Joseph Haydn - Mass No. 11 in D minor, "Nelson Mass"

Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn (31 March 1732 -- 31 May 1809)
Orchestra: Collegium Musicum 90
Conductor: Richard Hickox
Soloists: Mark Padmore (tenor), Stephen Varcoe (bass), Pamela Helen Stephen (mezzo soprano), Susan Gritton (soprano)
Year of recording: 1998

Mass for soloists, chorus, organ & orchestra in D minor ("Lord Nelson"), H. 22/11, written in 1798.

00:00 - 1. Kyrie
04:29 - 2. Gloria
15:07 - 3. Credo
24:30 - 4. Sanctus
26:59 - 5. Benedictus
32:59 - 6. Agnus Dei

In the early days of August 1798, the British Admiral Lord Nelson engaged Napoleon's fleet at Aboukir Bay, near the mouth of the Nile River. Nelson's victory in what became known as the Battle of the Nile was a major breakthrough in the battle against the French. News of it traveled quickly, and Nelson became a celebrated hero.

Back at the Esterházy court, Franz Josef Haydn was putting the finishing touches to his Mass in D minor, the third of six masses he wrote over the years 1796 to 1802 to commemorate the nameday of Princess Marie Hermenegild, the wife of his patron Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy. Haydn had already taken note of the war against Napoleon in his Mass in Time of War (1796), and there are likewise allusions to the fighting in the Mass in D minor -- Haydn's only mass in a minor key -- whose original title, "Missa in angustiis", can be translated as Mass in Time of Difficulty or Anxiety. The news of Nelson's victory had probably reached Esterháza by the time of the first performance of the mass, under Haydn's direction, on 23 September 1798; in September 1800, Admiral Nelson himself visited Eisenstadt on his return trip to London. While there, he heard a performance of the D minor Mass, which by that point was firmly associated with him -- hence the nickname which has come down to us.

The atmosphere of war is evident in the opening Kyrie, especially the harshness of its trumpet and timpani fanfares.
The celebratory Gloria that follows evokes the figure of Handel, with whose music Haydn had become well acquainted during his years in London earlier in the 1790s.
A lovely, peaceful Qui tollis is at the heart of the Gloria, in which the bass soloist is supported by the chorus and gentle decoration from the organ (probably played by Haydn himself at the work's premiere).
The Credo begins traditionally with an old church melody sung polyphonically by the chorus. Then it moves into a ravishing Et incarnatus for the soprano soloist, the usual darkening of mood as the text refers to the Crucifixion, and lastly a brightening of spirit at the Et resurrexit.
A brief, restrained Sanctus follows.
The portentous Benedictus dominates the second half of the mass; the anger of the hammering of the trumpets and timpani towards its end is one of the fiercest passages in all of Haydn's music.
The mood changes with a sweetly flowing Agnus Dei for the vocal soloists, and the chorus takes over for the rousing Dona Nobis Pacem which concludes the work.