Search - Francesc Valls, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Gustav Leonhardt :: Valls: Missa Scala Aretina; Biber: Requiem

A forgotten masterpiece

04/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Most revivals on disk of music by forgotten composers are disappointing. They were forgotten for a reason. This is an exception. The Misa Scala Aretina by Valls is a work of exceptional quality, comparable to the best church music by Mozart and Bach. Good performance too.The mass is written on the 6 note scale of Guido d'Arezzo, not a very promising theme, one would have thought, but it certainly works. It also used dissonances which were regarded as unacceptable according to the conventions of the time and led to a Europe-wide controversy.Valls wrote many other masses, but only the Misa Scala Aretina remained in the repertory during the 18th Century. If his other works compare in quality to this one, it is to be hoped that they too will be revived. Valls apparently wrote a further mass on the Scala Aretina twoards the end of his life - the Misa Regalis.The Requiem by Biber is also a very pleasing work."