Versionen der Messe "Missa solemnis AZ VIII/1:*C2" von Anton Zimmermann

Amongst Anton Zimmerman's masses, Missa solemnis AZ VIII/1:*C2 belongs to those with the largest number of preserved sources. The oldest one comes from the collection of musical materials of the Church of St. James in Brno. Its notation, however, does not match a major part of other copies. Musical performances in the 18th centuries often adjusted to the needs of the individual churches and monasteries. For example, one could see changes in instrumentation and compositional structure. It is apparent that several copies of Zimmermann's Missa solemnis AZ VIII/1:*C2 have undergone such alterations. These compositionally altered versions have been found in Czech archives, primarily from Prague. The research in the present studies suggests that other, significantly younger versions from other regions draw upon the Prague sources. Their comparison to the oldest source from Brno and the analysis of the compositional style including the development of individual voices or the chosen instrumentation suggest that none of the altered versions of the mass have been composed by Anton Zimmermann. The study also presents the complications one could encounter when working with sources from the second half of the 18th century, often obtaining surprising results.