Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Missa in angustiis (Nelson Mass), Hob. XXII:11 (1798)
Te Deum, Hob. XXIIIc:2 (1798-1800)
Felicity Lott, soprano
Carolyn Watkinson, mezzo-soprano
Maldwyn Davies, tenor
David Wilson-Johnson, bass
The English Concert Choir and Orchestra/Trevor Pinnock
rec. 1986, Henry Wood Hall, London
ARCHIV PRODUKTION 4230972 [50]
The title of Haydn’s Missa in angustiis has been translated several different ways over the years; I prefer to think of it as “Mass during anxious times”. How it came to acquire the association with Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson is something that musicologists have never quite been able to make a definitive statement on. It was composed in 1798, during Haydn’s second appointment as court composer for the Esterházy’s after previously having been retired by them for a period of 3 years (from roughly 1791 to 1794). According to the booklet notes that accompanied the original CD release, the association with Nelson may have come from the fact that Napoleon was defeated in the battle of the Nile by Nelson in August 1798. It is also possible that the music became linked with Nelson after he and Lady Hamilton visited the Esterházy’s at the Eisenstadt palace in Sept 1800, where the two men were brought into close contact. Whatever the case, this mass has been unfailingly referred to as “The Nelson Mass” for over 200 years. One would think that the music for this mass would have triumphant vein running through the composition. There are certainly moments where the music creates allusions to some sort of victory, but what is most noticeable when one encounters it, is an impression of tension or anxiety which permeates nearly every section of the score.
Trevor Pinnock made two recordings of Haydn masses for Archiv, which were among the first ones to use period instruments, bringing a new sound world to the composer’s religious music. Hearing it again after an interval of many years, I am struck by the freshness of the sound. The recording producer wisely chose to hold the sessions in the acoustically excellent Henry Wood Hall, a former church in south London rather than various other church locations which can have more reverberant acoustics. This pays dividends in terms of the clarity and detail available to the listener. The English Concert Choir is quite splendid in both the Mass and the roughly contemporaneous composition of the Te Deum. Their positioning spreads expansively across the sound stage which enables one to locate the different sections quite easily. They prove themselves to be most nimble in the agile pieces, i.e. Quoniam tu solus Sanctus of the Gloria and Aeterna fac cum Sanctis tuis in the Te Deum. They also show themselves to be perfectly up the challenge of delivering the more sensitive music of the Largo Et incarnatus est.
The soloists are a formidable group, despite the fact that only the soprano and bass get the chance to shine in the Mass. Felicity Lott’s pearly-toned soprano rides out over the opening Kyrie eleison like a flag ship in full sail and David Wilson-Johnson’s gravely lyrical rendering of Qui tollis pecata mundi wants nothing more in terms of tone or expression. Carolyn Watkinson’s wonderfully even mezzo gets a brief moment to shine in the heartfelt opening of the Agnus Dei, while Maldwyn Davies receives almost no chance to reveal his solo capabilities from the composer.
Trevor Pinnock gives a well thought out direction to the two scores. He has been able to energise the soloists, choir and orchestra which results in a masterly rendition of the score. I might have a brief quibble with his tempo for the opening of Credo which the composer marked “Allegro con spirito”. I feel he takes it at too deliberate a pace; however, he mostly impresses in conveying the various moods. There is as a wonderfully mysterious atmosphere of the Te Deum’s Te ergo quaesumus, which is in marked contrast to the breezy assurance of the rest of that piece. He creates a balance between the brass instruments and the timpani that is perfectly calculated; often not an easy task to achieve.
I auditioned this in its CD incarnation where the recording was transferred at a fairly low level. This required me to raise the volume more than usual to get the audio presence required to write this review. Downloaded versions will likely need the same adjustment to one’s equipment.
Mike Parr
