Messa di Gloria

Puccini composed Messa di Gloria as his graduation work at the music institute in his native Lucca. He never published the complete manuscript, which later became the subject of a legal dispute between two publishing houses. The familiar title reflects the work’s character: its spirit is celebratory and often strikingly worldly rather than strictly liturgical. Written before the operas that would bring Puccini worldwide fame, the Mass already reveals a young composer drawn to theatrical gesture, lyrical immediacy and the expressive possibilities of the human voice.