Gulf Coast Symphony at the MACC with Fort Myers Symphonic Mastersingers

Gulf Coast Symphony presents the Haydn’s awe-inspiring Lord Nelson Mass, performed in collaboration with the renowned Fort Myers Symphonic Mastersingers, Southwest Florida premier choral ensemble. Also on the program is Chickasaw classical composer Jerod Tate’s Winter Moons.

Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass:
Immerse yourself in the grandeur and magnificence of Joseph Haydn’s masterwork, his Lord Nelson Mass. This stirring choral piece is a testament to Haydn’s brilliance as a composer and showcases a powerful blend of orchestra and voices. 

Lord Nelson Mass (Hob. XXII/11) 1798

1. Kyrie, Allegro moderato,
2. Gloria, Allegro — Qui tollis, Andante con moto — Quoniam tu solus sanctus, Allegro
3. Credo, Allegro con spirito — Et incarnatus est, Largo — Et resurrexit, Vivace
4. Sanctus, Adagio— Pleni sunt coeli, Allegro
5. Benedictus, Allegretto — Pleni sunt coeli, Allegro
6. Agnus Dei, Adagio –Dona nobis pacem, Vivace

Winter Moons (1992)

1. Opening, Winter Moon, Puberty Blessing Song
2. The Indian Spirit at Mesa Falls
3. Chief Red Plume and His Quest, the Medicine Wheel, The Origin of Bitterroot
4. She Runs with the Wind, Finale

ABOUT THE MASS:

Haydn’s chief biographer, H. C. Robbins Landon, has written that this mass “is arguably Haydn’s greatest single composition”. Written in 1798, it is one of the six late masses by Haydn for the Esterhazy family composed after taking a short hiatus, during which elaborate church music was inhibited by the Josephinian reforms of the 1780s. The late sacred works of Haydn are regarded as masterworks, influenced by the experience of his London symphonies. They highlight the soloists and chorus while allowing the orchestra to play a prominent role. Though Haydn’s reputation was at its peak in 1798, when he wrote this mass, his world was in turmoil. Napoleon had won four major battles with Austria in less than a year. The previous year, in early 1797, his armies had crossed the Alps and threatened Vienna itself. In May 1798, Napoleon invaded Egypt to destroy Britain’s trade routes to the East. The summer of 1798 was therefore a terrifying time for Austria, and when Haydn finished this mass, his own title, in the catalogue of his works, was Missa in angustiis (Mass for troubled times). What Haydn did not know when he wrote the mass, but what he and his audience heard (perhaps on September 15, the day of the very first performance), was that on 1 August, Napoleon had been dealt a stunning defeat in the Battle of the Nile by British forces led by Admiral Horatio Nelson. Because of this coincidence, the mass gradually acquired the nickname Lord Nelson Mass. The title became indelible when, in 1800, Lord Nelson himself visited the Palais Esterházy, accompanied by his British mistress, Lady Hamilton, and may have heard the mass performed by Haydn himself and would meet shortly afterwards.

ABOUT WINTER MOONS:

Winter Moons is a ballet based upon American Indian legends from the Northern Plains and Rocky Mountains. It is in four movements and is performed with a live storyteller to guide the audience thought the different legends. The title of the ballet is derived from the idea that American Indian stories are best told during the full moons of the wintertime.