An impressive continuation of the documentation ofGregor Joseph Werner's oeuvre, showing Haydn's predecessor at the Esterházycourt as a pioneer in musical development.

Gregor Joseph Werner was by no means a mere minormaster preceding Haydn - this was already impressively shown by the previous recordingsin this series. Now the newly acquired picture of him is put into even sharperfocus: Werner's symphonies and instrumental concertos composed for the princelytable have been lost, but the composer comes to the fore as a grand master ofLatin sacred music. With his strength of character and contrapuntal perfection,he proves to be not only a prerequisite and teacher for Joseph Haydn, thefather of Viennese classicism, but himself a gateway to this stylistic epoch.Werner appears to us today as the spiritual support of the rather mundane Vienneseclassicism.

The mass settings recorded here need not fear any comparisonwith Haydn's, Mozart's and Schubert's smaller and mid-scale masses. Theyconsolidate the greatest contrasts imaginable between instrumental brillianceand vocal polyphonic richness. The composer was also the last great master of Palestrina'sstile antico. The way he updated the imitation technique in the motet,which was already two hundred years old at the time, by increasing dissonancereveals a hidden power in the development of Western composition.