J. Haydn: Missa in tempore belli „Paukenmesse“ (Hob. XXII: 9)

After returning from his second trip to London in 1795, Haydn composed his six late masses on behalf of Prince Nikolaus II von Esterházy. They were intended for the name day of Princess Maria Josepha Hermenegild, which was celebrated on the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, 8 September, and the following Sunday. The respective Haydn mass was performed at a high mass in the Bergkirche in Eisenstadt.

However, the case is less clear for the Paukenmesse and the Heiligmesse. Both are dated 1796 in the autograph, and the question of which was composed first has often been discussed in research since the 19th century.

According to recent research, the Paukenmesse is the second of the six late masses after the Heiligmesse. The autograph is dated ‘Eisenstadt 1796’ (unfortunately without a day or month). The actual premiere (one could also say: pre-performance) of the work took place on Boxing Day 1796 in the Piarist Church of Maria Treu in Vienna; the mass was not heard until 29 September 1797 in the Eisenstadt Bergkirche on the occasion of the princely name day celebrations.

The composer calls his work Missa in tempore belli - ‘Mass in time of war’. The historical background to the composition is the First War of Coalition, which the feudal dynasties of Europe waged against the young French Republic in 1792-97 and which turned into a highly critical phase for Austria in 1796: General Napoleon Bonaparte made disturbingly successful advances in northern Italy (even marching into Styria in 1797); Vienna was filled with fear of war.

Haydn chooses the radiant C major as the home key (in four other of the six late masses, however, he favours the somewhat more subdued B flat major as the home key). In terms of content, however, the Missa in tempore belli is naturally characterised by the intrusion of the current political situation into the liturgical structure. It is above all the Agnus Dei, with its pianissimo timpani motif and the particularly dramatic Dona nobis, in which the agitated situation resounds in the mass: the timpani motif provides a threatening and intense foundation for the haunting homophonic choral movement, probably symbolising both the French army approaching in the distance and the trembling fear of the Viennese, ‘the anxiously throbbing human heart’, as one contemporary account puts it. But traces of the anxiety and nervousness of the time can also be found outside of this movement, for example in the gloomy Benedictus in C minor, as well as in the lively, violent, often surprising instrumentation of the entire work. Haydn scored the work with 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets and timpani as well as strings and organ. A later version also includes 2 clarinets, 2 horns and a flute.

The symphonic penetration is an essential feature of the compositional texture of this mass. Haydn pays particular attention to the individual use of individual instruments: In the core piece of the Credo, the Incarnatus, two clarinets are required as a characteristic addition of colour, in the Qui tollis of the Gloria the wind section is enriched by a flute and an additional pair of horns (in A alto), a violoncello emerges as a soloist from the string section. All of this undoubtedly serves to deepen the interpretation of the text.

Just how important his masses were to Haydn can also be seen from the fact that he had them printed by Breitkopf & Härtel from 1802 without payment. The Paukenmesse was published in a first edition of 1000 copies, which was incredibly large for the time.

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Joseph Haydn was born on 31 March 1732 into a musical family living in poor circumstances in Rohrau (Lower Austria). At the age of eight, he came to St Stephen's as a choirboy. After his voice broke, he left the choir. Over the next ten years, he worked as a music teacher and repetiteur and helped out as a singer at masses on Sundays and public holidays. He became valet de chambre and accompanist to the Italian composer Nicola Porpora and lived in dreary conditions in a flat on Michaelerplatz. In 1759, at the age of 26, Haydn became music director and composer at the court of Prince Morzin, for whom he wrote his first symphonies and instrumental works. In 1761 he came to the court of the Esterházys, a very wealthy aristocratic family. There he developed his own style and experimented with the newly emerging style of Viennese Classicism.

In his younger years, Haydn mainly wrote instrumental music for the prince's table music and the concerts that took place every fortnight. He also wrote around 125 trios in ten years for the prince's instrument, the baryton. Nikolaus (Prince Miklós) Esterházy died in 1790 and his son Prince Antal had no interest in music. Despite this, Haydn remained in his service, but had the freedom to move to Vienna and travel.

During his first trip to London in 1791-1792, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Oxford University. Haydn composed his last twelve symphonies, the so-called Salomon or London Symphonies, for performances in London, which were great successes. Haydn spent the last ten years of his life in Vienna and wrote a large number of masses in the Austrian mass tradition.

