Bach signed his religious works very devoutly and seriously with Soli Deo Gloria. Rossini signed his parlor mass Petite Messe Solennelle just as devoutly, but a little less seriously, with: “Dear Lord, voilá, now this poor little mass is finished. Is it really sacred music [musique sacrée] or cursed music [sacrée musique]? I was born for the opera buffa, you know that! A little technology, a
… little soul: that's all. Well, be praised and grant me access to paradise. ' In music too the sacred is constantly spiced with the profane. We hear Kyrie starting with almost the same notes as Pergolesi's heartbreaking Stabat Mater. Yet the effect with Rossini is completely different, thanks to a plucking bass imitated on the piano. The Quink Vocal Ensemble, consisting of five professional singers (expanded here to eight singers), is accompanied by Leo van Doeselaar (piano, Pleyel 1858), Wyneke Jordans (piano, Pleyel 1869) and Dirk Luijmes (harmonium, Victor Mustel 1878). (HJ)more