The Mass No. 13 in B-flat major, Hob. XXII/13, was composed by Joseph Haydn in 1801. It is known as the Schöpfungsmesse or Creation Mass because of the words "Qui tollis peccata mundi" in the Gloria, Haydn recycled music from the Adam and Eve's final duet in The Creation, a fact which scandalized Empress Maria Theresa so much that she ordered Haydn to recompose that passage for her own copy of the work. Additionally, the oft appearing motif in measure 51 of the "Gloria" from Haydn's "Schöpfungsmesse" is identical to the solo Soprano/Tenor motif in measure 13 of "Der Herr ist Groß" from Haydn's "Die Schöpfung.” (Adapted from Wikipedia.)

The Missa Brevis in D, K 194 by W.A. Mozart (b. Salzburg 1756; d. Vienna 1791) is a wonderful “brief mass” composed in August of 1774, when Mozart was 18 years old. At that time he served as a musician at the Court of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, where his father Leopold Mozart was the Deputy Kapellmeister. It is one of the younger Mozart’s nine missa brevis and is scored for chorus, soloists, and a smaller chamber orchestra. Despite the adherence to Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Graf Colloredo's strict rules of simplicity and brevity, this Mass is inventive, melodious and powerful. The listener gets a glimpse of things to come from this young composer in the complex but beautiful fugue in the Sanctus and again in the Benedictus on the text, “Hosanna in excelsis.” The poignant Agnus Dei is the most frequently presented portion of the Mass.

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Mariazell is a village in the province of Steiermark, where the Austrian national shrine, Mater Austriae, is located. The name “Mariazell” means “Mary in the cell,” a reference to the cell of Brother Magnus, a Benedictine monk who carried a lime-tree wood statue of Mary to this site in 1157 and founded a chapel there. Ailing visitors who prayed before the statue reported miraculous cures, and by the 17th century more than 300,000 pilgrims visited the shrine annually. For over 800 years, the great basilica dedicated to Our Lady at Mariazell has been a place of pilgrimage for Central and Eastern Europe. In the center of the great baroque church is the Gnadenkapelle (Chapel of Grace) with its silver altar and ancient statue of Our Lady vested in brocaded robes. On September 8, 1908, Pope Pius X travelled to Mariazell and “canonically crowned” the Great Mother Austria.

In September of 2007 Pope Benedict XVI, accompanied by 30,000 pilgrims, traveled to the basilica in the Styrian Alps to celebrate the 850th anniversary of the founding of the shrine. Joseph Haydn (b.Rohrau,1732; d.Vienna,1809) composed his Missa Cellensis in 1782, but it was probably not presented at Mariazell, since it is unlikely that the musical forces needed for its performance could be found in so remote a place. Rather, the Mass was probably initially presented in Vienna for a society that fostered pilgrimages to the shrine. The fugues that close the Gloria, Credo, and Agnus Dei are masterful examples of choral composition, which form musical segues back to the Masses of the Renaissance masters. The orchestration for this Mass, composed in the key of C major, requires strings, two oboes, two trumpets and tympani. Because of the liturgical restrictions imposed by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (r.1765-1790), Haydn did not create another Mass until 1796, when he composed the Paukenmesse (Mass No. 10 in C Major 'Missa in tempore belli', H. XXII:9) and the Heiligmesse (Mass No. 9 in B-flat Major 'Missa Sancti Bernardi von Offida', H. XXII:10), both of which are in the repertoire of the Chorale.

Anton Diabelli (1781-1858) is widely known for his contribution of the waltz tune for Beethoven’s famous Diabelli Variations, Op. 120, often considered the greatest set of variations for the keyboard. Diabelli sang in the boys’ choir in Salzburg, where he took composition lessons from Michael Haydn, Josef Haydn’s brother.  He was a monk at Raitenhaslach Abbey in Bavaria until 1803, when it was closed by the government due to secularization.  He then moved to Vienna where he became a successful music publisher and arranger.  He promoted the music of Franz Schubert, and was the first to publish Schubert’s famous Lied, “Erlkönig” in 1821.  The Pastoralmesse in F was composed in 1830.  Diabelli died in Vienna at the age of 76.

The instrumentation of this Mass is extensive: 1 flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings and organ.  

The Kyrie begins in 6/8, a typical time signature for a pastoral or rural-inspired composition.  