Following this great success, Haydn composed The Seasons (1799-1801), which he completed at the age of 67. This work not only marked the beginning of a new century, but also the transition from objective classicism to more subjective romanticism. Haydn died peacefully on 31 May 1809 in Vienna, where many of his admirers kept vigil in front of his house.

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W. A. Mozart: Mass in C minor

The Missa solemnis in C minor (KV 139), better known as the Orphanage Mass, is one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's most remarkable early works. He composed this work at the age of just twelve, presumably on the occasion of the inauguration of the orphanage church on Rennweg in Vienna - and acted as both composer and conductor. Mozart ‘conducted this festive music as a twelve-year-old boy in the presence of the imperial court’. Although the exact occasion of its composition is not historically proven, the format and watermark of the manuscript indicate that the mass was composed around this time.

Despite his youthful age, Mozart demonstrates remarkable maturity and musical depth with this mass. It is a completed Missa solemnis, a solemn mass for festive church occasions, which follows the form of a Neapolitan cantata mass. It is characterised by the combination of choruses, arias and duets, each of which is arranged in self-contained movements. The fugue movements in the Gloria (‘Cum sancto spiritu’) and Credo (‘Et vitam venturi saeculi’) are particularly characteristic, demonstrating Mozart's compositional ambition through their unusual thematic treatment and the use of tritones and semitones.

The instrumentation is lush and colourful: in addition to four vocal soloists and the choir, there are two oboes, four trumpets, two timpani, three trombones, two violins and two violas. Particularly noteworthy is the unusual solo use of the trombones, which creates an independent, almost timid timbre, especially in the ‘Agnus Dei’.

Musically, the mass is characterised by strong contrasts between cheerful C major passages and dramatic sections in a minor key. The Kyrie, for example, opens with a painfully sighing adagio in C minor and the ‘Qui tollis’ in the Gloria interrupts the jubilant character with F minor passages, which create a sombre atmosphere with muffled trombone triplets. The musical events move between the cot and the cross: The pastoral ‘Et incarnatus est’ is reminiscent of the Christmas story, while the ‘Crucifixus’ vividly depicts the suffering of Christ. This is contrasted by the redemptive ‘Et resurrexit’ with a radiant soprano solo.

This mass already shows Mozart's later means of expression and combines the liturgical form with operatic drama. It was received with great acclaim at its premiere - an early testimony to the extraordinary talent that Mozart already possessed as a child.

W. A. Mozart: Regina coeli (KV 276)

As a 7-minute additional work, we sing the Marian antiphon ‘Regina Coeli’ by the 21-year-old W. A. Mozart. When he was working on Salzburg Cathedral, Mozart set the antiphon to music three times. He composed the last of these, ‘Regina Coeli’ (KV 276), after his return from Paris, a setting for four soloists, four-part choir and orchestra with a festive and cheerful mood.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

The youngest child and only surviving son of the Austrian composer Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus received his early musical education from his father. His musical talent was evident from the very beginning, and as a result Mozart is considered one of the greatest musical geniuses of all.

At the age of six, Wolfgang and his very talented sister "Nannerl" went on their first major tour with their father to the most important ruling courts of Europe, where they delighted audiences with virtuoso concerts on the harpsichord. This concert tour was to be followed by many more. Of all the places where Mozart gave concerts during his travels, it was Italy where he received the greatest joy and recognition.

After that followed a rather disappointing period for father and son. As Mozart grew older, his popularity waned and he initially had trouble finding work. Eventually Mozart was offered the position of court and cathedral organist by the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. At the beginning of 1781, the commissioned work, the opera Idomeneo, was premiered in Munich for the Regent of Bavaria. The success of the opera strengthened Mozart's decision to move to Vienna, where he was favorably received by the nobility.

He thus spent the last ten years of his life, often in straitened financial circumstances, in Vienna with his wife, the singer Constanze Weber. Initial success with German and Italian opera and with a large number of concerts was followed by a period of great financial difficulties. Although this development had no direct effect on Mozart's music, it eventually destroyed his health. Mozart became seriously ill and died on the morning of December 5, 1791. Mozart was buried in an ordinary tombstone-less grave in Vienna, at the St. Marx cemetery.

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