Various - Joseph Haydn: Missa Cellensis, Niccol� Jommelli: Te Deum, Mass in D Major

Known as St Cecilia Mass, Haydn�s fifth Missa is the longest and most complex setting of the Latin Mass text. Rich in elaborate contrapuntal interweaving and with a duration of more than one hour, it reveals Haydn the opera composer. The present recording of a concert, performed in 1982 in the Ottobeuren Basilica with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir under the baton of Rafael Kubelik, is still considered a reference recording of the work. Niccol� Jommelli�s Mass in D major and his Te Deum were both written during his time at Charles Eugene�s W�rttemberg court, where he is said to have held the highest paid musician post in Europe. The W�rttemberg court loved French music and at the same time the virtuoso Mannheim school. These, together with Jommelli�s Italian roots, also shaped the composer�s stylistically diverse sacred oeuvre. The Te Deum with a brief length of not even a quarter of an hour, was frequently played even up until the early 19th century.