Not to be confused with Haydn’s great oratorio
Die Schöpfung,
Haydn’s
Schöpfungmesse was given its name because of the section
in the
Gloria which quotes from the duet “Graceful Consort!” The
piece was written after the great success of
The Creation in 1800, and
The
Seasons of 1801, but while it can stand among Haydn’s late works, it
simultaneously retreats somewhat from the more adventurous oratorio style he
had developed in those two works, and makes use of the newer style for solemn
masses which arose around 1800. Written after Haydn had resumed his duties as
Kapellmeister to Prince Nicolaus Esterházy, the
Missa in B flat
major has no solo arias, and follows the ‘missa solemnis’ orchestration
which traditionally included trumpets as well as strings and continuo. The choruses
are usually in homophonic, vertically arranged blocks, and the counterpoint which
occurs is restricted to fugato - in fugue style rather than composed as fully
blown fugues.
The solo voices are given a number of ensemble settings, and an airing of the
Miserere
nobis of the
Gloria, shows that the soloists are generally fine. There
is a bit more wobbly vibrato going on with the ladies than we’ve become
accustomed to in recordings which might lay claim to a more ‘authentic’ pedigree,
but the singing in the Haydn mass is generally in expressive balance with the
rest of the performance. For some reason, the
Schöpfungmesse has
received less attention than the
Nelson or the
Harmoniemesse in
the record catalogue, but there is plenty of interesting harmonic contrast to
be found here.
Probably the main USP of this disc will be the world premiere recording of Luigi
Gatti’s adaptation of the
Die Schöpfung, this time creating
a Mass in the key of A. Luigi Gatti made his name as an opera composer in Mantua,
subsequently working in Salzburg in 1783. Undated, it is surmised that this
Creation
Mass dates from the period in which Archduke Ferdinand of Tuscany temporarily
revived the fortunes of court composers after the disastrous Napoleonic Wars.
Gatti selected movements from
The Creation which matched the proportions
of the ordinary mass, and adapted the liturgical texts to suit the music. Haydn’s
orchestral score was arranged to suit the instrumental forces available in Salzburg
while maintaining the music’s structure. Salzburg’s court music was
disbanded in 1806, and this is one of the reasons for this work’s languishing
in obscurity until its revival in 2001. Another reason is probably that, with
the continuing popularity of
The Creation in its original form, this mass
would always have been something of a redundant oddity. Thus it remains, with
familiar picturesque pieces and secular passages floating out of your loudspeakers,
wedded to the Latin religious texts of the mass. Hearing something like an ‘Agnus
Dei’ to the tune of ‘In holder Anmut stehn, mit jungem Grün
geschmückt’ certainly starts out having a rather P.D.Q. Bach feel
to it, and this effect will endure most for those who know
Die Schöpfung very
well. Gatti does his adaptation well enough, but nothing can take away the fact
that this is a chimera which is has a certain historical interest, but is no
substitute for the real thing.
This Carus release is a live recording, and has something of the energy of such
an occasion. There is hardly any audience noise, and the recorded balanced is
fine, with plenty of detail in the big Frauenkirche acoustic. I’ve been
quite a fan of this label’s releases in the past and I don’t want
to be overly critical, but wouldn’t put this at the top of their ‘best
of’ list. The orchestra is good enough, and the choir sings accurately
but is a bit shouty at times. This is noticeable in the Gatti which hits some
pretty high extremes and is altogether a highly demanding choral score, but parts
of the Haydn can also be something of a bumpy choral ride, without a great deal
of space allowed for shaping and phrasing of the music. As mentioned the soloists
- particularly the females - are of the wobbly operatic variety, which I personally
don’t find all that appealing. Tenor Yves Saelens also sounds a bit hoarse
here and there. My recommendation for Haydn’s
Schöpfungmesse would
probably be Richard Hickox with Collegium Musicum on Chandos, which wins on every
front, and certainly in terms of overall subtlety. The premiere recording of
the intriguing
Schöpfungmesse by Luigi Gatti has its own value, and
collectors will know if they want to supplement their Haydn with such an offshoot.
As far as this goes, these are both serviceable performances, but I fear not
ones which will prove to become major hits.
Dominy Clements