DPU School of Music season culminates in Sunday performance of 'Lord Nelson Mass'

Violists Tyler Huff and Anna Urso prepare for the year-end performance of Haydn's "Lord Nelson Mass" with the DePauw University Choirs and Symphony Orchestra at 3 p.m. Sunday in Kresge Auditorium.

The DePauw University School of Music will offer an exuberant finale to its 2012-13 season when orchestra director Orcenith Smith conducts the joint DePauw Choirs and Symphony Orchestra in one of Haydn's greatest works, "The Lord Nelson Mass."

The 3 p.m. Sunday program in Kresge Auditorium will feature soloists Pamela Coburn (soprano), Caroline Smith (mezzo soprano), Kerry Jennings (tenor) and Valentin Lanzrein (baritone).

The work actually originated as "Missa in Angustiis" or "Mass for Troubled Times."

Franz Josef Haydn, contemporary of Mozart and Beethoven, was composer-in-residence for the Esterházy family at their palace outside of Vienna. Returning from four years of composing in London, Haydn began his "Mass for Troubled Times" in response to an unstable period in Europe due to Napoleon's military advances into Austria, Egypt and elsewhere.

A timeline of 1798 events, however, suggests that Haydn did not actually know about British Admiral Horatio Nelson's victory over Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile until after the Mass was completed.

"We don't really know why the composer renamed the work," said Smith, director of the DePauw Orchestra. "It's possible that upon hearing of Nelson's victory, Haydn saw an end to Napoleon's dominance and as a dual tribute, renamed the Mass to herald a hero and an end to war.

"We do know that Haydn had written an enormous oratorio-like work, 'The Creation,' during the months preceding the 'Nelson' Mass, and with this knowledge, his high level of craftsmanship, and the wisdom of his years, the listener senses real personal connections at work in the music," Smith added. "Each movement, whether for solos or with chorus, seems filled with expressive power."

Lord Admiral Nelson was so taken by the composition, that after hearing it, he gave Haydn his gold watch. Haydn, in return, gave Nelson his pen.

General admission for the concert is $3. Tickets for students, children, and seniors are free.

For additional information or assistance, stop by the GCPA box office on the ground floor of the Green Center at 605 S. College Ave., call 658-4817 or visit depauw.edu/music/tickets.