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CHAN 0674

The Große Orgelmesse is a very individual work, quite unlike any other mass by Haydn. Unusually for a mass of this period it is set in the key of E flat major and, instead of the expected oboes, has parts for two cor anglais. This was a favourite, if occasional, tone colour of Haydn's which can be found in a number of his operas, Symphony No. 22 and his Stabat Mater. The parts in the mass are not especially soloistic but the doleful sound of the instrument provides an earnestness that pervades the whole work. Haydn's use of the organ as an occasional solo instrument gives the work its nickname and reflects a distinct tradition in Austrian church music.

'Cellensis' refers to Mariazell, a small town in the Styrian hills and, to this day, a favoured destination for pilgrims. 'Cellensis' masses were performed in Vienna at ceremonies associated with pilgrimages and this Missa Cellensis was the second by Haydn for such an occasion. Unlike the Große Orgelmesse, this work is firmly in the broad tradition of Austrian mass composition, most obviously reflected in the choice of C major, with its associated resplendent use of trumpets and timpani. The Benedictus is the oddest movement in the Missa Cellensis. It begins in a severe G minor with all the stylistic features of the baroque era: unison strings, dotted rhythms, and sequences. Its musical material derives, with some minor adjustments, from the composer's opera Il mondo della luna where it had expressed the sentiment that the course of true love does not run smooth. Here it seems to be deliberately unsettling, the hope of life in Christ being tempered by a sense of mystery and fear.