Schubert, Mass in G major (Second Version) [KGA:BA05583-90]

Franz Schubert composed the Mass in G major D 167 in March 1815. Only six months earlier, he made his public debut as a composer with his first Mass in F major D 105. Although no specific occasion for the composition of the second mass is known, it was most likely written for Schubert’s home parish in Lichtental (now a district of Vienna), where it was also first performed.

The original version of the Mass in G major was intended for string instruments only. Shortly afterwards, however, Schubert added trumpets and timpani ad libitum in a revised second version, which also forms the basis of this edition. The expanded instrumentation was probably intended for a festive church occasion – possibly one of the Easter days of 1815.