Missa in honorem Sancti Gotthardi
MH 530
The names of Michael Haydn’s masses are associated either with a specific commission or with the composition’s dedicatee. Thus, Haydn composed the “Missa in honorem Sti. Gotthardi,” also known as the “Admont Mass,” for the Admont Abbey located in the region of Styria, Austria, where Gotthard Kuglmayr was the Abbot. The mass combines formal concentration with liturgical function. The songlike melody, the unity of the motivic material, and the balanced harmony of solemn and lyrical passages show how intensively Haydn concerned himself with the genre. Due to its length and its orchestration the mass can be considered a type of missa solemnis. Fugues and fugal movements are completely missing from the Missa Admontis as is any kind of contrapuntal (including imitative) composition. In so doing, Haydn assured that the required understanding of the liturgical text would be achieved.
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Composer
Johann Michael Haydn
| 1737-1806Johann Michael Haydn worked at the renowned ecclesiastical princely court in Salzburg from 1763. Stylistically, he bridged the gap between the early classical period and the Biedermeier period during his 43 years there. In accordance with his official duties, Haydn contributed to practically all the genres cultivated in the Catholic liturgy: Haydn's church music is characterised by his knowledge of the liturgical function and the musical interpretation of religious texts. Johann Michael Haydn was initially regarded by his contemporaries as equal to Joseph Haydn. It was only the rapid rise of his elder brother to become the most important instrumental composer of the time that pushed Johann Michael Haydn into the shadows, from which the joy of musical discovery in recent years has increasingly brought him out. Personal details