Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra under the baton of Ming Luke will present Joseph Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass (#11 in D minor)
and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Coronation Mass (K.317 in C major).
Haydn's "Missa in Angustiis" [1798] is one of six Masses composed between 1796 and 1802 in honor of Princess Marie Hermenegild, wife of the Esterházy prince. The troubled times during the the Napoleonic wars is reflected in the Missa in Angustiis (Mass in Time of Distress). The connection with Lord Nelson is not clear, but Haydn is known to have admired the British admiral. News of Nelson’s victory at Aboukar in Egypt against Napoleon was announced in Austria around the time of the first performance of the mass. In addition, two years later Nelson visited with Haydn in Eisenstadt and most likely this piece was performed for him. The Credo and Benedictus are extraordinarily beautiful.
Mozart's Coronation Mass was composed while Mozart was in the Archbishop's service in Salzburg for the Easter Day service on 4th April 1779.
The mass was popularly known as the "Coronation Mass" from the erroneous belief that Mozart had composed it for Salzburg's annual celebration of the crowning of the Shrine of the Virgin. More likely it was one of the works that was performed during the coronation festivities in Prague, either as early as August 1791 for Leopold II, or certainly for Leopold's successor Francis I in August 1792.
A short yet solemn mass it features dramatic war trumpets, tympani and drums. It is indeed celebratory; certainly fit for Easter Sunday or a coronation. The most stunning sections are the central hushed section of the Credo, in the Hosanna of the Benedictus , the soloist quartet reprises the theme.