breadth encompass a vast range of human emotion. From the intimate iterations of “Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus” (Holy, holy, holy) in both Mass settings, to the majestically reverberating “Hosannas,” to the painfully beautiful soprano solo in the “Agnus Dei” of the Mass in G major.””This is simple and stunning music from a man who left this world much too soon. We are honored to share Tyberg’s music and trust you will experience the abundant hope contained in Marcel’s settings of these familiar Mass texts.”
