Joseph Haydn's Missa in tempore belli (Mass in time of war / Timpani Mass) in C major Hob XXII:9 with vocal soloists Jeanine De Bique, Anna Lucia Richter, Patrick Grahl and Paul Armin Edelmann, the WDR Radio Choir and the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Manfred Honeck. Recorded live at the Kölner Philharmonie on March 11, 2022.
Joseph Haydn - Missa in tempore belli (Mass in time of war / Timpani Mass) in C major Hob XXII:9
00:00:00 I. Kyrie
00:05:00 II. Gloria
00:15:36 III Credo
00:25:50 IV Sanctus
00:28:25 V. Benedictus
00:34:00 VI. Agnus Dei
Jeanine De Bique, soprano
Anna Lucia Richter, mezzo-soprano
Patrick Grahl, tenor
Paul Armin Edelmann, bass
WDR Radio Choir
Patrick Cellnik, rehearsal
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Cristian Măcelaru, conductor
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o Introduction to the work
Joseph Haydn's last symphony - No. 104 in D major - was composed in 1795, after which he occupied himself mainly with string quartets and choral compositions, of which the two oratorios "The Creation" and "The Seasons" immediately became immensely popular, while the six masses met with the fiercest opposition. Of these settings of the Catholic Ordinary, the "Missa in Tempore Belli" - under the title "Timpani Mass" - achieved the greatest, albeit rather odd, fame.
Through the use of the timpani, Haydn allowed a penetration of the disdainful worldliness into the holiest of all arts, church music. The spheres of the sublime were closed to him, according to the criticism voiced by Protestants; true piety sounded different. A renowned researcher still claimed at the end of the 19th century that the orchestral part of this mass betrays "more inspirations of the comic opera and probably also of the dance hall than those of an ecclesiastical fantasy". It is true that there is nothing of pietistic contrition in the work. The sinfulness of man is not castigated, it is - according to Catholic understanding - always already in the horizon of divine grace. Which is why, in Haydn's work, jubilation drowns out lamentation.
It was not until 1892 that a young Viennese musicologist dared to expose the prejudices about Haydn's masses that had been accepted without contradiction until then. However, even the admirers overshot the mark when they denied the tone paintings in the "Paukenmesse". They are certainly there, though more symbolic than illustrative in character. The title chosen by Haydn for the C major work is not Kriegs-Messe, but 'Messe in Kriegszeiten', which covers a much wider radius. Unlike Haydn's "Nelson Mass" in D minor from 1798, it does not deal with concrete warlike events; rather, psychological, visionary moments are decisive. The "Missa in Tempore Belli" was written as a commission for the name day of Princess Esterházy, and it was first performed in September 1796, so it is by no means directly connected with Bonaparte's advance into Styria, as is so often claimed - that did not occur until months later.
Text: Volker Tarnow