Rossini devoted the summer of 1864 to the composition of this work, twenty years after he had last produced a major composition and thirty years after his last opera. Since 1855 he had lived in retirement in Paris, composing chamber music, piano pieces and small arias, which he referred to as his “sins of old age”. These featured in frequent Saturday evening musical soirees and many of them have witty titles or poke fun at a variety of compositional clichés. In short, Rossini was composing to please himself.
The Petite Messe dates from the same period as these compositions and shares with them many of the musical characteristics, not least the chamber-sized ensemble writing and the cheerful nature of much of the music. Rossini spent a considerable amount of time and care on the manuscript and wrote the following inscriptions:
The Petite Messe Solennelle, in four parts with accompaniment of two pianos and harmonium, composed during my country vacation at Passy. Twelve singers of three sexes – men, women and castrati – will be sufficient for its execution: that is, eight for the chorus, four for the solos, a total of twelve cherubim. Dear God, forgive me the following comparison: twelve are also the Apostles celebrated in the jaw-stroke [coup de mâchoire] painted in fresco by Leonardo, called The Last Supper, who would believe it! Among your disciples are some who strike false notes!! Lord, rest assured, I swear that there will be no Judas at my supper and that mine will sing properly and con amore your praises and this little composition which is, alas, the final sin of my old age.
At the end of the manuscript is another message to God:
Dear God, there you have it, finished, this poor little mass. Is it really sacred music or is it damned music that I have created? I was born for opera buffa, as you well know! Little technique, a little heart, that is all. So may you be blessed and grant me Paradise.
The first performance took place on Sunday 14th March 1864 in a town house in Paris to a small but select audience who were overwhelmed by Rossini’s new masterpiece. The day after, it was repeated for a larger audience and the press. It was performed the following year and this performance was the last to take place during Rossini’s lifetime.
Rossini refused to have the work published. Friends urged him to orchestrate it and this he did. The first performance of the orchestrated version was heard for the first time a year after the composer’s death but critical reaction was mixed. A large part of the work’s appeal derives from the highly idiomatic keyboard parts. An uninspired orchestration transforms this charming piece into a more ordinary work. The final words are Rossini’s: ”I prefer it with the accompaniment of solo piano and harmonium, as we performed it . . . . “ There is no need to say more.