Heinrich Kaminski Die Messe deutsch

“O wirre Welt!” (Oh world confounded!) This is how Heinrich Kaminski’s self-penned Kyrie text opens his a cappella Mass. Composed in 1934 as a reaction to the Nazi’s seizure of power, the work remained unfinished. Under the oppressive regime, Kaminski simply could not find the words for a German paraphrase of the Latin plea for peace on earth: “et in terra pax”. On several occasions the composer fled to Switzerland to escape Nazi brutality. His music is a cry of despair and a call for God’s mercy on the eve of the Second World War as well as a personal response to the inhumanity and godlessness of his time. Like a beacon we hear the “Gloria” in praise of God.

Although the Mass was left unfinished, it offers a complete Kyrie with a Gloria call and thus can be performed both as a protest against hatred and ignorance and, of course, a plea for love and hope.