Sonntag 29 Mai: “The Twilight of the Gods”

This morning I attended Mass at the Augustinerkirche, which is the church of the Augistine Order in the Hofburg Palace complex. This church, although discussed in a bit more detail in a prior entry, provides some of the best church music in Vienna. This morning I again arrived 30 or minutes early for the service, as I wanted to sit in a pew closer to the alter than if I arrived after the crowds. My early arrival worked out well as a group was entering at the same time I arrived. My earliness was rewarded with a pew right behind where I saw the week before. The choir and orchestra rehearses the music for the service early enough that you can attend the rehearsal right before the service. This morning it was a surreal experience as I was reading a travel guide on my phone and then hear the strains of a piece of music that I thought I knew. I began to listen more intentily as the seconds passed and began lightly humming the melody I heard before being able to recognize the piece as the Ave Maria (Angelicus Dominum), which is one of my favorite choral pieces. Even though I had looked over the program, I did not notice the use of the piece as the offertory. It was a surreal experience to hear the music in this space, the reverberation made for a contemplative mood.

Michael Haydn’s Oboe mass heard today is thought to have been first performed on All Saints Day, November 1, 1777 at the Salzburg Cathedral, where Haydn was employed. An excerpt from an article by Jane Schatkin Hettrick states:

“The scoring is quite unusual. It is found in none of Haydn’s other liturgical music, including his more than thirty Masses, and it is unique in the Mass repertoire of the Salzburg court. Indeed, it is unknown in the whole body of Austrian Masses of the late eighteenth century. The orchestra consists of a wind band: four oboes, two bassoons, and three trombones, plus organ and basso continuo. There are no strings except for the cello and bass of the continuo. Its unconventional orchestra makes this Mass difficult to classify liturgically. It lacks the trumpets and drums associated with “pallium” feasts, on which the archbishop would be the celebrant. Yet oboes also belonged to that type of occasion, although not necessarily in the large number featured in this Mass.”

After the Mass I took time to walk around the city center and the area inside the ringstraße to check out what kind of shops were there, although today is a national holiday because of a feast day in the Catholic church. After a bit I decided it was bed to return to the hostel to change into my clothes for the opera I was attending that evening. My plan was to take a bit to rest and change clothes before getting something to eat and heading to the opera. My plan was sidetracked a bit and I left the hostel a bit later than I wanted to. One the wat to the opera, I decided to stop by McDonalds as a quick alternative for something to eat beforehand.

For Götterdämmerung I had purchased a more expensive seat on the front row of a box. For the first two performances I did not have seats with a good view of the actionsand I struggled to stand and look around at the stage. I was ecstatic to have this seat, as I had a wonderful view of the action on the stage, but the seat I had during Siegfried was just as good! Tonight, I decided to order a bit of food during the second intermission, a sandwich with salmon and caviar and a pistachio cake. It was delicious with a glass of the house white wine. The audience's response to the end of the cycle was amazing. The Vienna Ring Cycle 2022 is something I won't soon forget.

Steps: 22,029/ 9.4 miles.