The Department of Music presents Cornell University Chorus and Glee Club John Rowehl, director Cornell Chamber Orchestra Arsenia Soto, soprano; Toby Newman, mezzo-soprano; Nathaniel McEwen, tenor; Brian Ming Chu, baritone Chris Younghoon Kim, conductor Mass for Peace Mass in B-flat Major, Hob. XXII:14 (“Harmoniemesse”) Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) Introitus: Da pacem, Domine Kyrie Gloria Gloria in excelsis Deo Gratias agimus tibi Quoniam tu solus Sanctus Graduale: Rogate Alleluia: Qui posuit Credo Credo in unum Deum Et incarnatus est Et resurrexit Et vitam venturi Offertorium: Laudate Dominum Sanctus Benedictus Benedictus Osanna Agnus Dei Agnus Dei Dona nobis pacem Communion: Pacem relinquo vobis Dismissal: Ite missa est We are pleased to announce that this concert is part of Daniel Pearl World Music Days, the world’s largest symphony for peace. This international network of concerts is in memory of slain journalist/ musician Daniel Pearl, who traveled the world working toward cross-cultural understanding with simply a pen and a fiddle. Through our music tonight, we reaffirm our conviction that humanity will triumph and harmony will prevail. SAGE CHAPEL CORNELL UNIVERSITY Friday, October 26, 2012 – 8:00 PM Program Notes Haydn’s “Harmoniemesse” (1802) is the last of the six mass settings composed in Vienna follow- ing his return from London; they celebrated the name-day of Princess Esterházy, the wife of the reign- ing Prince Nicolaus. In their treatment of the orchestra they share many traits with the “London” symphonies (1791–95); indeed the (inauthentic) nickname “Harmoniemesse” — Haydn titled the autograph simply Missa — was coined in response to the unusually prominent parts for the winds, “Harmonie” being the standard German term for a group of wind-instruments. In terms of formal procedure and generic orientation, however, the ‘symphonic’ character of Haydn’s late masses has been exaggerated; they more closely resemble The Creation (1798) and The Seasons (1801), especially in the inexhaustible freedom with which Haydn exploits the complementary functions of soloists and chorus. The “Harmoniemesse” is in B-flat major. The Kyrie is in the half-slow tempo Poco adagio, with astonishing contrasts of dynamics and performing forces both in the large and in detail. It is in free sonata form with wide-ranging modulations, and conveys a deeply-felt, barely restrained fervor; some have called it Haydn’s greatest individual movement. —The much longer Gloria and Credo are both divided into three large sections, fast–slow–fast. Both initial vigorous sections in duple meter set long stretches of liturgical text (it is worthwhile to follow the text closely) and again fea- ture contrasting motives and textures, including vivid word-paintings on clauses such as (in the Gloria) “laudamus te,” “adoramus te,” and “descendit de coelis.” In both movements, the contrast- ing middle section in triple meter sets the central, expressive portion of the text. In the Gloria, this is a long, moderately fast movement (“Gratias agimus … Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis … Suscipe deprecationem nostram”), which moves through many keys, never returning to any of them. It begins with solos for each of the three upper soloists in turn, before moving to more varied, rapidly shifting textures and eventually to the chorus. In the Credo, this section (“Et incarnatus est ... Et homo factus est … Cruxifixus … Passus et sepultus est”) is shorter but slower and more intense; it begins with a soprano solo, leading to all four soloists and then the chorus. Both concluding sections first resume the vigorous, foursquare discourse of the opening, then move to a climactic fugue with much chromaticism. In the Gloria this is a long double fugue (“In gloria dei patris”) that runs on from the preceding music without pause; in the Credo (“Et vitam venturi saeculi”) it is briefer, enter- ing after a pause in a different tempo and meter. Towards the end, both fugues break off from coun- terpoint, in favor of homophonic passages both soft and loud, for soloists as well as the chorus. The brief Sanctus/Osanna pair, as is often the case, functions like a prelude to the much longer, separate “Benedictus.” This resembles the Kyrie in being in sonata form (the long ‘first theme’ is for orchestra alone); it is unusual in being in a very fast tempo (Molto allegro) and yet much of the time piano. —In the Agnus dei/Dona nobis pacem pair, again slow–fast, the Agnus is set for the soloists alone, in triple meter and a remote key; it is in three subsections (reflecting the tripartite text) and leads to…. … But here this surface description must break off, in favor of a different kind of story. Like many late Haydn vocal works, notably the two oratorios, the “Harmoniemesse” projects (among