- Theresienmesse
"Theresienmesse" (H. 22/12) is a Mass in
B flat major written byJoseph Haydn and named after the EmpressMaria Theresa of the Two Sicilies , wife of Franz II. The empress herself was the soprano soloist at the premieres of both The Creation and The Seasons. [http://users.powernet.co.uk/rex/durufleprog.pdf Program Notes: Somerset Chamber Choir at Wells Cathedral] ] The title does not appear on the autograph score, which is labeled simply with the Latin word "Missa".Between 1796 and 1802, Haydn composed six Masses to celebrate the name-day of
Princess Maria Hermenegild (1768-1845), who was the wife of his patron Prince NikolausEsterhazy II. The Theresienmesse, written in 1799, belongs in this series. The work is thought to have been premiered on September 8, 1799 [http://www.spectrumsingers.org/archives/2000-01/nov00_notes.html John W. Ehrlich program notes] ] . The location was the Bergkirche, near the Eszterhazy family seat inEisenstadt , Austria.The Mass is scored for solo quartet, chorus, strings, two clarinets, two trumpets, timpani and organ continuo. Concerning the paucity of winds (no oboes, bassoons, horns, or flutes)
John W. Ehrlich has written::"The drastic reduction of the wind choir ... is unusual. We are indebted to [Haydn scholar Carl Maria] Brand for an explanation: a shortage of wind players at Eisenstadt in 1798 and 1799. This is why the Nelsonmesse, in its original version, also lacks winds. But Haydn has turned this lack into a virtue, the ensemble in each case imparting to the work a unique aura or personality that sets it off from its neighbors: in the Nelsonmesse the hard, metallic, fiery brilliance of D trumpets and solo organ; in the Theresienmesse the mellow glow and at times darkish hues of the B-flat instruments."
While probably not as frequently performed as its companions the "Nelson" mass or the
Missa in tempore belli , the Theresienmesse has attracted critical admiration; Ehrlich for instance refers to it as an "extraordinary work." Another commentator writes, "Haydn’s choral writing has all the variety, rhythmic energy and contrapuntal skill of a composer at the height of his powers."Notes
ee also
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List of masses by Joseph Haydn
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