Search - Franz Joseph Haydn, John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists :: Haydn: Heiligmesse; Paukenmesse

Franz Joseph Haydn, John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists
Haydn: Heiligmesse; Paukenmesse
Genre: Classical

Track Listings (23) - Disc #1
1. Kyrie
2. Gloria In Excelsis Deo
3. Gratias Agimus Tibi
4. Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus Credo
5. Credo In Unum Deum
6. Et Incarnatus Est
7. Et Resurrexit
8. Sanctus
9. Benedictus Agnus Dei
10. Agnus Dei
11. Dona Nobis Pacem
12. Kyrie Gloria
13. Gloria In Excelsis Deo
14. Qui Tollis Peccata Mundi
15. Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus Credo
16. Credo In Unum Deum
17. Et Incarnatus Est
18. Et Resurrexit
19. Sanctus
20. Benedictus Agnus Dei
21. Agnus Dei
22. Dona Nobis Pacem
23. Insanae Et Vanae Curae

CD Details

All Artists: Franz Joseph Haydn, John Eliot Gardiner, English Baroque Soloists, Angharad Gruffydd Jones, Joanne Lunn, Topi Lehtipuu
Title: Haydn: Heiligmesse; Paukenmesse
Members Wishing: 0
Total Copies: 0
Label: Philips Import
Release Date: 4/2/2003
Album Type: Import
Genre: Classical
Styles: Opera & Classical Vocal, Chamber Music, Historical Periods, Classical (c.1770-1830)
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 028947081920, 002894708192

Synopsis

Amazon.com

This pairing of the Heiligmesse and the Paukenmesse, both composed in 1796, is a fine idea. The Paukenmesse, also known as the "Mass in Time of War" was composed when the Napoleonic War was at its peak; Haydn's wild use of tympani in the Agnus Dei movement and the trumpets and drums elsewhere are a sort-of Viennese answer to the menace. The Heiligmesse also has some martial qualities (its Agnus Dei has great majesty), but it is more soulful and somehow simpler, particularly in its solo vocal writing. Both are wonderfully symphonic. Gardiner and his period-instrument band, soloists, and chorus approach both works head on, with great energy and ideal voice-instrument balance. The drama is present, but so is the piety; the introspective moments of the Heiligmesse's Gloria are given their due, even with the movement's inevitable forward propulsion. Tempi seem just right throughout. These are the versions of these masses which should be in your collection. --Robert Levine

CD Reviews

Warmly recommended

D. Jack Elliot | Omaha, Nebraska | 07/10/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First, the bad news. Heiligmesse is the weak link of this album. While certainly written to a high standard of craftsmanship, it's just one big chorus after another (save two or three movements that feature what is essentially an SSATBB chamber choir: not all that much of a contrast, in other words). Haydn wrote the Heiligmesse after his first residency at London, where he was introduced to the Handel oratorios. Haydn learned a good deal from studying Handel's masterful choral writing, and again, the Heiligmesse's choruses are excellent; but JUST choruses becomes rather monotonous. The texture, orchestration, and mood remain constant and unvaried throughout.

The good news, then, is that despite not measuring up to the other works here the Heiligmesse is still worth being acquainted with, and the Paukenmesse and the motet, "Insanae et Vanae Curae," are masterworks. Paukenmesse deserves comparison to the Mozart C minor Mass of 1781; it's that good. It contains majestic choruses as in the Heiligmesse, along with dynamic orchestral writing and intimate, moving arias. And the motet, "Insanae et Vanae Curae," a lesser-known rarity, has a tragic dramatic impact the equivalent of Mozart's D-minor piano concerto or even, perhaps, passages of Don Giovanni.

As for the performances, they are above criticism. Gardiner seems never to miss! He will be remembered as perhaps THE great conductor of his generation."