"The Little Church Around the Corner"
One East 29th Street, New York
MUSIC NOTES:
Easter VI - May 5, 2002
Today's service music is drawn from the works of Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), a composer whose name is synonymous with the music of the late eighteenth century. Haydn received intensive musical training as a chorister at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. He was dismissed from the choir when his voice changed, and supported himself precariously with odd jobs and teaching. He furthered his musical training by a rigorous program of self-instruction, gradually making himself known to influential persons in Vienna. In 1761, at the age of 29, he was taken into the service of Prince Paul Anton Esterhazy, the head of a wealthy and powerful Hungarian noble family, and a generous patron of the art of music. Haydn remained in the employ of the Esterhazy family for the next 30 years, living in residence at their splendid country estate, the palace and grounds of which had been fashioned after the French Court at Versailles; and as at Versailles, music flourished at the court of Esterhaza, resulting in a vast output of music in many different genres which it was Haydn's duty to compose.
The Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo, also known as the Kleine Orgelmesse (Little Organ Mass) was composed in 1775, and is unique among Haydn's Mass settings, most of which are elaborate, extended works requiring full orchestral resources, large choirs and operatically trained soloists. By contrast, the Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo is a concise and restrained work, commissioned by the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God (thus its name, Joannis de Deo), a religious order of lay-brothers committed to the care of the sick and dying, for use in their hospital chapel. The Brothers specified that the Mass was to be of modest length, and allowed for only one extended solo, at the Benedictus, for soprano and concertante organ. Haydn carefully followed these instructions, and in the result created a work of great charm that has endured in liturgical use much longer than his larger-scale Masses. The Kyrie opens quietly and continues with a graceful sweep that never loses touch with its text, "Lord, have mercy." The Sanctus/Benedictus is the most extended section of the work, with much interplay between the vocal soloist and the concertante organ at the Benedictus. The Agnus Dei returns to the straightforward, meditative style of the Kyrie, and the work closes as softly as it opened.
Haydn's oratorio The Creation was composed late in his career, after he had left the employ of the court of Esterhaza. It was first performed in Vienna in 1798, with resounding success. The text is based on the book of Genesis and Milton's Paradise Lost. The musical structure follows that established by the oratorios of Handel, whose influence is readily apparent in the superb chorus The Heavens are Telling. The Creation is poised between the 18th and 19th centuries: God is portrayed at once as a kind of master architect, showing the 18th-century influence of freemasonry; and the work also conveys a mood of awe before nature, portending the romanticism which pervaded the art and literature of the early 19th century.
The Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo, also known as the Kleine Orgelmesse (Little Organ Mass) was composed in 1775, and is unique among Haydn's Mass settings, most of which are elaborate, extended works requiring full orchestral resources, large choirs and operatically trained soloists. By contrast, the Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo is a concise and restrained work, commissioned by the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God (thus its name, Joannis de Deo), a religious order of lay-brothers committed to the care of the sick and dying, for use in their hospital chapel. The Brothers specified that the Mass was to be of modest length, and allowed for only one extended solo, at the Benedictus, for soprano and concertante organ. Haydn carefully followed these instructions, and in the result created a work of great charm that has endured in liturgical use much longer than his larger-scale Masses. The Kyrie opens quietly and continues with a graceful sweep that never loses touch with its text, "Lord, have mercy." The Sanctus/Benedictus is the most extended section of the work, with much interplay between the vocal soloist and the concertante organ at the Benedictus. The Agnus Dei returns to the straightforward, meditative style of the Kyrie, and the work closes as softly as it opened.
Haydn's oratorio The Creation was composed late in his career, after he had left the employ of the court of Esterhaza. It was first performed in Vienna in 1798, with resounding success. The text is based on the book of Genesis and Milton's Paradise Lost. The musical structure follows that established by the oratorios of Handel, whose influence is readily apparent in the superb chorus The Heavens are Telling. The Creation is poised between the 18th and 19th centuries: God is portrayed at once as a kind of master architect, showing the 18th-century influence of freemasonry; and the work also conveys a mood of awe before nature, portending the romanticism which pervaded the art and literature of the early 19th century.
