A historical Study of Charles Gounod's Messe Solennelle de Sainte-Cecile

Abstract

Church music has been given relatively little scholarly attention in the study of nineteenth-century music. While there is an array of mass settings that were composed by Romantic-era composers, current musicological research marginalizes them. Paris was one location where a tradition of composing new masses continued well into the nineteenth century. While best known for his works for the stage, Charles Gounod (1818-1893) was a leading French composer of sacred music and one of the most prolific sacred composers of his time. His most important liturgical composition is the Messe solennelle de Sainte-Cecile, which once enjoyed considerable international success. This thesis focuses on the history of this mass in biographical and historical context. I discuss the topics of music and religion in France from the Revolution to Gounod's time, the composer's long musical relationship with the church, the music of the Messe de Sainte-Cecile, and its reception.