Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass - Kyrie Graphical representation

1. Lord Nelson Mass - Kyrie Joseph Haydn was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. Theme 1 the chorus enters with a line that we will here throughout the piece. In measure 54 the cannon starts with the basses, this will also come back later. The “Lord Nelson Mass” more formally known as the “Missa in Angustiis” which roughly translates to: Mass for Troubled Times.

2. It doesn’t take long but in measure 83 the Canon returns but it is slightly changed. Joseph Haydn was the brother of Michael Haydn, also a highly regarded composer, and Johann Evangelist Haydn, a tenor. He was also a close friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and a teacher of Ludwig van Beethoven. Here the Opening Theme re-enters with the solo over it. What Haydn did not know when he wrote the Mass, but what he and his audience may have heard on the day of the first performance September 15, was that on Aug. 1, Napoleon had been dealt a stunning defeat in the Battle of the Nile by British forces led by Admiral Horatio Nelson. Due to this coincidence, the Mass gradually acquired the nickname "Lord Nelson Mass”.

3. One Last cannon like section that is slightly changed again from either of the previous times. But, it still starts with the basses. Here you see the beginning of the coda as Haydn prepares us for a very big ending to the first movement of the “Lord Nelson Mass”.