Messe Solennelle

Sacred works occupy a large part of Charles Gounod’s oeuvre. It was the Messe solennelle en l’honneur de Sainte Cécile that established his fame as a church composer. Its melodic invention and effective handling of the orchestra reveal a close proximity to opera.

This Urtext edition is based not only on the original print of 1856 but also on copyists’ manuscripts and autograph sources. Rounding off this well-researched Urtext edition are an informative Introduction and a detailed Critical Commentary. The edition is being published to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Gounod’s birth.