Search - Franz Joseph Haydn, Rafael Kubelik, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra :: Haydn: Missa Sanctae Caeciliae

This is Haydn's longest Mass setting--in fact it's as long as Beethoven's Missa Solemnis or Haydn's B-minor Mass, and it belongs in their august company. Like the Beethoven, this is what folks in the music biz call a cantata Mass. This means that the text is divided up into free-standing numbers: choruses, solo arias, and duets. The music stands midway between the Baroque and classical periods. You get the brilliant trumpet writing and polyphonic pyrotechnics of the Baroque period as well as a classical energy and dramatic force. Why the music isn't better known beats me, but Rafael Kubelik's energetic live performance, with a great line-up of soloist, certainly makes an excellent case for it. --David Hurwitz