many other topics) a new, dynamic sense of the musical sublime. The primary musical resource as- sociated with the dynamic sublime is incommensurability in temporal contrast. The Kyrie of the “Har- moniemesse” begins with a long orchestral introduction, in which contrast is ubiquitous: soft vs. loud, diatonic vs. chromatic, and so forth. Eventually, in the middle of a quiet descending sequence in the winds, the entire chorus and very large orchestra burst in ff, on a completely unexpected dimin- ished seventh chord. This ‘gestural shock’ subsides at once, but this only enhances the sublime effect: like a thunderbolt (the characteristic rhetorical trope for the sublime), it is as astonishing as it is inex- plicable, and it resonates long afterwards. The Agnus Dei begins in the remote key of G major, which eventually works its way around to the dominant of G minor; the pp close is run on without pause to a ff outburst on the single note D, which leads to the Dona nobis pacem. Although the harmonic transition is not unusual (D is the common tone between the dominant of G and the tonic B flat), this outburst is at once astonishing and confusing. After three bars of this naked D, F is added on top, but the sonority is still incom- plete; only after three more bars do the chorus and orchestral basses enter, to complete the B-flat triad. However, the most startling stroke (literally) is in the timpani, which anticipate this act of completion by entering on B-flat one bar ‘too soon.’ This at once grounds the passage in what we instantaneously know must be the tonic, yet — because the timpani are both indistinct in pitch and enter out of sync — at first cannot quite grasp. Surely Haydn intended this overwhelming moment as an invocation of revelation — of the Last Judgment. – James Webster Texts and Translations Introitus: Da pacem, Domine Da pacem, Domine, sustinentibus te, ut prophetae tui Grant peace, O Lord, I wait for Thee, that thy proph- fideles inveniantur: exaudi preces servi tui, et plebis ets be found faithful: hear the prayers of thy servant, tuae Israel. Laetatus sum in his quae dicta sunt mihi: and of thy people, Israel. I am happy at these things in domum Domini ibimus. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et that were said to me: we will go into the house of the Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et Lord. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, also now, and forever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Kyrie Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy. Christe eleison. Christ, have mercy. Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy. Gloria Gloria in excelsis Deo. Glory to God in the highest, Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis. and on earth peace to people of good will. Laudamus te. Benedicimus te. We praise thee, we bless thee, Adoramus te. Glorificamus te. we worship thee, we glorify thee. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam We give thanks to thee for thy great glory, tuam. Domine Deus, Rex caelestis, O Lord God, heavenly King, Deus Pater omnipotens. God the Father Almighty. Domine Fili unigenite, Iesu Christe. O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Domine Deus, Agnus Dei, Filius Patris. O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. Qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis. Thou that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem Thou that takest away the sins of the world, nostram. receive our prayer. Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris, miserere nobis. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us. Quoniam tu solus Sanctus. Tu solus Dominus. For thou only art holy; thou only art the Lord; Tu solus Altissimus, Iesu Christe. thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, Cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris. art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen. Amen. Graduale: Rogate Rogate quae ad pacem sunt Jerusalem: et abundantia O pray that there is peace in Jerusalem: and that they diligentibus te. Fiat pax in virtute tua: et abundantia shall prosper that love Thee. Peace be within Thy walls: in turribus tuis. and abundance in Thy palaces. Alleluia: Qui posuit Alleluia. Qui posuit fines tuos pacem, et adipe fru- Alleluia. That Thy borders are able to be at peace, and menti satiate. that Thou are satiated with the finest wheat. Credo Credo in unum Deum. I believe in one God, Patrem omnipotentem, the Father almighty, factorem coeli et terrae, Maker of heaven and earth, visibilium omnium et invisibilium. and of all things visible and invisible. Et in unum Dominum And in one Lord, Jesum Christum, Jesus Christ, Filium Dei unigenitum, Only begotten Son of God, Et ex Patre natum ante omnia saecula. Begotten of his Father before all worlds.