Several of Michael Haydn's compositions were long taken as creations of his older brother, Joseph, or of Mozart -- the Mozart "Symphony No. 37" was performed as a genuine work for the entire 19th century and then pretty much dropped from the repertory due to the discovery of its authorship, which should tell you something. However, he spent most of his career in the employ of the Salzburg court, and he wrote a good deal of church music that sounds little like that of Mozart, who got out of town whenever he could and never worked in situations that called for such compositions (and, due to his clashes with the Salzburg archbishop, wouldn't have been tabbed for the job in any case). The
Purcell Choir, which is 100% Hungarian despite its name, has been investigating this little-known material in a series of historical-instrument recordings that at the very least helps illuminate the sacred music institutions of the time. It helps that some of them are also quite beautiful. The texts of these nine Latin responsories for Holy Week (three each for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday servies) are taken from the Bible. Composed in 1778, they may be performed a cappella or with the accompaniment of an organ or an organ and violone (here an organ, cello, and double bass are used).The pieces aren't "responsories" in the usual sense (they might be called canticles), for there is no response structure involving a soloist and choir as there usually is with responsorial settings of psalms. Instead, each piece consists of a short biblical text followed by a verse that sets it into relief ("It would have been better for him had he not been born," for example); this verse generally gets a new line of music, and the choir returns to a line of the previous text to round off the piece. All are short, between one and four minutes in length, and the settings are largely homophonic. Within this ascetically simple structure, Haydn crafts sensitive music that closely follows the text and often reflects its deeper ideas. Mostly sober and slow, they are dotted with moments in which the line rises and the tempo quickens in exultation. The responsories are something like a Classical-period version of Schütz's late Passion settings; even if no work of the very secular late 18th century had that kind of heft, they're remarkable. For small choirs looking for historically oriented music for the Easter season this album is quite enthusiastically recommended; many general listeners will also find it a moment of lovely quiet seasonal reflection.