Haydn composed the “Little Organ Mass” in the mid-1770s for the Eisenstadt house of the Barmherzige Brüder (Order of the Brothers of Mercy), with whom he had a strong friendship. In fact, Haydn dedicated a number of small sacred pieces to St John of God, a 16th century Portuguese monk and round of the order. A religious order with members known for their medical abilities, the Barmherzige Brüder had great faith in the healing powers of music, which occupied a prominent place in its services. The order’s Eisenstadt center was intimately bound to the Esterházy court, and provided its employees with medical care and prescriptions (Haydn was reportedly given ‘chest powder’, ‘stomach elixir’, herbal tea and ‘tooth powder’). The small forces for which the work is scored—chorus, solo soprano, and the typical church ensemble of two violins and continuo—reflect the institution’s modest resources.

Intended for a standard service, rather than a significant day in the church calendar, the Little Organ Solo Mass merges standard missa brevis techniques with Haydn’s ingenious approach to the genre. Haydn shortens the lengthy Gloria and Credo sections by setting lines of text simultaneously. The Gloria was so short, in fact, that Haydn’s brother Michael composed a version “un poco più prolongato” (“a little more prolonged”). In other sections, however, Haydn replaces customary procedures with his own unique approach. The rhapsodic aria for solo soprano, Benedictus, is accompanied by strings and obbligato organ (thus the nickname “Little Organ Solo Mass”). For the final Agnus Dei Haydn forgoes the traditional exuberance of this section and indicates instead a gradual dying away, an ethereal conclusion to the final request for peace.

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