Harmoniemesse

The Harmoniemesse in B-flat major by Joseph Haydn, Hob. XXII:14, Novello 6,[1] was written in 1802. It was Haydn's last major work. It is because of the prominence of the winds in this mass and "the German terminology for a kind of wind ensemble, Harmonie,"[2] that this mass setting is called "Harmoniemesse" or "Wind Band Mass". Besides flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in B-flat, 2 trumpets in B-flat, the mass also calls for choir, timpani, strings, and organ, the latter supplying figured bass for most of the duration.

Harmoniemesse
Mass by Joseph Haydn
KeyB-flat major
CatalogueHob. XXII/14
Composed1802 (1802)
MovementsSix
VocalSATB choir and soloists
Instrumentalorchestra

The setting is divided into six movements.

  1. Kyrie Poco Adagio, B-flat major, 3/4
  2. Gloria Vivace assai, B-flat major, common time
    "Gratias agimus" Allegretto, E-flat major, 3/8
    "Quoniam tu solus sanctus" Allegro spiritoso, common time, B-flat major
  3. Credo Vivace, B-flat major, common time
    "Et incarnatus est" Adagio, E-flat major, 3/4
    "Et resurrexit" Vivace, B-flat major, common time
    "Et vitam venturi" Vivace, 6/8
  4. Sanctus Adagio, B-flat major, 3/4
  5. Benedictus Molto Allegro, F major, common time
    "Osanna" 3/4, B-flat major
  6. Agnus Dei Adagio, G major, 3/4
    "Dona nobis pacem" Allegro con spirito, B-flat major, cut time

The Kyrie has "the most striking 'introductory' shock in Haydn's late vocal music ... a rather long orchestral introduction ... [with] unceasing contrasts between soft and loud, and the unexpected entry of G-flat, the flat submediant, in the fifth bar."[3] The Agnus Dei makes reference both to the Adagio of Symphony No. 98 and to Mozart's Coronation Mass.[4]

The Harmoniemesse was performed at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City for the Mass of the Solemnity of Pentecost on 31 May 2009, which coincided with the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death.

Recordings
Soloists Chorus and Orchestra Conductor Label Year
Wilma Lipp, Margarita Kenney, Waldemar Kmentt, Keith Engen Chor und Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper Jonathan Sternberg Nixa 1956
Erna Spoorenberg, Helen Watts, Alexander Young, Joseph Rouleau Choir Of St. John's College, Cambridge, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields George Guest Decca 1966
Judith Blegen, Frederica von State, Kenneth Riegel, Simon Estes Westminster Choir, New York Philharmonic Leonard Bernstein Sony 1973
Gundula Janowitz, Christa Ludwig, Jess Thomas, Walter Berry Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor, Vienna Philharmonic Karl Böhm Deutsche Grammophon 1974
Barbara Martig-Tüller, Ria Bollen, Adalbert Kraus, Kurt Widmer Bachchor Mainz, Sinfonieorchester des Südwestfunks Diethard Hellmann Calig 1981
Joanne Lunn, Sara Mingardo, Topi Lehtipuu, Brindley Sherratt Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists John Eliot Gardiner Philips 2001
Mireille Asselin, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Jermy Budd, Sumner Thompson, Handel and Haydn Society Harry Christophers CORO 2019

Notes
  1. p. 265 (1974) Hugues
  2. Strimple (2008) p. 19
  3. Sisman (1997) p. 73
  4. Heartz (2008) p. 662

References
  • Heartz, Daniel (2009). Mozart, Haydn and Early Beethoven: 1781 — 1802 W. W. Norton & Co. New York.
  • Hughes, Rosemary (1974). Haydn. J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. London.
  • Larsen, Jans Peter; Feder, Georg (1997). The New Grove Haydn W. W. Norton & Co. New York.
  • Schenbeck, Lawrence (1996). Joseph Haydn and the Classical Choral Tradition. Hinshaw Music. Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
  • Sisman, Elaine Rochelle (1997). Haydn and His World. Princeton University Press. Princeton.
  • Strimple, Nick (2008). Choral music in the nineteenth century. Hal Leonard. New York.
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