MOZART AND THE PRACTICE OF SACRED MUSIC, 1781-91 a ...

Fortunately, a number of Johann Georg Spangler’s works survive in autograph, all
apparently deriving from the collection of Aloys Fuchs. At least two of these works date from
the 1780s, and others survive in copies from this time. The largest in scale is a Vesperae de
Confessore dated 1786, scored for choir and continuo; see Figure 5.10. 138 This work is of
particular interest as the only setting of vespers known at present to have been written in
Josephinian Vienna. The Gottesdienstordnung had effectively rendered most settings invalid
by permitting only unaccompanied or organ-accompanied works, without
Instrumentalmusik. 139 The framers of the document may have envisaged organ
accompaniment as implying either accompanied chant or stile antico settings. In this light,
Spangler’s setting effects a clever compromise by respecting the instrumental restrictions of
the time but employing a “modern” style with a fully independent continuo part. An
unusual feature of Spangler’s autograph score is the presence on the last page of an
anonymous two-part piece headed “Su Su Caciatori”. This is in fact an arrangement of the
opening section in the Act II finale of Martin y Soler’s tremendously popular opera Una cosa
rara, which premiered in the same year as Spangler’s vespers were written.
What are almost certainly the original parts for the Vesperae are held today in the
Michaelerkirche’s archive. 140 They consist of single copies of the soprano and alto parts,
double copies of the tenor and bass parts, a violone part, and organo. 141 The back of the alto
part contains an interesting example of “players’ graffiti”; see Figure 5.11. Among other
138 D-B, Mus. ms. autogr. G. Spangler 2. The watermark is Tyson 36, and the papertype may be equivalent to
Tyson 36-II. The other Spangler autograph in D-B, Mus. ms. autogr. G. Spangler 1 bears a note by Fuchs
stating that he had received the manuscript from Spangler’s son.
139 “In jenen Kirchen, wo ordentlicher Chor ist, wird die Vesper täglich choraliter, in feyerlicheren Festtagen
auch mit der Orgel, ohne Instrumentalmusik gehalten...” Anon., Künftige Gottesdiensts- und Andachtsordnung
für Wien in und vor der Stadt mit Anfang des Ostersonntages 1783 (Vienna: Ghelen, 1783), 1-8.
140 A-Wstm, 231. Watermarks include Tyson 66, 83 and 101.
141 In addition, there are parts for two trumpets and timpani in the Dixit and Magnificat only. These additional
parts are however on lower-quality paper and it is uncertain whether they are contemporaneous with the other
material.
384