The Gloria movement consists of three short opening movements followed by the Gratias agimus tibi “we give you thanks” in A major. Soon after appears the d minor Qui tollis “you take away [the sins of the world]” that modulates through various keys until ending on the dominant of C major. The concluding Cum sancto spiritu “with the Holy Spirit” is a rollicking fugato section in 6/8 meter. Diabelli will use the same music of this Cum sancto spiritu fugato in the Dona nobis “grant us peace” ending section of the mass. 

 The Credo begins in a simple, pastoral style, but changes dramatically at the Et incarnatus est.  Here a solo flute representing the breath of the Holy Spirit weaves in and out of a trio of solo female voices.  The vocal trio is characteristic of the Alpine “Dreigesang,” or three voices in close harmony.  This is followed by a dramatic Crucifixus section.  The final third of the Credo resumes with the Et resurrexit.  A final, bright, Et vitam venturi alternates with soloists and chorus.

The Sanctus begins in a majestic C major with winds, brass and strings.  A buoyant Osanna follows in 6/8. The Benedictus alternates pairs of voices that eventually sing together.  

The Agnus Dei, in a slow triple meter, begins in the heroic key of Eb.  It concludes with the familiar rollicking music heard at the end of the Gloria set to the Dona nobis pacem text.  The familiar ending brings a sense of pastoral joy and ease to the listener.  Let us hope that this little-known work receives a wider audience in years to come.

The Große Orgelsolomesse was composed by Joseph Haydn (b. Rohrau 1732; d. Vienna 1809) most likely in 1770. It was titled by the composer as Missa in Honorem Beatissimae Virginis Mariae, to serve as a Mass in honor of the Blessed Mother. It is unknown for which, if any, specific Marian feast the Mass was intended. The Große Orgelsolomesse was among the earliest sacred works Haydn composed for the Esterházy court. Its nickname is derived from the virtuoso solo organ part of the Mass in the Benedictus, during which Haydn himself was known to have been at the keyboard for presentations of the Mass. The organ solo Mass genre came into vogue in the middle of the 18th century at a time when the organ increasingly assumed a solo role within orchestrated choral compositions of the Mass.

In addition to the Große Orgelsolomesse, notable organ solo Masses included W.A. Mozart’s Mass No.13 in C Major, Missa Brevis No. 8, “Organ Solo” K 259 (1776) and Joseph Haydn’s own Mass No. 7 in B-flat Major “Missa Brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo”, “Kleine Orgelsolomesse” ('Little Organ Solo Mass') (H. XXII/7) (c.1775-1778). When compared to the Kleine Orgelsolomesse, the term große refers not to the length of the organ solo part in the Benedictus, but rather to the overall length of the Mass, which for Große is 37 minutes as opposed to Kleine’s, 17 minutes – an additional 20 minutes! The Große is therefore over double the Kleine in length as well as in difficulty. There is some speculation regarding when Haydn composed his Great Organ Solo Mass. The identifying watermark used in the manuscript paper for the Mass corresponds to the watermark in the paper used in the opera Le Pescatrici (The Fisherwoman), which was known to have been composed by Haydn in 1770 for the marriage of the niece of Prince Nicholas I, Esterházy (r.1762-1790), Countess Maria Theresa Lamberg. Additionally, the score calls for two English horns, instruments that were not acquired by the Esterházy Orchestra until 1770. Auch die Verwendung des Englischhorns war eine Besonderheit, denn diese Instrumente konnten auch das tiefe Es spielen.The work is scored for Besetzung: Soloquartett, Chor, Englischhörner, Hörner, Streicher, Orgel (später zugefügt Trompeten und Pauken)soloists (SATB), choir (SATB), 2 English horns, 2 horns, 2 violins, bass (cello or double bass), 2 clarinets, timpani, and organ.

Missa Sancti Nicolai is the only early Mass of Joseph Haydn (b. Rohrau, 1732; d. Vienna, 1809) that can be directly connected to the Esterházy court. As the title suggests, it was most likely intended for the Feast of Saint Nicholas on December 6, 1772, which was also the name day of Kapellmeister Haydn’s employer Prince Nicolaus I Esterházy (r.1762–1790). After an unusually long summer and fall season at Eszterháza, the Prince’s summer palace, Nicolaus had finally agreed to allow the musicians to return to their homes in Eisenstadt in time for the Christmas season. It has been suggested that the Missa Sancti Nicolai was Haydn’s way of thanking Nicolaus, upon the return of the court to Eisenstadt. While it was an annual custom to celebrate the Prince’s name day with the presentation of a Mass in the Eisenstadt palace chapel, this seems to be one of the few times that Haydn actually composed a new Mass for the occasion. According to Austrian musicologist Otto Biba, Haydn’s Symphony No. 45 in F-Sharp Minor “Farewell” (Hob.I:45), also composed in 1772, alludes to this situation.

