Haydn - Paukenmesse: This setting of the mass by Joseph Haydn (Missa in tempore belli - Mass in time of War) is known as the Paukenmesse (due to the dramatic use of timpani).
Haydn was a deeply religious man, who appended the words “Praise be to God” at the end of every completed score. Composed at Eisenstadt in August 1796, at the time of Austria’s general mobilisation into war. Four years into the European war that followed the French Revolution, Austrian troops were doing badly against the French in Italy and Germany, and Austria feared invasion.
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Haydn - Te Deum: This magnificent choral drama in three parts was a commission from Empress Marie Therese, the wife of Franz I of Austria. Haydn was a frequent visitor to the imperial palace in Vienna. The Empress had a good voice; Haydn once accompanied her on a private performance of the soprano part of The Creation. The Empress repeatedly used to ask Haydn for some specially-composed church music, but Prince Esterhazy was reluctant to allow his famous employee to write for anyone but himself.
Evidently, however, Marie Therese finally got her way - we know not how! The Te Deum was composed around 1799, but its first recorded performance was not until 1800 at Eisenstadt, the home of the Esterhazy family, to celebrate Lord Nelson's (and, inevitably, Lady Hamilton's) arrival there.
The Te Deum is a choral work throughout, without the solo sections that are heard in Haydn's masses and other sacred works.
(Text courtesy Aylesbury Choral Society - slightly abridged)
Sergei Prokofiev began work on his Symphony No. 1 in D major (Op. 25) in 1916, but wrote most of it in 1917, finishing work on Sept It is written in loose imitation of the style of Haydn (and to a lesser extent, Mozart), and is widely known as the Classical Symphony, a name given to it by the composer.
Tickets also avalable via Choir website. http://www.stevenagechoral.org.uk
