# Haydn Sacred Music suggestions



## poconoron

I am looking to acquire some of Haydn's religious music - requiems, masses, etc. Any suggestions as to best works and performances of those works?


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## Manxfeeder

The Seven Last Words of Christ as recorded by the Lindsay Quartet. 

I really like all of John Eliot Gardiner's recordings of his masses. Gardiner's recording of The Creation is very well done also. (Honorable mention goes to Robert Shaw, who recorded The Creation in English and changed the awkward wording to more plausible English. Like he changed the "flexible tiger" to something better, though I can't offhand recall what it was. )


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## Rangstrom

The Hickox/Chandos set of the complete Masses is amazing.


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## pjang23

Some research I did in our choral project

The Creation, Hob XXI/2
Missa in Angustiis, Hob XXII/11 (Lord Nelson Mass)
The Seasons
The Seven Last Words of Christ
Mass No.14 "Harmoniemesse"
Mass No.10 "Missa in Tempore Belli"
Stabat Mater - Don't miss this one!
Mass No.9 "Heiligmesse"


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## StlukesguildOhio

I'll eventually get around to picking up the period HIP version of Haydn's Seasons by Rene Jacobs... but right now at nearly $35 US I put this one on hold. I'm an admirer of the recordings of John Eliot Gardiner and I considered his recording as a worthy alternative... especially with soloists such as Barbara Bonney and Anthony Rolfe Johnson... but then I saw two other alternatives: Karajan's recording with Gundula Janowitz and Walter Berry for a little over $3 US and Karl Böhm's interpretation with Gundula Janowitz and Peter Schreier for a bit over $6 US... and I couldn't help springing for both. I usually make every attempt to get hold of a good period recording for most older music... but I'm no purist. I prefer Glenn Gould, Murray Perahia, Andreas Schiff, and Angela Hewitt playing Bach on the piano to almost any harpsichord version I have heard. By the same token, while I love Rene Jacobs recent recordings of Mozart's operas, there is no way I'd give up my "old school" versions of _Die Zauberflote_ by Böhm and Klemperer or Don Giovanni by Carlo Maria Giulini and Josef Krips.

Karajan's recording of Haydn's _Die Schopfung_ is legendary. Of course part of this is owed to the contribution of the brilliant tenor, Fritz Wunderlich, who tragically died during the recording process. Yet at the same time... while Karajan is not the conductor one immediately thinks of for Haydn's grace and deftness of touch, his performance in this recording was worthy of the reputation. The recording of the _Seasons_ was undertaken not long after, and Karajan retains the soloists Berry and Janowitz. The resulting recording is dramatic... taking Haydn toward the romanticism of Beethoven... and considering the late period in Haydn's career during which this work was composed, such an interpretation is not without precedent and logic.

The Böhm recording was hailed at the time as the greatest recording of Haydn since Karajan's _Creation_. From what I have heard of the recording, it conveys a vitality and drama and retains the sort of lightness of touch that Böhm employed with _Die Zauberflote_.

Beyond these two choral masterworks, I would recommend any number of Haydn's choral works as worthy of exploration:



















I have long loved both of these above discs. I would also second recommendations for J.E. Gardiner's recordings...










those by Richard Hickox on Chandos:










and The Seven Last Words of Christ (the choral version and the quartet version... the latter of which I would recommend in performance by the Kodaly Quartet, unrivaled for performances of Haydn... and dirt cheap to boot.


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## HarpsichordConcerto

Excellent suggestions. A few box-sets that are cheapy but top notch include:-

Tafelmusik (on period instruments)










Everything in one sweep, Collegium Musicum '90 (on period instruments), Richard Hickox










Harnoncourt doing some










I think Naxos has a complete box but I'm not familiar with it. Also on period instruments. Reviews have been very positive with this set.


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## Pestouille

Let's not forget this one


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## Manxfeeder

StlukesguildOhio said:


> I
> Karajan's recording of Haydn's _Die Schopfung_ is legendary.


Make sure it's not the live recording with the VPO in 1982. I got that one thinking it was the legendary one. Of course, this one is kind of famous also - he plays the opening so slowly, someone commented it's less like creation and more like evolution.


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## poconoron

Great feedback.............. thanks much, I'm looking forward to beefing up my Haydn collection!


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## HarpsichordConcerto

Pestouille said:


> View attachment 3476
> 
> 
> Let's not forget this one


It's included in the Harnoncourt box-set I pictured.


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## SixFootScowl

Just picked this one up and the singers are wonderful. Love the Missa Brevis.
(sorry, tried to make it bigger and now have two of the same image)


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## Keith

The complete masses by Richard Hickox is an amazing set. You probably wouldn't need to substitute with any other.


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## HaydnBearstheClock

I have Richard Hickox's Missa Cellensis (1766) and must agree that he does an excellent job. A great work and a wonderful interpretation.


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## Novelette

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> I have Richard Hickox's Missa Cellensis (1766) and must agree that he does an excellent job. A great work and a wonderful interpretation.


I have also enjoyed this recording. Haydn's earlier sacred music seems disturbingly underperformed. Or perhaps it's just me...


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## HaydnBearstheClock

Novelette said:


> I have also enjoyed this recording. Haydn's earlier sacred music seems disturbingly underperformed. Or perhaps it's just me...


I like the great fugues Haydn wrote for this mass - apparently, he wanted to prove critics wrong who claimed he couldn't write 'learned' music. 
The 'Benedictus' has some of that foreboding that he would later explore in the Nelson Mass and the Mass in Time of War, imo.


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## Il_Penseroso

The Creation: Teresa Seidl, Christian Elsner, Michael Volle, Krakow State Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Roland Bader... well, perhaps not the best rendition, but worth listening at least for once since i'm not that kneen on Karajan or Bernestein for Haydn!


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## HaydnBearstheClock

Il_Penseroso said:


> The Creation: Teresa Seidl, Christian Elsner, Michael Volle, Krakow State Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Roland Bader... well, perhaps not the best rendition, but worth listening at least for once since i'm not that kneen on Karajan or Bernestein for Haydn!


Heard that one recently - it's very good! Nice, full sound and the phrasing is very well chosen, imo. Only small criticism: a bit of a hall effect.


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## Il_Penseroso

HaydnBearstheClock said:


> Heard that one recently - it's very good! Nice, full sound and the phrasing is very well chosen, imo. Only small criticism: a bit of a hall effect.


Exactly! Good performance but poor quality recording!


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## Gabriele Adorno

I got hooked on Haydn masses several years ago through a CD with a live Kubelik recording of Missa Sanctae Caecilie, with soloists Popp/Soffel/Laubenthal/Moll. I was elated to find the video of the recording on Youtube:






I can also heartily recommend this live performance of Haydn's last great mass:


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