Haydn: Missa in Tempore Belli in C (Mass in Time of War)

Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem

Sunday, February 2, 2025 at 3 p.m.

Universalist Unitarian Church, Kenoza Ave. Haverhill, MA

Haydn began composing the second of his six ‘late’ masses in the autumn of 1796 in Eisenstadt, Austria and completed it later that year in Vienna. Haydn’s title for the work, Missa in tempore belli (Mass in Time of War), reflects the Austrian people’s fear of a French invasion. Despite the title ascribed by Haydn, the work is also often referred to by the nickname Paukenmesse (‘pauken’ is the German word for timpani) due to the prominent timpani solo in the ‘Agnus Dei’ movement.

Ralph Vaughan Williams was commissioned to write “Dona Nobis Pacem” for the 1936 centennial celebration of the Huddersfield Choral Society in Yorkshire, England. Written as a plea for peace, he took his texts from a variety of sources including Walt Whitman, a political speech, the Bible and the traditional Latin Mass.