Our final concert in our 2015 series of concerts entitled Masses
of Masses ends with a joyous blaze of wit and glory. The concert
itself takes place on the eve of St Nicholas’ Day, the patron saint
of children, so it is entirely appropriate that the St Nicholas
Mass and Toy Symphony begin the proceedings.
Haydn was one of the finest boy choristers of his generation, and
his ethereal tones echoed around St Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna
right through until his sixteenth birthday. Indeed the Master of the
Choristers at St Stephen’s suggested that Haydn become a castrato,
but his father objected and the operation never went ahead!
His writing in the two Masses presented in the concert is assured,
graceful and intense by turns, and shows complete command of both
choir and orchestra … and in the final work in the concert, he even
adds an organ soloist into the mix. The St Nicholas Mass was
to celebrate the name-day – the Feast of St Nicholas – of Haydn’s
employer, Prince Nicolaus Esterhazy, on 6 December 1772. Written for
liturgical offering rather than concert performance, Haydn had to
balance the needs of his employer (that the service not be lengthy)
with the rules of the church (that the text of the Mass be set in
its entirety). The solution was to compress the longest text, the
Credo, with different lines of the text sung simultaneously by
the four sections of the choir. Haydn’s skill as a composer ensures
that the Credo doesn’t descend into chaos, but there is
plenty of charm and humour in the work.
This is even more the case for the Mass commonly known as the
‘Great’ Organ Solo Mass (actually entitled Missa in honorem
Beatissimæ Virginis Mariæ). This Mass was composed just two
years earlier, at the very beginning of Haydn’s service to Prince
Nicolaus, for a Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It has the unusual
feature of two English horns in the orchestra and a substantial solo
rôle for the organist.
Between these two great Masses is a work that is sometimes
attributed to Haydn, but more often now attributed to Leopold
Mozart, father of the great Wolfgang himself. This very short
symphony is a sweet and dainty work for strings, organ and nine
players of toy instruments – two toy trumpets, two ratchets, two
nightingale whistles, two cuckoo calls and one toy drum! Expect some
very surprising celebrity soloists!Programme:
Northampton Bach Choir
Bach Camerata
Soprano: Rachel Bedford
Contralto: Amanda Pyke
Tenor: Stephen George
Bass: Gwion Thomas
Conductor: Lee Dunleavy
Haydn St Nicholas Mass in G, Hob. XXII:6 (35’)
Haydn (attrib.) Toy Symphony (8’)
Haydn ‘Great’ Organ Solo Mass in Eb, Hob. XXII:4 (45’) |
Previous Concert
