Donald Macleod considers the effect war and turmoil had on Haydn’s life and career, and how these influences shaped his compositions.

Joseph Haydn’s prodigious creativity earned him the titles Father of the Symphony and Father of the String Quartet. However, he was also occupied with sacred music throughout his career. This week, as Donald Macleod follows Haydn’s journey from humble choirboy to Europe’s most celebrated composer, he shines the spotlight on music from Haydn’s many settings of the Mass. It's music that is as chock-full of invention and character as any of the instrumental forms he made his own.

Austria was in an almost constant state of war during Haydn’s life. While he was protected from front line warfare, he was always engaged with the politics of his time. Haydn disliked Napoleon and was horrified at news of the French Revolution. Donald recounts a story about music transcending politics when an 'enemy' soldier visited Haydn at the end of his life and sang an aria from The Creation oratorio, bringing tears of joy to the old man’s eyes.

Mass in C major Missa in tempore belli ‘Paukenmesse’: Agnus Dei
Joanna Lunn, soprano
Sara Mingardo, alto
Topi Lehtipuu, tenor
Brindley Sherratt, bass
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Symphony No 100 in G major ‘Military’: movt. II Allegretto
New York Philharmonic
Leonard Bernstein, conductor

Piano Trio No 39 in G major ‘Gypsy Rondo’
Patrick Cohen, piano
Erich Höbarth, violin
Christophe Coin, cello

Mass in C major Missa in tempore belli ‘Paukenmesse’: Credo
Joanna Lunn, soprano
Sara Mingardo, alto
Topi Lehtipuu, tenor
Brindley Sherratt, bass
Monteverdi Choir
English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Die Schöpfung, Part 2: Aria ‘Mit Würd’ und Hoheit angetan
Michael Schade, tenor
The English Baroque Soloists
John Eliot Gardiner, conductor

Mass in D minor Missa in angustiis ‘Nelson Mass’: Benedictus, Agnus Dei and Dona nobis pacem
Sylvia Stahlman, soprano
Helen Watts, alto
Wilfred Brown, tenor
Tom Krause, bass
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields
Sir David Willcocks, conductor

Producer: Eleri Llian Rees for BBC Cymru Wales Show less