Richard Hickox, Invocation, Franz Joseph Haydn, Richard Hickox, Collegium Musicum 90, Mark Padmore, Stephen Varcoe, Janice Watson, Pamela Helen Stephen - Joseph Haydn: Theresienmesse/Kleine Orgelmesse - Amazon.com Music

At the very end of his composing career, Haydn's lifelong employers requested that he compose a yearly Mass for the name day of Princess Marie Hermenegild Esterházy. Haydn had another royal admirer (indeed he had many) in the person of the Empress Marie Theresa whose library boasted a copy of this Mass, from which source sprang the rumor that Haydn had composed it for the Empress herself (that honor actually belongs to his Te Deum). The Mass is vintage Haydn: great tunes, a couple of terrific choral fugues, and orchestral writing of great charm, and where required, power. The so-called "Little Organ" Mass is aMissa Brevis(Short Mass) that as the name implies, features a prominent solo organ part. These performances are as fine as the others in Chandos's excellent series of Haydn Masses.--David Hurwitz