Haydn, Joseph : Missa

It is well known that Joseph Haydn wrote his late masses to the commission of his last employer, Prince Nicolaus II Esterhazy. The « Harmoniemesse » is the last of these high masses all of which probably received their first performances in celebration of the name-day of Princess Maria Josepha Hermenegild, the prince’s wife. The present work was given for the first time on 8 September 1802 in the Bergkirche at Eisenstadt, Haydn himself conducting.

Haydn entitled his work simply « Missa ». The work has acquired the name « Harmoniemesse » by reason of the prominent parts given to the wind instruments (« Harmonie » being a contemporary name for a wind band); the nickname did not become established until the late nineteenth century.