1766 – The music part 3 – Puzzles and more!

Hob. #	Genre	Key	Instruments / Notes
22:05	Mass	C	Missa Cellensis
28:02	Opera buffa	La Cantarina	in 2 Acts - for 3 Sop., 1 Tenor, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 English Horns, 2 Horns, Strings, Cembalo & Bassoon (continuo)

It had been many years since Haydn was known to have composed a mass, way back in 1749-50 in fact. But when he came back to it, it was with a vengeance! The Missa Cellensis presents us with yet another Haydnish puzzle, one which may finally have been resolved (but really, who knows?).

As we discussed earlier, with the passing of Werner, Haydn was given full responsibility for all the music at Eisenstadt / Eszterháza. I wonder if the Prince thought at the time that his new Kapellmeister would, right out of the gate, compose the largest sacred work of his career, an Italian cantata-type mass which would strain the resources of any but the largest church? Here is the array of forces needed for a full performance: Soprano, Alto, Tenor & Bass soloists, plus Chorus, 2 Oboes (doubling English Horns), 2 Bassoons, 2 Horns, 2 Trumpets, Timpani, Strings & Continuo (Organ). Clearly this wasn't intended for the chapel in Eisenstadt!

In a nutshell, the first three movements were known for years, and clearly dated 1766. In far more recent times, a large fragment including the final two/three movements was
found. These are all autographs in Haydn's own hand. The second fragment, from Bucharest, Romania, is undoubtedly not from 1766. One doesn't even need to know that the watermark of the paper is well known as 1769-73 era paper (lots of Haydn's works with known dates are written on it), the differences in notation, orchestration and musical structure are enough on their own to show this was a newer piece of work. There are two theories to explain this, both plausible, but neither more than a theory. The first is the original mass consisted of just a Kyrie, Gloria and Credo. While this seems strange, in the 18^th century it was commonplace, particularly in Italy and southern Austria, to compose just this part of the Ordinary. At a later date, perhaps when it was required for performance in a different venue under different circumstances, the Sanctus/Benedictus and Agnus Dei were added. The second theory states that the original mass existed complete, but the last half of it was destroyed in one of the many fires which we shall see plagued Haydn and the Esterházy's in general. Haydn actually recomposed an entire opera which suffered this fate a few years later. For now, you will have to decide for yourself whether either or neither seems like a plausible explanation to you. It may never be solved!

Despite the mistaken name, St. Cecilia
is only notable by her absence!

But what of the mass itself? It is a cantata mass, so called because rather than the five or six parts which an Ordinary usually maintains discretely, the entire is broken up into smaller parts, seventeen or eighteen of them in this case, depending on how they are divided. It is without doubt Haydn's largest sacred work, with some stunningly lovely vocal and instrumental parts. If you are looking for a definition of a 'cantata mass', one that is consistent across the board, I think you will be lucky to find it! Even The New Grove Dictionary... is ambivalent at best as to what one consists of. But like so many other things, you know it when you hear/see it. Like a Neapolitan cantata (which Haydn learned from a master, Porpora, you will recall), it alternates between recitative and aria, thus the breaking up into smaller parts. If you enjoy sacred music in general, you will quickly become enamored of this jewel. The air of mystery surrounding its origin adds a special cachet to it all, something to ponder as the beauties unfold.

Solemn Mass à Opera buffa. A natural next step, yes? It is one Haydn took, in any case, when in later 1766 he turned out a charming little Intermezzo with a libretto by the justly famed Anonymous. La Cantarina ("The Diva" as we would say today) is a cynical two act comedy of deception. A thumbnail of the plot has a woman posing as the mother of a young woman, they are living with an old music teacher who is training the young lady to be a singer. And planning to marry her also. But she is only in it for the free training, she is in love with another young fellow. The old maestro becomes aware of the deception, hilarity ensues.

An amusing plot with some fine arias to go along with. One of the most amusing subtexts of this Intermezzo is its merciless lampooning of the norms of opera seria. Both the vocal constructions, such as the huge ritornellos broken up by tiny bits of inadequate text, and the musical ones, like the out of control horn solos parodying the over the top virtuosos in the operas, provided out and out belly laughs for the auditors, who were treated to the real thing on a regular basis, and so recognized the barbs for what they were. One of the high points is the lovely aria for the heroine, Gasparina, 'Non v'è chi mi aiuta'. She is accompanied by the two English Horns, in one of their rare excursions away from Eb. Here, despite the fact she is seemingly desperate, the desperation itself is another parody of the situations Prima's found themselves in all too often in seria. Haydn really winds her up though, and the result is a highlight of the work, in my opinion. One other feature to notice in this little opera is the quality of the ensemble finales. All in all, this is a nice look ahead to the much larger works of the late 1770's. Haydn never fails to surprise with his early mastery of genera which he should be still a novice at. Genius is funny that way!

Next time, we will begin to look at 1767, yet another interesting year musically. Some intriguing ideas are beginning to crop up symphonically!

Thanks for reading!