As the story goes, in the last movement of that symphony, Haydn subtly hinted to his patron that perhaps the Prince might allow the musicians to return home. During the final adagio each musician in turn stopped playing, snuffed out the candle on the music stand, and left the stage, so that at the end there were just two muted violins remaining, that of Haydn himself and the concertmaster. If this scenario is correct, then Haydn probably composed the Nikolaimesse rather quickly—indeed, several of the work’s features hint that time may have been of the essence. American musicologist A. Peter Brown refers to the Nikolaimesse as being a “hybrid work”, combining the elements of both the brevis and solemnis Mass styles. “As in the former, Haydn’s chorus delivers different portions of the Credo text simultaneously; the “Dona nobis pacem” reuses the music from the Kyrie (instructions in the score indicate Dona ut Kyrie – [perform the] Dona as [the] Kyrie”); and polyphony is sparsely employed.* By contrast, as in a missa solemnis, the shorter texts of the Kyrie and Agnus Dei are expansively treated.”** Though included by Brown and others in the subgenre of Christmas and Advent Masses known as missae pastorales, the Nikolaimesse is suitable for use during any season of the church year. For much of his earlier life Haydn’s energies were devoted primarily to composing orchestral and instrumental music. The Missa Sancti Nicolai is one of comparatively few choral works that he wrote before he was 50. John Bawden, editor of A Directory of Choral Music, opines that “[w]hile the St. Nicholas Mass is not on the same scale as the late Masses (it is about half the length of the Nelsonmesse), it is nevertheless quintessential Haydn in its energy, its tunefulness and, above all, its infectious joy.”

After 30 years as assistant Kapellmeister and then Kapellmeister at the Esterházy Palace, Joseph Haydn (b. Rohrau, 1732; d. Vienna, 1809) became a musical “free agent” at age 58. His patron, Prince Nikolaus I Esterházy “The Magnificent” (r.1762-1790), died and Nikolaus’ son and successor, Prince Anton Esterházy (r.1790–1794), disbanded the palace orchestra to assist in the funding of an army for the defense of the Holy Roman Empire from the emerging French Empire. Haydn, who now had no duties, opted for an “early out” and began drawing a healthy Kapellmeister “pension”, which allowed him to move to Vienna, tutor a young pupil named Ludwig van Beethoven, make two extended “tours” to England, and become wealthy with his compositions and personal appearances. In 1796 he was invited back to the Esterhazy’s service, and to a reconstituted Esterházy palace orchestra, under Anton’s successor Prince Nikolaus II Esterházy (r.1794-1833). Over the next six years Haydn composed the Heiligmesse and five other Masses to commemorate the name day (September 12, the Most Holy Name of Mary) of Princess Marie Hermengild, the wife of Nikolaus II. The six Masses in order of their composition are the Heiligmesse (1796); the Paukenmesse (1797); the Nelsonmesse (1798); the Theresienmesse (1799); the Schöpfungsmesse (1801) and the Harmoniemesse (1802). They are all in the repertory of the Chorale. These late Masses coincide with the compositions of Haydn’s late symphonies. The Heiligmesse also marks the beginning of Haydn’s new sacred compositions after a pause of some fourteen years. A hiatus caused by the severe restrictions imposed on liturgical music by the “enlightened” Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II (r.1765-1790), who was known by some as “Joseph the Sacristan”.

Haydn named the Heiligmesse in honor of Blessed Bernard of Offida, an Italian Capuchin who was beatified by Pope Pius VI in 1795. The Austrians quickly found a nickname for the Mass, calling it the Heiligmesse, which was derived from the melody of a traditional German congregational hymn, Heilig, Heilig, Heilig (Holy, Holy, Holy), sung by the tenors and altos in the Sanctus. There is very little solo or quartet work in this Mass, but the choral composition is masterful, especially the intricate fugue in the Quoniam tu solus sanctus at the end of the Gloria and the subtle Et incarnatus est in the middle of the Credo. The orchestration calls for a full complement of strings, oboes, bassoons, trumpets, timpani, and organ. The Heiligmesse is a favorite among Chorale members and is a special way to celebrate Pentecost.

(Adapted from an undated and unpublished note by Monsignor Richard J. Schuler)